Spring break week is almost over, but what a time we've had.

We've had a great week going here and there all over the island. I wrote about Cefalu on one day but here I'm going to talk about the rest of the week. I know it will be long but blogging about each day would be too short.

On Monday Bob and I decided to drive to a little town called Nicolosi. We didn't have any special reason, we just hadn't been there before. It's a pretty little town and we walked around awhile. While we were walking we saw a sign that said "Etna" with an arrow. So we decided to get in the car and follow the signs. We drove and drove up the mountain watching the elevation on the GPS (translating km to mph as we went). 1000 feet, 2000 feet, up and up, 3000, 4000 and on.

Etna is about 9000 feet above sea level and we started at 1200. There are scenic views all along the way and we could see all the way to the sea. All the little towns flowing down the mountain. What a wonderful view. The day was hazy so we're definitely going back sometime on a clear day to take some amazing photos.

About 5000 feet we came to the snow line. Sometimes the snow line is much lower--we have rain or sprinkles and look up the mountain and it's filled with snow. But it's springtime and the weather was warm so we had to go quite a way to get to the snow. We stopped and took some photos then got back in and drove until we came to a little resort area. At 6000 feet there are hotels, souvenoir shops and a cable car that will (for $75) take you to the top, provide a guide and a jeep to go right up to the mouth of the volcano where you can see the lava. Bob and I were neither one interested in doing that on Monday but we might some other day.

We decided to go back to Nicolosi for lunch but couldn't find the right road for any of the restaurants we had seen earlier so we went to the mall in Motta instead (they have a McDonalds). We didn't plan to buy anything but one of the kitchen stores was having most of their stock on sale for half price and we found some really unique dishes and glasses that we "just had to have". It was fun finding all the bargains.

Tuesday was pretty much a bust for seeing the "beautiful" sights of Sicily. We went to Bronte, which is the pistacchio capital of Italy. Do you know what pistacchio trees look like at this time of year? U-G-L-Y!! Very much like a tree you would draw in a Halloween picture. And the town really has nothing else to boast of. It is, though, on the other side of the mountain and we got another view. The land on that side of the mountain is rough, rocky with lava and sparse. Almost desolate. Some vegetation but it looks like it has to work really hard to grow.

The town is straight up and down the mountain and each street is too narrow for comfortable driving (coffee table streets). We parked the car and walked down to the center of town and found nothing worthy of photos except this of CDs hanging out to...dry? Sometime walking down the streets of the town, the thought flitted through each of our minds (but didn't stay long enough to effect our actions) that if we were walking down we would eventually have to walk back up. Ouch!! It was about a mile of really steep walking and we really got our exercise.

Thursday we shopped for ceramics in Santo Stefano di Camastra and in Patti. Didn't need much but had some things we were especially looking for. On the way to San Stefano, though, Bob mentioned a restaurant we had eaten at when last we were there. We had gotten lost wandering through the town on foot and found a really great restaurant. Thursday we looked and looked for the restaurant and didn't find it until........we got lost again and there it was right in front of us. So now, we know how to find that wonderful place to eat. All we have to do is get lost.

Today we went south to the Mediterranean coast and found a town that Bob said if he ever runs away that's where I can find him. It's all that he pictured when he thought of us living in Sicily. A little fishing village nestled up against the sea. Lava stone surrounding the sea, sharply pitted and hollowed out like it has been washed for hundreds of years (oh yea, it has). Little beaches nestled in among the rock ledges just waiting for footprints and sand castles. We ate lunch at a tavola calda (literally translated, table hot, loosely translated, hot food at a little, family owned restauranty type place) looking out over the little boats docked for the season. The boats will be in the water soon for the fishing season but for now they sit in the sand waiting.

It's been a great week and there are still two days. Tomorrow we may go to the outdoor market in Misterbianco or we may just relax. Sunday will be church and getting ready to go back to work. I could continue with spring break forever---especially if the paychecks would keep coming.