Maiden Voyage...First trip of the season to the beach, future trips promise to be warmer!! :-)

Launched...and the fun begins! Like being on Recess.... :-) 

Splash Day!...As clean and shiny as she will be until next Spring. Dawn of a new season, next stop the Great South Bay! :-) 

Spring Along the Brandywine...It was a beautiful weekend to visit with the parents and stroll down Pennsylvania's Brandywine River. 

Spring Ritual...It's that happy time of the year again! A little elbow grease, a little spit and polish and the season's "Splash" scheduled for this Thursday! Life is Good. :) 

Sicilian Countryside...Sicily's interior has it's own special beauty with seemingly endless vistas. 

The Cattedrale....Palermo's main Cathedral was built by the Normans in the 12th century. Like so many of Sicily's churches, the jaw dropping artwork and detail is difficult to capture. This feeble attempt was made with a 12.0mm lens. 

Valley of the Temples...The Greek legacy is evident throughout Sicily with Temple ruins dating to 500B.C. :-) 

Farewell to Winter...As what we hope is the last snow of the season melts away, Spring and Fire Island beckon to hibernating beach-goers, surf casters and the romantic in all of us! Sending wishes for a joyous Spring! :-) 

Villa with a View...On a steep cliff high above Taormina, this villa has your basic million dollar view. :-)

Taormina...It just might be possible to spend all of one's time in Taormina just taking in the 180 degree vistas. :-) 

Sicilian Fishing Villlage...Mainland Italy's tourism is slow to reach Sicily and the coast is still the site of several working fishing villages. Acitrezza, a very picturesque village, is famous from "The Odyssey" for here is where Polyphemus (the Cyclops) threw rocks against Ulysses. More importantly however, Aciterzza claims to have the world's best "granita" or fresh lemon ice. My first hand knowledge is that they just might be right! :-) 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!....also see below for today's post from Sicily, a clear shot of Mount Etna's steamy and snowy appearance. :-) 

Mount Etna...Most of the time during our visit momma Etna was hidden by clouds. Click on this image for a closer look at Etna's steaming summit. 

The Greek Theatre...They estimate that the theatre dates to around 500B.C., the Roman home improvements (columns, brick and entrance ways) date from about 100A.D. Seems to me that's several performances ago! The mountains in the country side make for a very dramatic backdrop.

The View from Taormina...CLICK ON THE IMAGE FOR THE BEST VIEW....The ancient town of Naxos sits on the seaside just down from Taormina. This "weak in the knees" shot was taken from the main piazza in Taormina's pedestrian street. 

Heavenly View...In the small village of Castlemola this church has a rather commanding view of Naxos and the Cyclops coast. The vistas from Taormina and Castlemola can not be appreciated in photographs, true eye candy for sure!
We are told that Castlemola was a favorite retreat for Winston Churchill and D.H. Lawrence among others. Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor spent their honeymoon here...no Paris Hilton sightings as of yet. :-) 

Palermo...The view from the Albergo Sole Hotel restaurant included the piazza, the Duomo and the not too distant mountains. I experienced Palermo as a wonderful maze of chaotic narrow streets lined with all types of shops, restaurants, coffe bars and the ever present pastry temptations. The roadways were shared in a fashion not fully understood by me, all manner of motorized wheels seemed to cross in a matrix shared by human feet. :-) 

Mount Etna...Europe's largest and most active volcano as seen from the village of Castlemola above Taormina. Locals call her, with great respect, "Momma Etna. CLICK ON THE IMAGE for the best view!
Sicily is not internet user- friendly and wireless connections are very expensive when available. It was impossible to post photos from most of our stops during the past two weeks.
The Sicilian country side is stunning it it's beauty AND..it's always nice to come home! :-)

Agrigento .... One of several views of the city up on the hill from our hotel, the city where Alida's roots run deep. We spent the day away from the tour group using all our senses as we experienced Arigento on our own. A wonderful journey on a Sicilian Sunday filled with the aroma of red sauce and pleasant attempts to converse with the locals. It was an experience filled with surprise, we were greeted ( as we were a curiosity wearing short sleeves in 76 degree temps) by old women and their adult daughters as we got "lost" in the twisting alleyways. It was...an experience worth the price of admission!! The people here are warm and wonderful, my only regret is that we did not get to taste any of that sauce... :-) 

Mending the Nets....In the fishing village of Cefalu it is"off season" for the locals. While this friendly fisherman could not smile (he was occupied..) he did nod "hello" and did not object to the camera. :-) 

Cefalu, Sicily...The red tile roofs meld into the blue of the Tyreenian Sea! So many photos and so little internet time! :-)