Day 1: Messina, Mt. Etna, Zafferana Etnea and Catania

Today was our first full day in Sicily and we were feeling like we had some footing! Yesterday was a mess with the ferry getting in so late but today... I was ready to conquer Sicily! We woke up, ate breakfast, got a phone card so we would then has internet (for GPS) on my phone and hit the road! Such a freeing feeling!

Last shot of Messina... fed us an amazing meal and provided us the best place to stay! We are forever grateful to you, Messina!

Then we hit the road and headed to Mt. Etna... an active volcano that is quite large and famous in this area. Due to the snow and it being an off season, we got as close as we could and admired the view!

There were lots of lava rocks and such surrounding the volcano- too cool! 

After taking lots of pictures, we headed to a sweet town at the base of Mt. Etna... Zafferana Etnea. They were known for their bees and honey and plus is a cute town with sweet views of Mt. Etna.

Loving the Easter decorations in all the bakeries here

The cathedral in town

We stopped by this honey and specialty food store because it got great reviews. It was a great store but FULL of tour groups. Must be the it spot! Here is a picture from their honey factory.

Then we "stopped in" to this bakery and it stole our hearts! The people in there were so nice and we ended up buying it all! HA!

These are gorgeous marzipan fruits and vegetables

The world's best (and thickest) hot chocolate!

Yummy snack!

While at the bakery, we started chatting with this man who then invited us to his house to see his bees. He is a bee keeper! :)

He showed us some of his bees! It was super cool!

The one in the center with the red dot is the queen!

He also showed us around his factory! 

Mom tasting honey

Where all the yummy honey is stored

This is the view of Mt. Etna from the front of his house. Gorgeous!

Loved loved loved this sweet town!

After leaving the sweet town, we headed on to Catania. Since we took the ferry over to Sicily, we had our car which also meant we could go to... IKEA and load up with loot! So excited!!

Mom and I had fun! Dad.... well, he tolerated it

For dinner we had the best food we have had in Sicily! Sadly my phone died so no pictures but it was a great one! Oh the food and the service!