The hotel we stayed at in Siracusa was a Best Western - the only chain hotel we had booked for our trip . Despite the fact that it was a bit . . . well, like a chain hotel, the staff was lovely and the price (35€ for two, breakfast included) was incredible. Although the quality of the food wasn't top notch, there was plenty of everything - dolchi, coronets and expresso for the Italians; Wurst and Käse for the Germans, and even bacon, eggs, cereal, toast and Americano coffee for us Yanks.

After the hearty breakfast we were off to Catania . We had read a lot about the market here. This was an honest to goodness food market with mostly fish, fruit, vegetable, meat and cheese vendors - and we were in heaven. The only thing that outdid the fresh food was the people watching. There were plenty of characters buying and selling at the market. What a scene! Everything and everyone was colorful in the bright morning sun. We toured the entire market three or four times, just to take it all in.

We managed to tear ourselves away from the market and visit a few of the other sights. We walked through a university and several piazzas - including Piazza Dante. (He is everywhere!) We also visited some ruins and several chiesas, including the Cathedral St. Nicolo (which was never completed) and, of course, the Duomo. We could have seen much more, but we just couldn't stay away from the lively food market. We even ate lunch at a restaurant that was located in the heart of the market. Our table was on a crowded sidewalk right next to a butcher's stall. The restaurant, il Paglia, specializes in fish, but it is said that if you cannot find what you want on the menu, then just ask and they will go out into the market and find it. Our lunch was quite good.

One advantage of the mid afternoon shutdown in Italy is that it makes a convenient time to travel between stops during the day. So we ended our visit to Cantania and made our way to our next destination, San Alessio - near Taormina . We had reservations here, courtesy of Hotels.com. Our host Vincenzo was cheery and gracious. Although his English was as bad as our Italian, we hit it off immediately. This was a lovely little pension with eight rooms and a short walk to the municipal parking lot. St. Alessio is just a few kilometers east of Taormina, which makes it a great base for exploring the region.

Taormina itself is a very lovely hill-top town, even if it is a bit over-the-top as a mecca for jet-setters and jet-setter wannabes. The town is quaint, especially if you wander off the two or three main tourist thoroughfares. We enjoyed the public park (Villa Communale), people watching, and the views - all of which were spectacular. We still cannot adjust to the Italian custom of eating dinner at 8 pm or later, so we decide to not wait for the restaurants to open and head back to our hotel. When we arrive we are greeted by the innkeeper's wife, who asks about our trip and insisted that we have plenty of time to go up and visit another lovely hilltop town AFTER we eat dinner. (When do these folks go to sleep?? A hint came when I told Vincenzo that we needed to leave early in the morning to catch the ferry. He asked if 11 am was okay. We settled on 8 am instead.)

We ended our last night in Sicily with an unexpected surprise. Tired, we decided we would have dinner at the hotel. It turns out that the hotel's restaurant is located at the top of the building and there is an outdoor terrace. So, despite somewhat windy conditions, we ate under the moon with the lights of the little hilltop town twinkling above us. Another moment we could not have planned to be so perfect.