Sicilian life with Nunzio

A few days ago we were anchored in Naxos, outside of the ancient city of Taormina on the big Italian island of Sicily.  This is the first time I’ve ever been to Sicily, but I have always read about the people and food and the warm, exciting culture.  I was excited to be on a long tour that day as we tendered in to the town.  The bad part was that there was lightning and the water was extremely rough!  I barely thought we would make it getting on and off our little tender boats, but the skies cleared up within about 30 minutes of the tour and it was sunny from then on!

On the tour we first were introduced to our guide, Nunzio, an energetic Sicilian who was very proud to be from the area and enthusiastically gave us a great history lesson on the island and its different people groups, etc.  I was enthralled from moment number one with this guy because he was so passionate about sharing his culture with us!  I must admit, I also loved that he called me the group’s “guardian angel” sitting at the back of the bus!  Ha ha!  We headed in to the town of Taormina where Nunzio gave us a good walking tour before we got to the end of the town where a very well preserved Greco-Roman Theatre stood.  This theatre sits right on a cliff overlooking a bay and is truly stunning.  To see the ancient columns and perfect acoustics in action was really cool, especially after having studied these theatres in school for so many years.  We were given free time to wander around, but Nunzio pulled me aside and let me know of a gelateria to go to where his friend, Mario, would give me some free gelato…YES PLEASE!

After about an hour wandering around cobbled streets and shops and enjoying my pistachio and stracciatella creation we boarded the bus again for a drive out of town to one of the world’s most active volcanoes, Mount Etna.  Nunzio grew up right on the slopes of the volcano, so he was excited to tell us all about how big and powerful she is.  He explained that she erupts about every 5 years and the eruption lasts up to 1 year.  (It just finished erupting July 7 of this year!)  The volcano can be destructive, but it hasn’t damaged much in its history and the towns living on its sides are more than equipped to deal with her when Etna erupts. 

At our lunch stop along the drive up the mountain we ate great pastas and traditional Italian and Sicilian foods.  I was glad to get to sit with Nunzio as he told me about how he loves what he does.  He has been a guide for 29 years (since he was my age) and loves every second of it.  He said he still gets excited to meet new people and share his home with people.  He was amazing to talk to and wanted to know all about my career goals and everything.  He did stop to get champagne to toast and sing to a guest celebrating a birthday.  He was just truly excellent at making each person on the trip feel special, taken care of, and loved.  I felt like I could learn so much from him. 

To finish off the tour we drove up winding roads through volcanic ash to the upper part of Mt. Etna where we got off the bus and actually walked around major craters that had been created hundreds of years ago from previous eruptions!  It was really cool.  I don’t think I had ever been in a barren environment quite like this, but there was something really beautiful about the black and red ash and the way it had been naturally sculpted into such peaks and valleys.  I found the whole thing really interesting. 

On our drive back to the ship I couldn’t help but fall asleep.  These long days in port are killer and I think the majority of the guests were asleep anyway!  Ha ha!  Nunzio joked around once we were close to the port that we had all practiced the siesta for the day!  Before we left to board the ship, Nunzio handed out postcards with pictures of Sicily on each one and a history of Sicily which he compiled and wrote himself.  It also had his email address for any and all the guests to contact him.  He said, “In Sicily we always say that your house is as big as you want it to be!  My home is big enough for all of you!”  I loved that.  Before I left Nunzio stopped me and handed me a big calendar with pictures of the area and a whole book of the postcards.  He also told me that he would love to keep in touch and to skype with me to teach me Italian!  Ha ha!  What an awesome day.  I love going on tours because of the always unique experiences they bring, but this one was special because of Nunzio.  I will definitely be taking him up on his offer for a visit when I return to Sicily!  Love you all…

Tripp