Vucciria Mercato
Capo Mercato
Fontana Pretoria
Notice that an anatomical feature has been chiseled off, by nuns from a nearby convent.
Cappella Palatina
Catacombe dei Cappuccini
From Palermo, we drove to Mount Etna and stayed at the Rifugio Sapienza, right next to the cable car so that we could be one of the first on Etna in the morning:
Etna's smoking craters (between us in selfie)
Looking into the craters of Torre del Filosofo
Our next volcano was Stromboli, but since Stromboli is an island, we had to arrive by ferry:
the volcano from the ferry
and erupting.
After returning to Sicily, we ventured on to Syracuse and the southeast. This was my favorite area to visit because there is so much to see and do, for example:
Teatro Greco in Syracuse,
flamingos at Riserva Naturale Orientata Vendicari,
the tombs of
Necropoli di Pantalica
and Cava Grande del Cassibile.
The last leg of our trip brought us to Agrigento and the Valley of Temples:
Temple of Concordia
Temple of Juno
On the way to Agrigento, we stopped to see the mosaics of Villa Romana del Casale near Piazza Armerina:
Near Agrigento, we also climbed La Scala dei Turchi
before ending our trip at Mondello, a beach resort town near Palermo:
But, our holidays continued. After returning to Erlangen, we traveled to Berlin to cheer Bob's sister, Irene, on as she ran in the Berlin Marathon (sorry, no photos) and then on to Greece, where we met our friends Matthias and Jenny:
We stayed at Matthias and Jenny's house in the village of Levidi, Peloponnese, and explored Nafplio,
in the shadow of Palamidi Fortress,
the Menalon Mountains,
the Lousios Gorge,
and the Monastery of St. John the Baptist (Prodromos).
We also traveled to the Mani Peninsula, where we stayed in a beautiful house
with a pool
and did some more exploring in Old Kardamyli.
But like all good things, our holidays did come to an end in Athens:
the Acropolis from our hotel room by day
and by night.
