my first view of sicily
i am making friends immediately!
this is vizzini, the village where i will stay
a beautiful view of vizzini on the hilltops, from the northern side
and here a view from the southern side
and here i am IN vizzini
the main street
and this is the house where i will be staying
with a beautiful veranda and awesome view! vizzini is right behind the oak tree.
the garden sink with ceramic from caltagirone
time for a snack! sicilian cheese, rose wine directly from the producer, and some halva
breakfast the next day: granita and brioche.
today i am in caltagirone, famous fro the production of ceramics and pottery
i'm in the same place as the picture before, looking to the other side
check out the ceramics at those walls!
a view from that bridge
the 142-step monumental staircase of santa maria del monte, built 1608 in the old part of the town. each step is decorated with different hand-decorated ceramics.
a ceramic shop! if that stuff just wouldn't be so heavy to carry back home...
ceramics everywhere
and back home, here a view of beautiful vizzini...
... and here from my veranda
lots and lots of wind towers where built in sicily over the last few years!
today i'll go to taormina, and afterwards to catania
one of the beaches down at taormina
a typical beach promenade
on the way up to taormina
one of italians favorite vehicle...
...and another one that you see quiet often
entering taormina
the main plaza
you can see the aetna in the back here
lots of little alleys left and right
and leaving again. i didn't go the the famous theater because my photographer had seen it before and rather wanted to spend the 6 euro entry fee on gelati....
o liotru, the symbol of catania
lots of baroque buildings everywhere in the southeastern part of sicily because of the big earthquakes in 1169 and 1693 that destroyed most buildings
giovanni battista vaccarini's duomo façade (1736) is an example of the city's sicilian baroque architecture
roman ruins
a street market, i bought italian music CDs for one euro each....
vendor at the outskirts of catania
everywhere in sicily you find house ruins like this one
livestock always has the right of way!
today i'll spend "nella campagna"
a very young bull
a little older gascogne bull
and here are his girls
aren't they pretty?
and these are sanfratello horses, an Italian light horse breed that originated in sicily
i think she likes me....
and then it's time for food again. there is a sheep on the BBQ
and the table is set
and then the meat is done
and the wine is ready
and the feast can start.
and every morning i have granita at the bar
where you can buy your produce without ever living your seat, there is the car coming
i got some garlic and tomatoes for later
and then i am off to ragus-ibla and the beach. wine along the road.
almost there
through the 'new' part of ragusa
with ugly houses
we go to see the old part, ragusa-ibla
breathtakingly beautiful!
look at this!
no clothes-dryers in italy!
italy is very catholic
i am getting a panini here
this is the hall where the men go to debate..
..and this is from where the women watch who is going
all baroque again, cause of the earthquake
this is the balcony where commissario montalbano works
cathedral of san georgio.
this is an old tavern and underneath the balconies the sculptures tell about it
see how drunk the guy on the lower right is?
outdoor tables everywhere
see those corks on the ice-cream in back? it is wine ice cream!!!
s. giuseppe church, solely for women
a "sarazene"
you find these above a lot of doors
the restaurant where commissario montalbano eats a lot
drying tomatoes
and some last impressions from ragusa-ibla
off to the beach! notice that dry wall - sicily is full of them!
finally...
the ocean.
i rented a chair...
...took note of my surroundings..
...and then went swimming.
one of the not so beautiful sights of sicily is the garbage...
this is a meadow south of vizzini (in back)
wind towers again
a little swimming pond. it's for the cattle but from june to august they are on a different meadow so we can use it for swimming
look at that funky goat!
approaching vizzini again
and now it is time to leave, i am on my way to the airport in catania
catania with aetna
should i get some souvenirs?
inside the airport
caltagirone souvenirs
taormina with aetna
close-up of taormina
