The Beautiful Grounds of the Bonajuco's Bed and Breakfast

Heather and I got an opportunity to take a Sicilian Cooking Class at an agriturismo in Mascalucia. This also was a well known Bed and Breakfast owned by the Bonajuto Family. This is the same Bed and Breakfast that Oprah took 20 of her closest friends and stayed and enjoyed this special place. Before our class Mr. Bonajuto took us all on a tour of the grounds where they grow all there food. You could tell how much this family was into agriculture and healthy living.

Ben's 15Th Birthday

Not only did I get to have Thanksgiving ,Jeff's Birthday,have a wonderful visit with my Brother Lance, but I got to be with my Grandson Ben to celebrate his 15Th Birthday. When you have Children, Grandchildren and Brothers living in really different places you don't get to be at all of the special events in their lives, so this was such a special visit to Italy to encompass so many special events.

Lance and David's day to leave.

For our last hours with my Brother Lance and David , Heather wanted them to experience the Sunday antique market in Catania. They enjoyed the busy town of Catania and of course we took them to Elephant Square which I have talked about before. We parked and walked around the Square and the Italians have a pedestrian walking street which was an interesting concept. No cars in this area. We choose a place to have lunch "Grand Cafe" and we sampled several delicious foods including a pastry or two. Have I told you how wonderful the Italian pastries are, well if not they have such a variety and they are all scrumptious. Another interesting observation is that Italy has a lot of beggars and most are women and children. While we were eating they walked right up to our table and asked for money. I was surprised that the restaurant owners did not run them off, but they did not. It must be a common and accepted practice.
After our lunch we were off to the Catania Airport and sadly said goodbye to Lance and David. They were off to Paris for a little R&R. I think Heather and I wore them out. What a great visit we had. We made a lot of memories.

Leaving Enna

What a View.

From Enna we headed to Motto for true Italian Pizza and Heather knew of such a place it was called "Valentine's" after we had our pizza we walked to a corner generi alimenteria to purchase some locally made wine. They let us sample several different kinds and we choose several bottles. I would say the locally made wines were pretty inexpensive. With our stomach full and our spirits in hand we headed back to Bel Passo and the comforts of home. The rest of the evening was spent with the whole family watching "Phantom of the Opera" . Excellent Day.

Traffic Jam in Enna

While in Enna we were involved in a little traffic jam. Everyone was trying to get into this very , very small , they call streets and I call them ally ways and I wanted to show you these little three wheel trucks which the Italians call "Ape" .They are cute and works well for these small streets and to haul their goods.

Enna

After leaving the Roman Villa we headed for Enna, nick named City in the Clouds. We did not spend much time in Enna, but we did take pictures on the way to and from this interesting city with its beautiful view.

Villa del Casale, at Piazza Armerina

We traveled about 2 and a half hours from Bel Passo to Piazza Armerina where the Villa del Casale is located and is the site of Sicily's great Roman Ruins. This is located in Southwestern Sicily and what I did not know then and do know now is that this is the closest corner of Sicily to North Africa. I thought that was amazing that I was so close to Africa. There are intact mosaics still being unearthed depicting the Roman life. These ruins were saved for posterity by centuries of mud slides. It looked to me that the Romans were advanced many centuries ago, in the art of creature comforts. In other words I think they lived very well. This was amazing to see and in 2011 they will have more unearthed, I do hope I get to go back and see the rest they uncover.

Pasta making Fun

The next day we had a leisure day and we learned how to make homemade Pasta. What Fun and it was work too. Here are some pictures of our Pasta making fun. The pasta dish we made was called Nun Hats. Yummmmmm!!!! Everyone liked them and Heather really enjoyed learning how to make pasta. The rest of our evening was great conversation and lovely wine.

On Our way home from Castlemola

On our way home from Castlemola we stopped at the local (New) shopping mall. The name of the mall is Etnapolis, named for Mount Etna. There are many neat stores,but the one we mostly shopped in was called Carrefori it is simular to our Walmart and this is where Lance and David bought Heather a gift which will lead us into the next day's adventure. They bought her a pasta making machine. Lance and David had taken a pasta making class in Florence and wanted to share what the learned with Heather and I.

Picture of the Beautiful Bell Tower in Castelmola

The View of Castlemola from Taormina

In this picture of the Greek Theatre, if you look at the very top of the mountain you will see the next place we visited which is Castelmola. From Taormina we took a very narrow and winding road that lead to this village perched on a rock. This is where one of many medieval castle ruins is located. Castelmola has one of the most famous panoramic views in the world especially at sunset. I did not get as many pictures as I wanted, because we were there late in the day and the light was not what I had hoped.

My Brother Lance and Partner David's Visit to Sicily

The next few days Heather and I planned for My Brother Lance and David's Visit.
Heather and I decided that Taormina and Castelmola would be great places for us to start their site seeing. Even though Heather and I had already visited Taormina it is a place that you would never get tired of visiting. We did make a few new discoveries in Taormina, because of the parking situation and we almost got another ticket. We were made aware that there was a parking garage a little way from the main part of town with a shuttle back to the town. We had a very pleasant lunch on the steps of the town walk ways.

The Rest of Our Day in Catania

Heather and I returned to our car with our treasures, but we had a surprise waiting for us. On the car was a parking ticket, this was a real disappointment especially when we asked if we could park in this spot. The cost was 35 Euro which negated our bargin shopping. Will we put our packages in the back of the Mini Cooper and took it in stride. We were determined to not let this misfortune spoil our day. We left and Heather wanted to show me some of the sites of Catania. Piazza Duomo is the heart of the city life and in the middle is a well known Fountain Sculpted in 1736 and on a pedestal in basin is an Elephant made of lava also a beautiful Cathedral is located on the Square. On our way out of town we stopped at a Beautiful Arch Monument and fountain to take some pictures. While we were taking pictures I noticed a young man watching us and another on a scooter. We took our pictures and started to leave, the young man standing made a gesture our way which I did not know what he wanted. Heather in her better judgement kept going. We did not get far before both men on the scooter pulled in front of us and we could not move. One of the men jumped off the scooter and went to the back of our car. He was trying to open the back of the Mini to get our packages. When he could not get it open he jumped back onto the scooter and off they went. So that is our experience with Scooter Bandits, which I understand is a common occurrence in Italy.

Antique Market in Catania

Catania, is situated between the Ionian Sea and the Slopes of Mount Etna. Every Sunday in the Sicilian City of Catania they have an Antique Market that Heather wanted me to experience. I well share a few pictures of the City of Catania. It seems to me they still hold to their old ways, meaning they set up their stands along the busy streets of the city on Sunday to sell their wares. The traffic is really bad and parking is next to impossible, but my Daughter was determined. We must have driven around looking for a parking place for an hour or more before finding a spot, of course, we ask some Italians if this was a good place and they said yes, because it was Sunday. So we parked and walked to the Market, which was very busy. Heather found several treasures one in particular was a find and I have a picture with her find holding it.