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Isole Eolie

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The Aeolian Islands, beauty and relaxation. We spent 6 nights on the islands, taking the Liberty Lines hydrofoil out to Salina and lounging in Malfa the first three nights.  I do mean lounging, we walked a little, swam, watched the sunset from Pollara one evening (the west side of the island) and I finished my buddy's book Radio Silence , its a good read about my friend's experiences and struggles with war and peace.  He's a great guy and I am thankful to have served with him and call him a friend. The time on Salina was fun, here's a few shots: Instead of umbrella and chair rental here they rented air mattresses due to the premature sand. Sunset from Pollara. Timelapse of the sunset: My Pollara friends. View from our apartment in Malfa, not too shabby eh? Some nice smoked fish, with warm bread and chilled butter (ice is a rarity), some mussel and potato stuffed ravioli and swordfish in Malfa. Spiaggia d...
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Taormina, Castelmola & Bronte's Pistachios

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We travelled from Caltagirone to our next stop of Castelmola by way of Bronte .  Bronte is famous throughout Italy for one thing, it's pistachios.  The Arabs brought the pistachio to Bronte and the foot of Mt Etna, ever since then they've flourished into the lifeblood of the town.  That volcanic soil of Europe's largest volcano provides just the right nutrients for a nut like no other.  As you travel the beautiful country of Italy I highly recommend dishes & gelato and other things which contain Bronte pistachios.  So we stopped in a bar in small town Sicily's Bronte after driving around a bit to find the right place to purchase some pistachio products.  We ordered a couple espressos and they were delivered each with a piece of pistachio cake, tasty!  They had a few products for sale but I was searching for more variety and honestly more volume.  I asked the barista where I could find more of these products, in my broken Italian, she smiled ...
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Villa Romana del Casale - Mosaics

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While planning our trip to Sicilia, Villa Romana del Casale just outside of Piazza Armerina was a must see.  A UNESCO World Heritage Site, one of 53 in Italy , the mosaics covering the floor of this expansive villa were very well preserved due to a landslide which engulfed the entire complex.  We day tripped over from Caltagirone , about a 45 minute drive through the Sicilian countryside, following signage and "The Google" to arrive just ahead of about 3 other cars and a tour bus.  The villa is a one story complex full of beautiful Roman mosaics from the 4th century, easily reached, toured in about 90 minutes, and therefore high on the list of tour groups.  We knew this going in but when somebody got their camera briefly tangled in Kathie's hair her buttons were definitely pushed.  The villa's mosaics were crafted meticulously and were truly remarkable, its hard to fathom how much effort went into designing, preparing the materials, composing and ex...
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