I grew up with the information that my Grandmother, Marie Bozzo’s family was from “Termini Imerese” in Sicily very near to where we are today. My Mother, also was named Marie Bozzo her origin family names were Dorsa and Sclafanie- I thought they were from Sicily too!. My second cousin completed an extensive family research-(thanks to the new genealogy app’s) has learned that actually, very few people on the Bozzo side of the family ever lived in Sicily. Cosenza, and Donnici in Calabria is where most of them came from. My quick google search indicated the origin of the name Bozzo is Sicily. So for today-I’m going to believe we are near my Grandmother’s home town area.
This is a photo of my maternal grandfather Grandpa Bozzo. See names on the photo. And a photo of my Grandmother Marie (in the middle), with her sister Josephine and brother Sam.
Taormina is lovely medieval town perched on high cliffs and situated next to the still very active Mt. Etna. Well, we had originally booked a food tour that was subsequently canceled. And how exciting was our sail in this morning? We enjoyed coffee on our veranda while waiting for the first siting of Mt. Etna!! We decided to discover the Alcantara Gorge Geological Park. First we had the opportunity to tender to the port as there is not any dock large enough for our ship! We learned that due to the location of the Italian island of Sicily there are many different “layers” to the island with remnants of many different times and cultures. Greeks, Romans, Roman Empire, Spanish, Byzantine, Arabs finally the Republic of Italy. Thus the “typical” Sicilian can be: black, red, brown or blond hair- brown black or blue eyes! Thus explaining Grandpa Bozzo, Joann and Joseph’s blue eyes!
We embarked on a short but scenic drive with Laura as our guide, from Giardini Naxos into the Sicilian countryside for a guided visit to the Alcantara Gorge Geological Park. We drove thru a valley of lemon and orange orchards. This is one of Italy’s most majestic natural landscapes, defined by soaring lava walls and basaltic colonnades. the locals describe them as “organ pipes”.
We heard the mythological tale of how the angry god’s caused the canyon’s formation, and came to understand the more scientific explanation from our naturalist guide and the eruption of a volcano that once stood between Sicily’s Mount Etna and the Peloritan Mountains.
We came to appreciate this landscape where poppies and orchids can be found blossoming, and chestnut and birch trees spread across the terrain. We watched as the Alcantara River, tumbles down the sides of the gorge, shaping and polishing the canyon walls as it has for eons. Then came the fun! We purchased water walking shoes and went down to the river.
The water was freezing cold and we had fun observing the different rock formations as we walked up the river. The river was a brisk jolt of refreshment, which was well welcome to our sweating bodies!!! We were offered to stroll into the ice-cool water as far as we could without getting wet! Next we enjoyed an interesting Sicilian beverage flavored with salt! We decided it is Sicily’s Gatorade!! It was quite refreshing to enjoy before we returned to our bus, where we enjoyed a most scenic drive back to the harbor.
Our guide today recommended the Restaurant La Cambuza- sits at the beach near where the bus left us off today! So we decided, we are in Sicily why not. Sitting in the yacht harbor – enjoying a fabulous of sausage calzone and fettuccine with fish!
suannschutt 