Cappuccino, Gelato, Pizza, Pasta, and Tunnels

Perceived chaos in the Cantania fish market.  Doesn't Maria fit right in???


After climbing in the Dolomites of Italy (behind us).  Yes we are still alive!

Mount Etna from our marina.  Mount Etna is the largest and most active volcano in Europe.  Let's hope she doesn't decide to get angry while we are here!

Mount Etna as we approached our landfall in Riposto, Sicily.  Those aren't clouds you see!

Taking the car ferry from Sicily to the Italian mainland.  25 minutes and safely across the Straits of Messina.  Let's hope Aspen can have an easy ride across too!

Pompeii.  The original streets that were uncovered after being buried by Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.

A victim of the massive eruption of Mount Vesuvius that buried 16,000 people.

The Roman baths that were famous in Pompeii.

Typical Italian breakfast at a castle hotel we stayed at in the mountain town of Arpina.

The Italian mountain town where Maria's grandfather was born (Santo Stefano).

Maria is taller than most of the men in Accettura!

The Dolomites of southern Italy are one of the premier rock climbing areas in the world for obvious reasons!

The Italian mountain town where Maria's grandmother was born (Accettura).

A view of Mount Etna as we attempted to drive up high!

Finding rock specimens on Mount Etna.

A view of the Ionian Sea from the Renassance town of Taormina, Sicily.

Maria's new bling from Taormina, Sicily.  The shopping there was very nice, she said.

Fish market in Riposto, Italy.  The fish are plentiful here, unlike in Greece!

Food time at the outdoor market in Catania, Sicily.  You gotta love the Italian sausages!!!

Cheeses, salami, motadella, prosciutto, capicola and any other Italian meat you can think of overflow in the outdoor Italian market of Catania!

And the market even has chicken...

The black basalt elephant was carved by the Romans in the 8th century and the Egyptian obelisk sitting atop the elephant is supposed to keep Mount Etna from destroying Catania.  Of course in 1669 the city was destroyed and 12,000 died in that eruption!

Hundreds of just pirated current movies are available for the exorbitant price of 1 Euro ($1.30 US)

Anyone for sword fish????

S/Y Aspen – September 17, 2013 – Log #106
Aspen Position: 37 degrees 43’ N  015 degrees 12’ E (UTC +2 Hours)

Long pole Italian fishermen excitedly cry out Pesce! Pesce! as they greet the awakening day catching their morning breakfast while standing on the shore looking out at the endless sea.

While close by, half a dozen church bells ring out in unison to call their faithful on a typical Sunday in Riposto, Sicily.  Ahhh, Italy!  Land of the best food in the world, along with an unmatched cultural experience.

Of course it helps to be with Italian Admiral Maria who doesn't know the language but is instantly recognized as being one of their countrymen by everyone we meet.  With a LOT of arm waving and gesturing we usually can get an answer to our questions.

Aspen is resting in a very nice marina in Reposto, Sicily on the flank of the most active volcano in Europe, Mount Etna.  Sure the volcano could erupt but what are the chances???  Captain Steve knows that there will be an increase in seismic events just before an eruption so he is closely watching the ground for any signs of movement, between bites of pizza and pasta, licks of gelato and a few glasses of vino of course.

We rented a car and toured around the Italian countryside, seeing nearly every town and village south of Rome while we searched for Maria's grandparents birth places.  It was a grand adventure among the high hilltop villages in Santo Stefano and in the Dolomite mountains where we did locate the ancestral villages.

Pompeii brought history to light for us and luckily none of Maria's grandparents were there so long ago when Vesuvius erupted and buried the entire city and entombing the inhabitants forever.

The autostrada (tollway) in Italy is fantastic!  We never wanted to exit the highway because the restaurants on the tollway were superb and we didn't have to wait until 8 pm to get anything to eat, unlike in the towns and villages where everyone stays up almost all of the night and sleeps during the day.  8 pm is when the restaurants open here!  Of course everyone snacks all day on pizza as well as fish and prosciutto sandwiches and they wash it all down with bottomless cups of cappuccino.

In the Calabria region of southern Italy the tollway cuts through mountains in an endless tunnel system.  Colorado engineers need to hire a few Italian highway engineers to help them with the tunnels in the Rocky Mountains!  The Italians could build the tunnels in less than half the time as they do out west.

Sicilian pizza is thin crust and the toppings are so fresh they are nearly growing as you eat the pizza.  Maria claims that she has never had vegetables as fresh as what we find in the markets here.  The fish is caught off the shore and brought directly to the small carts around Riposto as well.  Calamari seem to swim right into fishermen's nets and are then fried and ready for us to eat.  You just gotta love this food!

We are waiting for a good weather window to head further west and ever closer to the Atlantic Ocean.  But for now we will savor the delights of Italy!

Sail on, sail on and sail safe Aspen...