There is a Sicilian symbol with three legs called "triskelion"

It represents the three main areas of Sicily:  Messina, Milazzo,  Mt. Etna, Taormina area is One; Syracuse, Ragusa area is Two and the Trapani, Erice area is another (I think where the sing song-like dialect is too).  Given those three areas, we determined that we probably covered two legs and a thigh of Sicily!!  We did not travel much into the south eastern area, so that would be just the "thigh" of it!

We did feel that we certainly covered a good breadth of Sicily, getting a flavour of all it's variety of people, landscapes, history, and in the general 'feel" of it.  And all at a comfortable pace.  Don't get me wrong, it still feels like we caught only a glimpse of this area.  It's easy to just keep going!  That said, I am totally grateful to have shared this much, (only the beginning), of Deb's journey in Italy!

Since we were planning to head towards Palermo to pick up Keith at the airport, I did a little research and found that I wanted to see the cathedral in Monreale yet.  I was less interested in driving right into Palermo, so found something on the outskirts.  Monreale seemed ideal.  We leisurely took some back roads in that direction and entered the town from the high end.  We discovered that going 'up' wasn't the best way into town this time, and found ourselves right downtown Old Monreale, on the smallest, local, steep streets, once again.  Yikes!  Tight and careful navigation through the streets, trying to find the cathedral, I got to a point where all I wanted to do was find a way out of town.  How would we ever squeeze out of here?  It was also during a very busy market day, people walking everywhere.  

We did find our way out, drove up again and stopped at a view point where we could see the cathedral below and a beautiful calm piazza in front of it.  We didn't want to be defeated.  So we scoped it out from above and decided we had to approach the town from below.  Sure enough, this was the easy way in, and what a reward, what a treasure we experienced!   

A Norman Arab church built in 1172, a Benedictine cloister next door, which was absolutely incredible architecture.  We felt captivated by this place.  Our first hour or so was just wandering in the courtyard of the cloister ....a splendid example of Sicilian Romanesque architecture.  The four sides of the cloister , each 47 m long, are entirely surrounded by a portico with an uninterrupted series of 228 small paired columns bearing capitals and pointed arches.

And inside the Cathedral was unbelievable.  Mosaics covered every inch of it's walls, arches, window panes .... it's indescribable, really.

Hello - i'm doing my first dictating to an iPad - this could change my world for good.  I am loving this.  Today was our first day in Palermo - what a wicked city.  Deb and I just went for a long walk to get acquainted with the neighbourhood, which is full of beautiful buildings from the early medieval period right up to the occasional cool art nouveau place just to keep things interesting.  We were booked into a B and B in a sketchy, back alley neighbourhood which we thought better of - instead we opted for the Hotel Garibaldi which is very nice.  I lolled around and watched the Wimbledon final this afternoon after we arrived (in italian) - way to go Rafa.  We actually have a separate living room in our suite.  Then we set out and wandered around and landed in the middle of a down home Sicilian flea market - the second of the day for us.  Deb bought a whole new wardrobe for 6 euro.  Then we somehow landed in a very fun street bar where we were entertained by a drunk guy who serenaded the local folks, whether they liked it or not.  We both wished we could speak Italian when Feodore joined us at our table - he thought he could make us understand him by speaking more slowly and clearly - interesting logic from a drunk guy.  Amazing gelato followed, with another stop in a sports bar to check out the fans and the World Cup.  I ate a big wiener.  We are following our instincts and trying to enjoy the local flavour as much as possible.  I'm looking out at the roof lines of a couple of monuments as I sprawl on the couch listening to crazy traffic noise - such a contrast from the quiet, beautiful cottage in Scopello.  It was muggy today - Deb's on her third shower - but the breeze from the harbour makes it quite bearable.  Tomorrow we tackle some of the fascinating buildings from the inside. I can't wait.  

Karen has flown back to Canada but will continue to add some blog items from the home country! Thank you Karen for leading me into this three month adventure! Travelling with you was pure delight.

Enough about Karen! *S* Keith and I wandered through the Baroqueness of Trapani, then spent the late afternoon and evening in Erice. (The above view is from the tower)  We couldn't drive up to Erice, the road and town was closed because there is a race car event this weekend.  We took the tram up and back. The tram was cool,  9 euros each for a two way trip from the base of the mountain to the base of the Gothic church at the top. We went up the church tower and through a series of churches.  We went inside the Gothic. 

We wandered through the town and it was virtually empty.  There were about 100 tourists tops because of it all being shut down. We walked through a number of streets and were the only folks there.  We sat for a beer in the main square and had a lovely young, thin, handsome man as the waiter, whose passion is "English" he studies the language all the time, watches English YouTube and American cinema movies.  He seems to be around 25 years old and was a pure delight.  He spoke as much English to us as possible and he gently corrected our Italian.  It was fun.

We found our way back to Scopello just fine, and were greeted at the gate by Ellena and Dario, who have been exceptional hosts.  His web site is sunsetinitaly.it (which I haven't looked at yet)  If you have a car and plan to stay in the Scopello area this is a perfect and beautiful spot to stay. 

It is now Sunday morning.  Keith and I are heading in to Palermo and are staying in the North District where we plan to see as much art and architecture as possible.

Its Keith.  Deb and I dropped Karen off at the airport this morning, sadly and she is winging her way home right now.  So this my first full day in Sicily.  My first impressions are pretty positive.  I keep staring up at these craggy mountains surrounding the coastline as we drive by and wondering whether they could possibly be real.  Although this is the dry season here, it seems pretty lush to me, with tons of full sized trees that would be houseplants in our world.  It was sunny today, kind of breezy and pretty perfect climatically.  I was expecting humid, killer heat like in the tropics but along the coast here it has been great so far.   The food has been good – we ate take out tonight from the local market and had fresh mozzarella, the best sun dried tomatoes I have ever tasted, some ham and artichokes.  Since we were headed to Palermo to drop off Karen we stopped in at Trepani, a mid sized city that the guide book said had an interesting baroque downtown – I think they were underestimating the place.  There was a huge area of nearly perfectly intact buildings that ranged from the 16th to 18th c., when the area got rich off of  salt, I think.  We checked out the salt flats where they still collect it.  Then it was off to the medieval town of Erice just up the mountain from Trepani.  Deb and Karen drove up the mountain when they were here before, occasionally burning rubber along the way,s o this time Deb and I took the cable car – way cool.  The town seemed deserted to us except for a bunch of knuckle heads in jump suits – they are having a big car race tomorrow using the narrow roads in the area as a course.  The churches and public buildings in Erice are beautiful – the whole town seemed like it couldn’t have survived from the 11th, 12th century and later but it has.  I get a sense that the area has been Disney-fied a bit, but the views off the top of this mountain out to the sea and to the surrounding countryside were breath taking.  My puny new camera could not do it justice, even though I tried pretty hard.   Its late and time to get some shut eye for us –  Im still a wee bit jet lagged, but totally looking forward to pulling up stakes and heading for Palermo – the regional capitol tomorrow.   

Driving down from Erice once again gave us perspective about how high the town is.  Our friend. Mary warned us, "don't fall off Erice!  It's been done!"  Yikes,  can certainly see how that could happen.  Such a unique town, we were delighted to spend time there.  On our way down, we headed towards San Vito di Capo.

Anyway, we found ourselves in another forest of imagery, all the way to the Capo and around to the east coast of the cape, to one of the entrances of the Riservo Dello Zingaro.  Beautiful vistas of the aqua blue sea against the reds and greens and greys of the massive rocky landscape. We made it back around to Scopello where we would stay for a few days and also where Deb will swap one traveler for another (Karen to Keith).

Before getting to the apartment rented to us by a very friendly Sicilian architect named Dario and his family, we found a B&B high up in the hills, a great view of Scopello below.  It as a nice treat and then ended the days in Scopello at the apartment which was on the water.  So we had the best of both Scopello worlds!

Being on the water gave us a chance to swim, with snorkeling gear, and soak in the salt water of Golfo de Castellomare (between the Tyrenian sea and the Mediteranean.). A wonderful market was across the road, where we could get fruit, water, wine, olives ...  you know, all the delicious local Sicilian food.

NOTE:  The wireless is TOO SLOW to allow posting of pictures.  Once I get to Palermo I will try again - in the meantime, I will post the text.

Some may think that I have been freeloading on Karen’s posts long enough… but let me say that while she writes I edit pictures, so I am not being a “loaf” … or should I say “Pane” - a small load of Italian bread! … and there are thousands of pictures to edit… I ask myself… Why on earth would someone take so many pictures and then have to pick only a few to load to the blog site!!!

Aside from the aforementioned whiplash (see Karen's post below), mosquito bites and being force fed Sicilian wine… all is going well….  And then there are the “pepper” things that I have to eat… kind of roasted and pickled and all spiced up…  (sounds like a self-portrait doesn’t it?) … and then there is the cappuccino…. My my my….

I haven’t said anything stupid out loud, that I can remember, other than the first stupid thing I told you about that I didn’t really mention in any level of detail….  My level of the Italian language still stinks…  una po po … I am good at asking for the “bill” for dinner, and saying “No, I am not 65!” But then I realize the discount on entrance fees I could get if I said I AM 65! And if I just wore a black dress and scarf  and scuffed my feet a little while I walked I could get in to everything for free!

My packed items have worked out well so far.  It took a little bit of time to get used to where things were packed in the knapsack and what I actually needed to carry  in with me each night.   If you look carefully at the pictures you will see that I am mostly wearing the same thing, which is confusing when I try to sort pictures as the blue shirt black capris outfit  covers several days and a thousand years at the same time….

The camera is still working well (after the drop) sometimes the lens still sticks and will not zoom, but a little thump on it fixes it for the moment.  I have been trying to keep the photos from each day in their own file folder (Diva Nurse Students, calm down when you read the words “file folder” … it’s all under control; it’s okay!!).  I have also started to keep a small journal of photo numbers and places so I can keep them all reasonably sorted because the days blend into one another quite easily and without any coaching.

Karen has been doing the driving.  It is a Fiat 500C, stick shift.  It is fast and fun and she has been doing a great job at keeping us moving yet safe at the same time.  The Fiat has a handle above the passenger window that I can hold on to while we are speeding up the extremely curvy and steep mountain roads.  Only once did we have some trouble with the car, in Erice, on the steepest hill in the town which leads into the perfect little piazza from where everyone was watching.  The tires were spinning and the car was going nowhere, but the air was filled with the smell of burning rubber.  Karen was excellent handling the car in this situation saving us from sliding down the road and crashing in to the building behind us. The roads in Erice are made of many pieces of individual rocks shaped into squares and then outlined with marble slabs that are positioned perfectly for all four Fiat tires.  It was on the marble that we were spinning.  We discovered after, that it is best to drive a little more closely to the buildings so that you drive on the rocks not the marble as the marble is slippery... and if someone steps out of their front door... oh well....

We are now in a B&B in Scopello, the photo is posted below. Karen found it at the dead end of a dirt mountain road.  It is beautiful here.  She is outside reading a Dutch book and I am inside with my Mac laptop perched on the top of a beer fridge as there is no table. 

Thanks for reading the blog.  The stats show that it has had 754 hits since June 13!  We are trying to break 1,000 hits by Friday!  Feel free to post a comment if you like.

All for now… I need to go and stare at the sea for the rest of the evening!

We've had no reservations for accommodation or anything the last several days.  After 12 days of traveling, admittedly we still have no working Italian phone.  I know.  Many of you would be cringing at the thought.  We aren't quite in peak European travel season, but close enough.  Grateful to have a car we aim for the outskirts of otherwise tourist towns.  We find a way to either go 'up' or find back roads that we know buses cannot navigate.  And we are consistently rewarded.   The reason we travel this way is because it allows us to go by the "feel" of a place and follow the timing of the day.

Yes, we are also lucky for sure.  We do start to look for a B&B early in the day, around 5 or 6 (any earlier and no one is around in the facility).  And just as in Falcenara, we have managed to get the last room available of the first B&B we inquire at.  This time we are in Scopello and we are overlooking the town of Scopello, a quiet end of the road location.  It's a gem that I well expected to have to pay $75 plus euro for, and it is the standard $60 (the max of our stays so far).

Ok, back up to this morning.  We left Erice on those so-Italian winding roads and slowly made our way towards San Vito di Capo and around to the entrance of the Riservo della Zingara.  Driving along, I see a sign for a Sanctuario and almost give Deb whiplash, turning the car suddenly up the road towards it.  After some minor grumbling about the whiplash, she soon sees the value of this little side tour.  We find a lookout point that shows us the road to the waterfront, which then leads us to a delightful hiking path shared with shepherded cows wearing bells.  The shepherd dog and the shepherd himself (on an old scooter) are watching us as we walk only the first 10 minutes of the trail. Without water, we were not prepared for any longer.  We carry on, find a grocery store to load up on water, fruit, olives, tomatoes, cheese, bread and wine (are you all just rolling your eyes right now? gawd, stop it already!)
We wind our way to San Vito di Capo, a bustling beach town, and drive on towards the Reserva.  It's mid way that we find the most magnificent stop.  A few people down at the water and spectacular rock formations, molded out of the sea waves of such aqua blue, it's a colour sensation.  This was the highlight for sure.

Then on to Scopello.  We need to drive back and around to the other side of the cape to get there. Back into agricultural land, vineyards, olive groves and harvested wheat fields.  The landscape becomes more Irish looking again, similar to the west coast of Lipari.  Splendid rock formations at the edge of the sea with lush greenery.  

Am I losing you all with these flighty descriptions?   Like, are you actually believing this?
I guess, except for these few pictures, you'll just have to come see for yourself!

I cannot tell if the site is loading okay... it is slow loading here since we put up the catch up stuff.... if it is slow in Canada, let me know and I will see what I can do to the pictures to speed it up.

We experienced a growing amazement driving to Erice.  From the flat salt marshes and a brief discussion about whether to head to Marsala, we turned around to face Trapani to the near north, looked up to the tiny structures atop a cliff and determined that must be Erice AND we must go there!

Driving right through Trapani and to its outskirts, we drove along beautiful beaches, loaded with throngs of beach lovers drawn to pristine blue water.  We continued until the road started to rise.   A roadway, typical in Sicily it seems, leading up.  Left to right, right to left, up and up and up.  We reach an outstanding view of the Egala islands to the west, thinking this is close to the top.  We carry on, only slowly realizing that initial view may have been only half way up.

We arrive at a main parking lot just outside the ancient fortress walls, briefly thinking it's as far as we can go with the car.  We quickly see a few cars head into the narrow streets and we venture there as well.  It gets narrower, more cobbled stones and steeper, but we find an albergo sign and stop close by.  Again, we think it's as far as we can go, until we inquire for a room inside and ask about where to leave the car.  Our hostess directs us to drive up the narrowest and steepest pathway (ok, slight exaggeration, but honestly, the little car 'just' fit.)  I squealed the tires getting up the path, the smell of burnt rubber wafting everywhere.  Clearly I have not graduated to true Italian driving.  

We decided that this (Edelweiss Hotel) would be a place to hang out easily for a couple days.  The car would stay parked in the alleyway and we will wander, enjoy cappuccino's and wine, and enjoy a 'chill' day to write, rest and catch up a little.

We enjoyed Sicilian pizza in the piazza, and wandered the streets to the south of town, looking to enjoy the sunset over the Mediterranean to the west, Trapani down below and neighboring villages along the north coastline.  It wasn't long before we grew tired and decided to enjoy wine from our own little balcony.

This morning led us to the north part of town, where the castle is.  Just when we thought we'd seen the best views, it only got better.  Absolutely astoundingly beautiful!  The only thing Deb could come up with was, "I can't stand it anymore"

A little bit of wandering, a cappuccino at a lovely cafe and then we found a spot to sit on a bench with an 'Erice' view to write.  First we had to get Deb's Mac, my iPad, some fruit, croissants and wine.  Ok, now we are set to do some catching up!!

I'm happy to have completed some writing and will leave Deb to post with photos, while I take a nap, listening to the wind (it is especially strong today.  I doubt the cable cars from Trapani up to Erice are running today, it's that strong)

We are now in Erice, a town so high up, the view is similar to the view out of an airplane window. Seriously, it is unbelievably high, towering over the villages, including Trapani far below.  A history of varying domination, myth and mystery.  Ancient fortress walls surrounding it, with 3 portals at triangular points of the town, giving it similarity to Assisi.  Some have described it as the Assisi of the south.  It's much higher, has 60 churches, has more of an Arab influence and in my view, it has an overall different feel than Assisi.  I'm somewhat biased, I admit.  Still, this is an extraordinary town.  I am planning a 5 am wake up tomorrow to try to capture some of the early morning stillness and lighting.   We'll see!  (I'm not to wake Deb on the way out) 

We found a bench with the castle to our right and a dramatic view of San Vito di Capo to the north. We have chips, croissants, fruit and wine to keep us content while we catch up on some blog writing and picture loading.

A little Dutch touch of Sicily are the salt marshes at Trapani.  Having true Dutch blood in me, I am not going to pretend to explain the saline process that occurs here, except to appreciate the use of windmills.  Helaas, there is nothing more to say at this point .. ;)

We arrived at Segesta by mid afternoon.  A cappuccino stop at a gas station where several local men were hanging out, helped us find the site because one of the men offered to drive ahead of us.  How kind!  It had nothing to do with being a blonde tourist "sono di Canada."

This time, instead of walking to the theatre site, we took the bus, to find an ancient theatre with the most spectacular backdrop view.  (No whining from Deb today since we bought the bus ticket).  The condition of the site was unbelievable and sitting there in one of the seats, was utterly breathtaking. Apparently they still do performances at this site.  That would be incredible, in such an already dramatic setting.
Also at this site was an incredibly intact temple set on the hilltop, with steep and dangerous ravines around it.  Hard to imagine and fully grasp the construction efforts and living history of this place.

A little gem recommended by our friend (and Italian travel mentor) Mary Redekop was a little Moorish church, just north of Selinunte and on our way north to Segesta.  This one was tricky to find.  Tucked away and found because of random signs for a resort of the same name, we found the little church.   A significant monument of Arab-Norman architecture, from around the mid 12th century.  The door to the basement was not locked, letting us into a small and simple crypt.  Then the cook at the resort next door let us inside the church on the main level (for two euro each, which he quickly pocketed).  It contained the tomb stones of the Saporito family who owned the church since 1880 (and still do).   It has the characteristic Greek cross layout, inserted in a square, with 3 apses, a central cupola and embedded arches.  It takes it's name from the Delia river.

I had insisted on sitting in the window sill of the B&B the night before to watch the sunset, that we had to deal with Mosquitos in the room that night.  We rested well anyway, had a lovely breakfast of coffee, juice, homemade bread and marmalade jam and left to find Cave di Cusa.
It's a quarry about 12 km out of town where the ancients carved out the huge drums of stone used for the massive columns of the temples.  Unfinished and various pieces lay strewn over the fields surrounded by extensive and lush olive groves on rich red/orange soil.

We left our little paradise on the water well rested, rejuvenated for the next days ahead, never too sure what to expect exactly.  We have some idea where to go of course, Selinunte and then Segesta for more Greek ruins.  Yet it's the little unexpected gems along the way that just give these destinations a fine tuning in a way.

We found Selinunte fairly easily.  Once beyond the entrance gate, we were captivated by the temple in front of us.  We arrived in the heat of mid afternoon, prepared.  Sun screen, hats, water and cameras.   A good distance beyond lie the ruins of additional temples, the acropolis.  "I'm not walking there!" says Deb.  "It's not as far as it looks", replies Karen.  "Ok, if you're going, so am I" agrees Deb.  Walks like that turn into little pilgrimages, adding to the perspective of the area.  We finish an hour and a half of wandering and Deb says, "I'm so glad we walked those paths".  The history of this place is astounding, Karen's pictures even more! (kidding).

Now a little tired, we made our way back into Selinunte town to find a B&B.  We found one called Rose Garden, run by a young local couple.  People here work hard and we get the sense things are certainly economically challenging here.  We also found a restaurant nearby to enjoy Antipasto Siciliano e Pizza di Mare!  We arrived a little after 6, but had to wait til they 'officially' opened at 7 before we could order something to eat.  No problem, we shared a birra media between us, hooked up to wi-fi and loaded the next days' maps.
The meal was delicious and made us doubly tired.  

On our way to Selinunte, we drove through Agrigento.  I had looked for monasteries in the guide books the night before, mapping out the next day's journey and thought a little adventure into Agrigento would be fun.  I found one call Santo di Spirito, a monastery with Cistercian history and a currently active cloister.  It was another magical drive and discovery.  We happened to drive right to the closest street, stopped at the right spot and then as we walked to the entrance of the monastery, we could hear chanting inside and the half hour bells went off as we stood there.  Then, to make it all more perfect, an Italian couple arrived and entered inside the cloister.  We hung around and as Sister Maria Gabriela met with the couple to give them a tour of the church, she asked if we wanted to join them, even though she had limited English and the tour was really for the couple.  Of course we tagged along and were delighted to find a church filled with sculpted walls, all in alabaster.  After about 20 minutes, we gave the Suore 3 euro for her kindness.  In our disbelief of Sunday morning timing and luck, we rounded the corner to a cafe and savoured another cappuccino.  Then, with our little Fiat parked just around the corner, we headed out of town to Selinunte.

After visiting the Canadian war Cemetary we headed towards the southern coast.  The route unfolded nicely.  So nicely, we found ourselves driving by a small place, hardly marked on the map, but described extensively in our Sicily travel guide we borrowed from Mary Redekop.  The ancient city of Morgantina is the site of Greek ruins estimated at about 1000 BC.  Very impressive site.  Very few people were there and we were lucky enough to talk with a small crew working in one of the archeological areas.  Turns out the project is sponsored by Princeton University and the professor in charge was from Virginia working with an archeology grad student from Berkely.  They were concentrating on an area where the baths were and described the intricate system of clay tubes they used to heat the water and maintain the baths.  He said they were from about 219 BC.  The oldest and most intact mosaics were found here.  He was excited to be working on the project for the next 6 weeks!  We felt like we received our own personal tour by an expert no less!
The ancient theatre was also impressive, and the court yard!  As well as the sanctuary dedicated to Demeter and Persephone.  Incredible when you let your mind imagine what it must have been like, or even trying to grasp how old the site is .... In Mary Redekop's words, "It's mind boggling!"

Then we went to the neighboring town called Piazza Armerina.  We stopped at the ARD discount store (an Italian version of Food Basics, except fully stocked with wine and beer) and picked up bread, ham, cheese, olives, pistachio paste, Gatorade, more Sicilian red wine and fruit.  We could buy these things along the way since in her MonoPod case, Deb cleverly wrapped a cooler bag in it to use for such occasions!  We drove up to the nearest piazza where we found a bench in the shade and had our lunch!

This place also turned out to be a gem of old churches and then the Mosaic haven of Villa Romana del Casele was situated just outside of town.  Except this site was truly a tourist trap; tour buses, paid use of toilets, a string of souvenir tents and a line up for tickets.  We bought the book about the mosaics and carried on with our journey.  I'm sure it would have been awesome, but it was 3pm, and we were in need of our afternoon cappuccino's!   (Truth is, we really would have liked to see this site, but could not get our heads wrapped around the reams of tourists feel and we were too tired at this point, especially after such a peaceful visit to Morgantina.)

So we headed south for the coastline!  It was so interesting how we drove through lush forested areas and then within minutes, over a hillside, we were back in intense agricultural fields as far as the eye could see!  And there in the distant eastern horizon, lay Mount Etna the whole time!!

Once we reached the coastline, we set our sights on B&B's.  We found a little paradise.  Lucky, one room left!  Not bad for a Saturday night, on the coast, at 5 pm.

A little bit of time here and I met a couple from the Midden Beemster in Holland!  One village next to the village my mother is from!  Yup, small world!  Here I am speaking Dutch in Sicily!  

We are resting nicely here.  A relaxed walk along the beach, saving two jellyfish (they said there were none here) and watching the sunset.  Now a glass of Sicilian red wine with cheese and pistachio paste on bread and we are content.  Content, once again in the amazement of this land.  Sogni d'oro for now!

The last two days presented the most remarkable cross Sicily experience.  Milazzo to Falconera in two wonderful follow-our-instincts days with Mount Etna, always in our eastern view.
After our 4 days in Lipari, we handed the scooter in, took the ferry across to Milazzo and rented a little grey Fiat 500.  It's our favourite Italian car, especially appropriate for small back roads, steep and narrow cobble streets and typical hair pin turns.
From Milazzo, we drove towards Agira.  This was a planned destination, but how we got there was open.  It was so fascinating witnessing the landscape changes.  It is late June (summer solstice) and the wheat is being harvested.  Steep rolling hills covered with neat rows of harvested wheat by very skillful farmers.  We saw a combine with a tilted header, to cover the incredible angles.  Volcanic rock spread throughout, pastures of cows, sheep and goats, huge rocks everywhere and then towns built atop incredible peaks.  This is rugged land.  The vistas are stunning!  Again, we have Mount Etna always guiding our direction.  As long as she was to our left or behind us, we knew we were heading in the direction we intended.
Agira was beyond our expectations.  High up on a geologic peak, an entire old and quaint town with admittedly nerve wracking steep and narrow streets that led right up to a piazza filled with excited locals watching soccer at the local cafe.  They were happy to help us find an albergo and the children were tickled to keep saying the words "I speak English" and then giggling at us.
We did find a delightful B&B, run by a woman who spoke no English.  Gestures and a few understood Italian words gets us a room with an extraordinary view for 30 euro each.
We rested well and prepared to go to the Canadian War Cemetary, which was the reason we chose Agira as a destination.  Here lie 490 Canadian soldiers, killed in attacks in Sicily in the summer of 1943.  It is the only all-Canadian war Cemetary in Italy.  It is meticulously kept with a view of Mount Etna and Lagos Pozzillo to one side and the town of Agira to the other.  A moving experience, wandering amongst the perfectly lined marble tomb stones.  We looked in the register and even saw a soldier from London, Ontario.

Text will go here after we have driven for a while today - photo details will also be filled in later.  We are heading to the Canadian Cemetery now....

I know, we are surrounded by spectacular views of the aqua blue sea, stunning rock formations, vineyards, lush gardens, lovely Italian villas ... and here we send you, what we think is a delightful shot of the cutest cars in the world! We saw these parked just outside a small farm house along a road on Lipari, the sounds of chickens and a lively rooster in the background! We are still enjoying the scooter as we find little pathways (at times quite steep) to explore, and are always rewarded with true Italian beauty!

The weather today was too rough to go to Salina island by boat. We were however, still able to go around the southern coast of Lipari, see the grotto and peaks that we hoped to see (because we had seen them from various lookout points we'd been to previously). The boat also headed towards Volcano where it was safer to go on these choppy waters. The boat stopped at a little cove near Volcano island where a few of us could go for a swim!  I dove in as well, not wanting to miss a chance to swim in waters that seemed safe from jelly fish.  Then we stopped to let the boat group off at Volcano.  Since we had already seen Volcano island yesterday, we didn't need to stop there again and so went back to Lipari with the little boat, the two of us left with the small crew of 3.  We felt like we had a personal boat tour, with the whole thing to ourselves!  See the photo in the collection below of Deb which was taken as we were arriving back to the dock in Lipari.

It's been on and off rain all day so far and the grey clouds are floating in again as I write.  We got soaked on the scooter going into town, then the sun would come out with blue skies, big white clouds but still rough water and now the clouds are rolling in again!  True island weather!!

This post is written by Karen

~ smile ~
I'm down here by the water, just taking in more waves and the sounds of passers by. A bit of local life, just spending time on the Main Street of Canneto, listening to the waves.

The lamp posts along the water and some lights from homes along the hillside are are inviting.

We watched another wondrous sunset over the islands, some sun light and cloud shades over the water and against the massive rock formations around both Volcano and Lipari, from what we could see at the lookout we found the other day.  We happened upon that spot in mid morning and figured it would be a worthy photo opp if we returned at dusk. High up on the hills and overlooking parts of both islands, it's ideal. Unbelievable actually.

We explored the island of Volcano today. Took the hydrofoil over and found ourselves another scooter.  We rode across the island, stopping at ___ gello for a particularly beautiful sight of the volcano and also Lipari town across the water.  Our exploring has provided us almost every angle of Lipari town.  Kind of a fun little adventure.
People here are so helpful and friendly, even to us goofy tourists.  We manage well enough without even modest Italian. Gestures and a few words still get us what we need.

Volcano island had goats wandering almost everywhere, on roads and all.  We first saw them along the paths leading up the volcano and later all along the roadways leading across the island.  One group of goats had a leading goat wearing a bell (video), a particularly delightful sight.
We checked out the idea of kayaking, and after some discussion about energy levels and time and cost, we decided to find out about boat tours instead.  To our pleasant surprise we found a little boat company, a friend of our scooter rental guy, who would take us around both Salina and Lipari Islands, on a 12 person boat, with a lunch stop and 3 swim stops. Included are stops at two grottos and caves and a view of all the spots we have found so far by scooter, but now a chance to view them from the water!!  And for half the price of kayaking!  Good choice!
We leave tomorrow morning!  We scooter over to the docks and leave at 10am, and return at 5.

We planned to spend the evening at the cliffs of the geological centre, so we could catch the sunset, Karen, of course, expecting to take the best sunset shot ever! The sun was starting to settle as Karen swapped her motorcycle helmet for the ol' Tilley!

Fiats always make a person stop in their tracks and say "Awwww" ...on the way up a bumpy old road, made by locals with left over rocks, while Karen was in complete control driving the 200CC scooter, at a reasonable speed, she spotted Peter's dusty Fiat in a garage.  She slowed for a photo!  

We didn't find our way into any architecture of either horror or delight today, but tonight, we rode the scooter until we found the most perfect spot on this island for hiking, silence, appreciation, and the sunset. Karen continues to tell me she has the best photos from the day however, she hasn't actually shared any yet so I can post them for judging!  We had a good and easy day.  We have caught up on jet-lag sleep and are doing well.

I can honestly say (as I have just confirmed with Karen) and am sorry to admit that I didn't say anything stupid today! (I haven't stopped talking for the day yet though.....)

It's a beautiful island with lots to see in a relaxed way.  There's such a variety in landscape and geology.  The quarried pumice on one side and red and grey rock with black volcanic sand on the other.  And no matter what, always beautiful gardens wherever they have space to tend.  It's raining now.  We've gone to Lami, Pirerra and into town for a bit and are now sitting on the front porch, watching the gentle rain with a little thunder, time for downloading pics, emails, reading, and a beer!!
Ciao for now, Karen