On our last morning in Taormina we walked down to the public gardens where several paths led us among a variety of trees and plants. The flora of Italy reminded me of California where we saw olive and lemon trees, cypress, and birds of paradise a couple of years ago.
After checking out of our room we drove to Catania to return our rental car before the 1:00 deadline so we wouldn't have to pay for an extra day. While driving through Sicily we remarked on the irony of the Italians' fast and crazy style of driving considering that everything slows down or closes for the siesta every afternoon. As motorcycles sped past us I said to Mark: "They must be in a hurry to get to their siesta!"
After lunch at the airport we checked in at the Catania International Airport Hotel and decided to spend the afternoon there rather than take a bus into the city. By that time we were tired of travel and didn't mind a quiet afternoon in the hotel lobby with cappuccino and our books.
We arose at 6 the following morning in order to check out and catch the shuttle to the airport for our early morning flight to Rome. As the plane broke through the clouds we caught sight of Mount Etna's peak which had been hidden from view for the past few days.
Twenty-four hours later we would enter the driveway of our home in Oneonta, New York. It was 3:00 in the morning here and 9 a.m. in Italy! Now we've been home for nine days. We've recuperated from jet lag and remembering the highlights of our trip impels us to think about where we might like to go next year!
After checking out of our room we drove to Catania to return our rental car before the 1:00 deadline so we wouldn't have to pay for an extra day. While driving through Sicily we remarked on the irony of the Italians' fast and crazy style of driving considering that everything slows down or closes for the siesta every afternoon. As motorcycles sped past us I said to Mark: "They must be in a hurry to get to their siesta!"
After lunch at the airport we checked in at the Catania International Airport Hotel and decided to spend the afternoon there rather than take a bus into the city. By that time we were tired of travel and didn't mind a quiet afternoon in the hotel lobby with cappuccino and our books.
We arose at 6 the following morning in order to check out and catch the shuttle to the airport for our early morning flight to Rome. As the plane broke through the clouds we caught sight of Mount Etna's peak which had been hidden from view for the past few days.
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| Etna with her head above the clouds. |
When I wrote the above in May 2019, I wouldn't have imagined that a year later, in May 2020, we would be living in Wisconsin, in the midst of a pandemic that would prevent us from travelling anywhere, not even back to New York to visit friends and family.
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