Sicily

The highlight of my trip to Sicily, would have to have been seeing Mount Etna erupt.  It just so happened that on the day that I did my trip to Mount Etna, she decided to put on a bit of a show on for me.  The only thing that could have made it even better was if it had been night as the lava would have been red (during the day it is black).  However, that did not take away from the experience.  Nature never ceases to amaze.

What was the itinerary?  Flight to Naples (mainland Italy) to see Pompeii, followed by an over night ferry to Palermo (Sicily).  From Palermo it was on to Catania (Sicily) by bus and then back to Naples via a bit of a long winded train trip up the cost of Italy back to Naples {Catania --> Messina --> Villa San Giovanni --> Reggio Di Calabria --> Naples}, before flying back to London.

This train trip also gave me a first.  My first train ferry.  For the crossing from Messina to Villa San Giovanni, the train is loaded onto a ferry and the passengers can either stay in the train or go up on deck.  Quick fun.

I didn't plan the best train route from Catania to Naples.  I could have pre-booked a train direct from Catania to Naples, saving the detour to Reggio Di Calabria.  I wasn't sure exactly what I would be doing on the last couple of days, so I pre-booked the train from Reggio Di Calabria.  However, as they say.  Every cloud has a silver lining.  In this case, it was one of the best cappuccino's I have ever had, for a whopping 70 euro cents.

Just had a look on Google Street View, to see if I could locate the cafe to list down in my tips below.  But, it must be a fairly newish cafe (or refurbished), as the data on Google is from September 2008 and the cafe showing on Google Street View isn't the one that I had a great cappuccino in.

LJ Tips (no particular order)

Tip #1 - Pizzolo
An relatively inexpensive pizzeria in central Catania, that makes something they call a Pizzolo.  I had one of the specials - a pesto based Pizzolo, which great.  Listed as number one restaurant in Catania on TripAdvisor.  Definitely up there as a good place to eat.  If I was ever back in Catania, I would probably have another meal here.

----------
Eat Pizzeria
Via Coppola, 42/44, Catania, Sicily Italy

Tip #2 - Good Cheap Cappuccino
The really good cappuccino in Reggio Di Calabria, was one the corner of Via Aspromonte / Via Nino Bixio, Reggio Calabria, Calabria, Italy.

To be continued.

The following map shows the places that I stayed and visited.

View My Trip To Sicily in a larger map