Taormina & Sue arrives to meet us

Having been here before it was great to know a little of the lay of the land and also exactly how to find our hotel. I purposely booked one within easy walking distance from our arrival point, the bus terminal.

The hotel room we were given was good and bathroom actually a decent size. I also asked for one with a sea view and was pleased when I saw the view we had. This is a pic of Mark standing on our little terrace.

Once settled we made our way up to Corso Umberto. There is an arch at each end of this gorgeous street (which is about 2 km long) and the foundations for the arches were set 400BC. Now thats bloody old!!!

After strolling the length of the street I pointed out to Mark a cafe which I had been to with the girls a couple of years earlier for a drink. He figured it was still good for a stop, so a bottle of Prosecco, a glass of red, and some nibblies later we headed off for dinner. The bar has a great outlook over a gorgeous piazza with a fountain in it. It is a very popular point of photography which was proven again by seeing several brides being photographed there over the time of our stay.

The next day Sue arrived in the afternoon and we had prepared some drinks etc to have in our room as the main street was the busiest I had ever seen by far. It was a long weekend in Italy so the locals and tourists were out in hordes. We enjoyed a couple of hours in the room catching up on each others holiday stories and then headed out to show Sue the town once the day trippers had gone off the mountain.

The next morning we were up and out reasonably early to beat the possible crowds. (It turned out not to be great weather for most the day which meant it was quieter than expected). It was off to the Teatro Greco (Greek Theatre) to not only see this amazing theatre but for the fantastic views. We were all just sitting and contemplating the view from the upper seats and watching the groups of people come through when an unlikely young guy (approx 23 yrs old) drew our attention as he had walked to the front and started singing opera. The whole crowd went quiet and his voice just easily resonated right up to the top seats. The acoustics are still great. Anyway... his singing was so beautiful it gave me goose bumps and brought both Sue and I close to tears. Needless to say he received a big round of applause when he finished, with many wanting more. He was too shy to sing more and quickly dashed up and hugged his Mum. It was very moving.
This is a pic to show some of the restoration work. They have kept it to an absolute minimum.
View of the town from the theatre though it is hard to see just how high up we are.
This is an example of the shopping available in Taormina. Heaps of ceramics... not so easy to carry and costly to ship due to the weight. There are also lots of shoe shops and Mark could not resist these little Italian ones. Here he is (posing in front of Mt Etna) They are patent black and pewter coloured. I am seeing that really he has a bit of the 'wog boy' in him... must be why I like him.
This is someone's front door and surrounding decorations. Note the plate in the middle on the right. This head with the 3 legs around it is the symbols of Sicily. (?) It is in the middle of their flag and is seen in many variations.
Finally another photo of Mt Etna. We all continued to be on the look out for when we would see the cap of it as it is often under cloud. We have been fortunate to often see it smoking (a.k.a. huffing and puffing). Not something we see at home and reminds us that this land is still young and forever changing.

As in all places we have enjoyed fabulous food and have always looked for the local cuisine where possible. Fabulous proscuitto, swordfish ravioli, veal involtini with pine nuts and raisins, gelati (Mark loves the blood orange) and pastries. He is also fascinated with the idea of going into a cafe and standing with the locals at the bar to drink it. Its such fun and we pretend we are locals even though we stand out like sore toes as tourists. Mark likes to think his new shoes will help him blend in with the locals.

I loved Taormina on my previous visit and to go back has not been disappointing even though it has developed significantly more and there is a lot of building happening in the area. Both Sue & Mark have just loved Taormina as well and both at times have said "I just love this place". Mark was not happy to be leaving and truly felt like he wanted more time there. We were also sorry the kids will not get to see this part of Italy on their trip... but they will have other opportunities I am sure.