Inconceivable!

If you’ve seen the movie The Princess Bride, the title may clue you in to what this post is about. Continuing with the heavy travel month that was May, the next trip was to the south of Italy. The travel group ended up being relatively large with a total of 5 Americans (Jeremy, Ben, Samir, Dan, and I) and 2 Swedes (Elin and Lovisa). While difficult at times to organize and manage that many people, it was kind of nice because it meant I could be a bit lazy. Having that many people meant that I could fade into the background and just tag along instead of having to plan any of the logistics. We skipped our Friday classes to get some cheaper flights and flew from Torino to Palermo, Sicily. We were told before we left that things tend to take longer in the south. They weren’t kidding. After a lengthy period at the car rental counter, we received the keys to a 9 seat Fiat Scudo Passenger Van and set off for Cefalú (about an hour’s drive away). As we arrived in Cefalú, we began searching for our hotel. Unknowingly, we began our search by going down some incredibly narrow roads in a very large vehicle. Impressively, Samir (who had volunteered to drive), managed to navigate the narrow streets without scratching up the car and we eventually found our hotel. We explored a bit of the city before calling it a night. The next morning we grabbed some breakfast and then set off for our next destination, Taormina (on the East coast of Sicily).

We arrived at Taormina, found our AirBnb (which was gorgeous, by the way), and began searching for a market to buy food for the weekend. The search may have ended with Sicilian cannoli being purchased as well. We then ventured to the coastline, which was less than a 5 minute walk from our house. To our surprise, the shore was mostly stones (rather than sand) and the water was incredibly cold. We swam until our bodies were numb and then returned to cook dinner and find some gelato.

We awoke early the next morning to drive to the base of Mount Etna (the tallest active volcano in Europe). As an extra tidbit of information, according to Greek mythology, the forges of Hephaestus are said to lie beneath the mountain. Compared to my previous volcano experience (Vesuvius), climbing Mount Etna was a real hike. The steep trail is composed of loose pumice stones so every forward step you take sinks and slips half a step backwards. We also didn’t foresee the temperature difference between the base and the peak. Midway up, we had to rent heavier jackets to protect from the cold and the impressively strong wind (my fleece hoodie wasn’t cutting it). We had read previously that it was impossible to climb to the very summit without a guide due to the toxic gas emissions and that special equipment would be required. Nevertheless, we climbed as far upwards as we could (and maybe even a little bit further than what was allowed) before heading back down and returning back to the city of Taormina to find a restaurant for dinner (and some more Gelato for dessert).

We slept late the following day and then ventured a short walk along the coast to find Isola Bella. Depending on the tide, this is either an island or a peninsula (as the water sometimes rises to cover the walkway leading from the mainland). The island used to be a private residence before it was bought by the government and preserved for its wildlife. The rest of the day exploring the city was pretty relaxed. We ended the night by introducing Elin to the wonder that is Oh Brother Where Art Thou.

The next day was another early morning in order to drive to Messina (in the northeast corner of Sicily). We explored the city for the afternoon and then made our way back to Palermo in order to catch our flight to Torino.