We got a car from the airport and tried to get pass the downtown of Palermo, which really wasn’t that fun at all. The street safety there is really bad, we could see crosses set for young people who had passed away on that road (disturbingly with photos on them!), let's just say that we were glad to get pass that part. Once out of the city, the drive was really scenic, we could see small villages up on the mountainsides and plenty of plantations along the way. Somewhere quite in the middle of Sicily, we drove up to this small hilltop village called Enna.
We parked the car to take a stroll around the place, but sooner than we noticed we were all up in the clouds; we could barely see 50 meters ahead of us. As we drove back down it was pretty interesting to see how the entire hilltop was in a cloud one second and the next it was all cleared - bizarre. The next stop would be Nicolosi- our base camp for exploring Etna.
We parked the car to take a stroll around the place, but sooner than we noticed we were all up in the clouds; we could barely see 50 meters ahead of us. As we drove back down it was pretty interesting to see how the entire hilltop was in a cloud one second and the next it was all cleared - bizarre. The next stop would be Nicolosi- our base camp for exploring Etna.
It was dark as we started to climb the last road towards Nicolosi and searching for our B&B. As we arrived we had not seen a glimpse of Etna yet (note: we were already on it), we didn’t even know what to expect in the morning. We drove on a little alley and parked the car- the air was chilly from a past rain. We now stood in front of a big gate trying to figure out how to entrance the place. We tried knocking the door, but no answer. We tried calling the number left on the side of the gate, but still nothing. Finally the neighbour heard us and came to rescue- he let us in to wait for the owner to arrive. Behind the strong big gate was a small inner yard and rooms all around in two storeys. We waited in a cosy reception room that was decorated with traditional mountain stuff and pre Christmas things. Turned out it was a young couple who owns the place and the woman welcomed us really warmly and took us to our room. We got ourselves a lovely rustic duplex that was decorated in a similar fashion. After settling in we got out on a town to eat (we couldn’t really get enough of the cucina siciliana!) and boy did we sleep good with our full tummies that night- in our countryside- style balcony.
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| Polifemo - The best B&B in Nicolosi! |
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| Small & cosy restaurant on a backstreet of Nicolosi |
The next morning we had a breakfast in the common room; our host had prepared us a table full of things to taste! Salty things such as regional cheeses, charcuterie, fresh bread and so on, as well as sweet pastries and croissants all washed down with freshly brewed cappuccino! Now that’s some bed & BREAKFAST. To add to our excitement she showed us a half hour video about Etna, and shared a tip and two. She told us there had been a big lava eruption the week before, and that it erupts pretty much every two weeks. By now, we could not wait to explore the one of the most active volcano in the world!
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| Real country romance breakfast |
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