After being so long off the blog, I thought I'd give you one exhaustive post, with lots of pics about my wanderings this summer!
Our trip started in Calabria, Cosenza to be precise, with its lovely medieval town.
North Calabria is very refreshing because you do not see many tourists,
you really feel like an explorer.
you really feel like an explorer.
After that we moved down to Tropea, a little jewel on the Mediterranean:
...where we ate seafood pasta and spada involtini, or rolls of sworfish, miam!
And from Calabria, we were off to the Aeolian islands, starting with Lipari and Panarea,
and then to Stromboli!!! The island with the eponym volcano!
Okay at first it looks quite peaceful from afar...
Then you discover its beaches where the sand is actually lava stone...
And suddenly at sunset, badabooomm!
Stromboli is one of the most active volcanos on the planet but its eruptions are quite small... but scary nevertheless! It is very well seen from miles away, and people actually call it "Lighthouse of the Mediterranean".After Stromboli we continued to Mount Etna, in Sicily, yes another volcano ;-)
And more lava stone, with cute little red visitors..
In search for more peaceful surroundings, we really enjoyed the Gigliotto Agriturismo and its fruity wine...
Caltagirone village, which actually comes from the arabic قلعة الجرن which means town of the jar, and its ceramic stairs...
Then Ragusa, Modica and Noto the Baroque towns, unforgettable Syracusa, and I'll finish with these lovely pictures from The Tarot Gardens of Niki de Saint Phalle and Jean Tinguely, on our road back to Rome's airport.
Arrivederci!
© all picts by ghassan koteit.