V5 travels: My Etna, Across Sicily and Palermo

We left Taormina in the morning, after 2 nights. We were both pleased to leave as it felt like we were in tourist central 24 hours a day. The main thoroughfare from our hotel was the main shopping street. There were shops for Louis Vuitton , Gucci etc as well as many restaurants, gelaterrias, and souvenir shops. We tried a couple of restaurants but were underwhelmed with the food and overwhelmed with the pricing- we had our most expensive meal to date and it was probably our worst!

We walked the 10 minutes to the parking station where our car was and left without any regret. Heading towards my Etna we were on the autostrade for a way but the it turned to a very very windy road eith numerous hairpin bends. This was the main route from the east to the volcano. At one point a line of cars were reversing down a hill in order for a large tourist coach to pass us. It was a little tense st times but we found relief becoming party of a convoy behind a tourist bus heading west.

The summit was soo. Upon us and we went from seeing what looked like sparse fields to dark, almost black sandy soil. Vast plains of this black rocky landscape loomed along with hundreds upon hundreds of tourists. If there had been a white backdrop I would have thought I was at the snow - it just had that feel. Luckily we snatched a park snd then got out to walk one of the minor craters. Firstly the temperature hit us - we had dropped over 10 degrees, and secondly the wind - gusting at 36 km/h which then impacted. On the temperature - it felt like about 6 which we were not used to. V4 was wearing a summer dress!

We walked the crater, took our pictures and then continued west. Around lunchtime, with v4 driving I began looking for somewhere to stop to eat and noted a village called Catatanenuova and lucked upon a restaurant called Daidone1945. Massimo, our host, looked after us superbly. The food was delicious - the best we had had so far. We enjoyed a tomato pasta dish, risotto marinara, grilled gamete’s and salad. The espresso snd cakes were provided free of charge. It was a delightful surprise for a little village that looked deserted when we arrived. When we checked online afterwards - it seems it’s 5star reviews are by fellow travellers who have stumbled across it in a day molar fashion to us.

After lunch we continued to Palermo. Driving through Barr. Granite landscapes before hitting fertile ground that boasted olives, lemon, citrus snd market gardens before arriving in the city. Once there, the Sicilian driving habits made us tense and double down on concentration. It seemed lanes were not used - you just drove wherever you could snd cut in on anyone you needed to. V4 did a superb job. She dropped e as she could stand being the passenger - it was nail biting stuff. We found our Pensione and parked the car in a garage for piece of mind.

Wandering the streets at night we were still not hungry do dinner was aperitif o snd tris with V4 also having a granita- which seemed similar to a sorbet but with larger ice chunks