This month your postcards are on their way to you from Motta & Catania! While we did some exploring this month… it wasn’t to anywhere new! We are gearing up for our big spring break trip to two destinations, the move, and soaking in our last few months in Sicily.

The town of Motta is the little hill town near base. It’s where we go to the local butcher, the market, where we go for take-out pizza, to grab an espresso or granita, where Teagan used to take Ballet, the girls used to do gymnastics, and more. 

Atop the hill of Motta sits an old castle which we drive by every day, Castello Di Motta Sant’Anastasia. Compared to other castle’s we’ve visited, it’s unimpressive inside, so it’s not worth a drive out of your way, but it does have an amazing view. I will also say this… to see it every day, with Mt. Etna in the background, knowing the history that sits up there… it never ceases to amaze me how beautiful Sicily is.

It’s where if I want some real, authentic gifts, I go to for shopping. Last year for Easter, I went to a small shop at the top of the hill for an Easter Dove Cake. The Easter cakes here are traditional to have this time of year. Domenico Dolce, of Dolce & Gabbana, is from Sicily, and why Dolce & Gabbana are so big down here in Sicily. This year, I again picked up a special Dove Cake with the Dolce & Gabbana designed special tin in honor of the Sicilian art from the town of Caltagirone. I grabbed one for our PenPal, and a few for family to send back home!

This month, we also took a few little day trips with family & friends in town. With my mom, we visited the town of Syracusa and explored the underground San Giovanni Catacombs, dating back to the 6th century with over 10,000 square meters of burials, which used to home around 20,000 bodies. It was fascinating. Only after WWII did they remove the bones to a cemetery. I would highly recommend a stop here if you ever visit!

We’ve done other trips to Ortigia & Syracusa, our second favorite city in Sicily behind Taormina. The photos below are from the underground tunnels and tour we went on.

We also took another day trip up to Taormina, probably one of our favorite cities in all of Europe that we’ve been to, and did the classic Bam Bar for Granita, good lunch, sptritzs, and played in the public gardens.

Lastly, we showed them around the city of Catania for a few hours. Cappuccinos, proseco, arancini, the famous fish market, Elephant Square, ruins covered in lava from previous eruptions of the volcano make the highlight reel for this day-trip! 

That’s it for this month! 

Postcards from Motta and Catania are on their way to you as we speak! 

Thank you for following and joining in on our adventures!