The Sun and Acireale

Greetings:


Gini announced it was 10 AM as we woke up on Wednesday. Since we had seen a beautiful moon and stars last night we had hoped the weather had changed and we could do some touring. So we sprang (sic) out of bed thinking we had a late start. Chris made his breakfast and turned on the TV. He noted that the show he was watching must be from the Canary Islands or some time zone west of Greenwich. Sheepishly the realization emerged that it was really 8 o’clock.

However the sun was out and we could see most of Mount Etna from our second floor veranda. (We are hoping we will get a picture of Etna without any clouds hovering around it at some point). Gini did achieve Siciliano Paradiso:


as we enjoyed our lunch al fresco.

We were a little disappointed when we walked to the piazza next to the sea and found our gelateria/café closed on Wednesdays but were amazed at the debris the storm had depostited:



The sea was still pounding the shore. At times it seemed we were in Hawaii.



How about a little video?




Ah, the soothing and calming Ionian Sea. The stories associated with Ulysses and Aeneas do have some truth in them, however. Amidst the debris was an Alexandrian sea nymph, not often seen on these shores:



It was then on to Riposto/Giarre where an internet point was found where Chris could just plug in his own computer. Va bene.

Also discovered was a good fish market where clams were reserved for tomorrow along with a nice vegetable vendor where we selected oranges, pears, squash, and tomatoes – oh so fresh!

Our lunch on the veranda emboldened us to become auto-turistas and we headed south for Acireale. The coast is spectacular:



Acireale, itself has a long history as do so many Sicilian towns. This island has been habituated by Moors, Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, New Hampshirites… you name it. All the towns have buildings right up to the edge of the road whether it be rural or urban. Here is a wending downhill street in Acireale with the sea in the distance:



This joined the major thoroughfare which contained at least two duomos. One of them boasted a display of a piece of the Shroud of Turin…well, well, well … relic me.

The duomo piazza was filled with roaming pontificators each looking like a Corleone with a consiglere or two for appendages. We took it all in on a bench feasting on our first gelati. Here is a meager attempt to use the camera’s panorama feature on the piazza:



The drive home along the coast was adventurous as the sun set. Leftovers await us along with our mandatory fresh caprese and some fried zucchini.