Mountains Magic Life

The final adventure of our trip - the one that brought us to Sicily - was a guided hike up Mount Etna. At the base camp, it was gearing up to be another beautiful day. From there, we took a van up to about 9500’ and then started hiking. We gained approximately 1500’ in 1.75 miles (the north rim of Mount Etna is 11,155’).

It was a steep hike at a relatively quick pace. Because of the lava rock and ash, it’s not a hard packed trail, so you had to pay close attention to the footing. The wind was constant, with gusts that tried to knock you over. And about 2/3 of the way the clouds/steam/ash kept swirling and obstructing the view of the volcano rim. Eventually our guide decided that the conditions were too dangerous to finish our hike to the north rim so we had to turn around, knowing that we were so very close.

The next day, as we were flying out of Catania, I had a couple of perfect views of that volcano…

We stayed in Catania for our last 2 nights. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to do a whole lot of exploring there. We had a great Airbnb right above the “Fish Market” area, which had a fun energy.

There was also some incredible food to be had! One night we were able to snag one of the last tables at Antica Marina, and what a feast we had! The other night had us scarfing down some delicious pizza.

Modica was a town on Matt’s list. Apparently, they are well known for their chocolate! So, after we checked out of our Airbnb in Ortigia, we headed inland some. What we found was an incredible chocolate shop where we tried various chocolate bars, we each got a cannoli filled with chocolate cream, and finished it off with a cold chocolate beverage topped with cream (similar to a hot chocolate but almost as thick as a pudding).

After that indulgence, we needed to walk it off! Luckily, the town is a combination of steep windy streets and oh-so-many stairs! We wandered and explored - all the way to the top of the town. Since we did that during the siesta time, town was really quiet. There were so many nooks and crannies to explore!

Before leaving Ortigia, we decided to tour Castello Maniace. We were the first people in for the day, so we had the place to ourselves for a little while and were able to take the time to appreciate the beautiful stonework.

Marzamemi was on my list of places I wanted to see. I first heard of it in a Substack article about wine, and the way the author described the town piqued my interest. It’s a small village that used to be known for their tuna. In the years since, their main square has turned into this beautiful gathering area with table to sit and linger over a glass of wine or aperitivo.

Since we were already so close, it made sense to drive to the southernmost point of Italy. We didn’t plan for a beach day, so we obviously were not dressed appropriately..but it was so worth it!

We stayed in Ortigia for a couple of nights. Wonderful pastries and coffee, the fortress lit up every night, a lively appetitive and dining scene, and some of the coolest hidden alleyways and courtyards…

Since we rented a car, we have been able to see so much of Sicily, beyond just to big tourist area! Transitioning from Palermo to Ortigia, we saw quite a bit of the countryside away from the coastline.

We left Palermo shortly after 7am, with a target to get to the Valley of Temples by 10 at the latest. It was supposed to get into the 80s and there isn’t a whole lot of shade up there, so I knew we didn’t want to start out too late. It’s a decent walk from the parking area to the furthest temple - with scenery and views to distract you.

Since we were so close, we decided to check out the Stairs of the Turks. We couldn’t find easy parking at that time of day, but we did find a gorgeous overlook. I loved the contrast in color of the white stone and the insanely beautiful blue waters.

The Christmas 2025 vacation drawing was a little bit bigger as Matt & I are celebrating our 10 year anniversary in June 2026. So, we did a special group of vacation ideas and discussed the merits of each idea. In the end, we decided on “taking a trip to an active volcano”…

That selection lead us to planning a trip to Sicily! I’ve been so excited about this adventure because I’ve been wanting to explore this island for a very long time.

We started the adventure with a couple of nights in Palermo. We found an amazing Airbnb in the old town and had such a great time exploring from this central location! We started with a walking tour of the street food scene, which was perfect when you are so very jet lagged! And we had a pizza making class the next day…as well as a little shopping and LOTS of walking!

How to summarize the adventures of this past weekend and what it meant to me…?! For my 50th, Erika decided we were way overdue for a sister trip…this time to NYC! Two nights in the city to eat, shop, relax, catch up, and enjoy 2 Broadway shows. It was pure perfection 💖 Then, to close out the trip, a couple nights with her family in their CT home (great food and beautiful sunset included!). This was much needed, and pure magic.