mebtravelling

(click thumbnails to enlarge)

We turned right along  the Straits of Messina and kept driving until we saw it, the volcano which,  even in the past week,  has been playfully erupting.

From Taormina — Mt Etna

We’ve now been two days in Catania, with better sightings of Mt. Etna, better photo ops than ever, yet I haven’t bothered. I should begin with full disclosure: I am a sucker for mountains. Anyhow, a couple days ago,  as we started the short walk up to chic, bustling Taormina,  I saw  the great, to me mystical, mountain for the first time (outside of the car ride, when Etna was something of a moving target).It  was  like seeing the Taj Mahal – those first views erase the cliché and etch the thing itself in the cerebrum, forever. No longer any need for pictures.

And Catania? It seems to be a grimier version of Palermo, and I mean that in the nicest way.

First, there were the Breakfast surprises:

Then, ah! a market to rival any I’ve ever seen, and that’s saying something