We spent the first two nights at a B&B in Nicolosi called Il Sotto de Volcano. It got a great rating in TripAdvisor. Our rating will downgrade it a little. A very enthusiastic and energetic owner, who came to fetch us when we couldn’t find the place and couldn’t have been more helpful. It was clean and well-situated. And the breakfasts were phenomenal. But the bed was just two singles pushed together with mattresses that had seen better days. The toilet seat was falling apart and you had to squeeze up against the sink to get into the show, which didn’t have a door and soaked the tile floor. Aside from that it was fine.
Nicolosi, The Gateway to Mount Etna
We stopped at Taormina on our way to dinner with our friend (and client) Giampiero DeLuca in Messina. I say we stopped, but we couldn’t find a place to park, so we just kept on driving. Taormina is way up high on a hill. The picture below is on the road up. Fantastic views. Beautiful old town.
View from Taormina
Messina is a beach town where the ferry from the mainland comes in. It is only three kilometers from the mainland, across the Strait of Messina. They have been talking about building a bridge across for about 50 years. It would have to be a single span as the straits are very deep.
Messina
Giampiero has a fabulous home on a hill overlooking Messina and the Strait of Messina and the toe of the boot of Italy on the other side. Look at the little lake just near the shore down below in this picture from Giampiero’s balcony. Following is a blow-up of it.
The View of Messina and the Mainland of Italy from Giampiero's Patio
Lake near the Shore in Messina
Here is a picture of our host, Giampiero DeLuca. He and his wife Ebe are native Sicilians and justifiably proud of their island.
Giampiero and Irith from Giampiero's Patio