Taormina

Taormina is a popular vacation town for both Italians and Europeans. It is on the east coast of Sicily about an hour north of Catania. The drive up here is nice, though it can be confusing, as Anna explained to you yesterday. As you can see from the picture above, the town is on a seaside cliff, and the roads are very narrow and steep. However, the town is beautiful and very charming. The hotel we are staying at is on the main street of Taormina, which is also a pedestrian street. Only Taxis and scooters are allowed in.
The view from our room isn't great (the window opens up on an ally) but from the rooftop terrace, you can see all of Taormina, the coast, and Mt. Etna, Europe's largest active volcano, smoking in the distance.


View from the Terrace.

Mt. Etna.

(Emily, this one's for you! The hotel had a bunch of cool succulents growing on the balcony. I've never seen this one before, have you seen it? Scott keeps making fun of me because I tend to shoot lots of close-ups of local plants, but I miss my garden. -Anna)

This planter is on a column on the terrace. It has no real signifigance, but I thought it looked interesting.

This is the Rooftop terrace of our hotel. We had a light breakfast here in the morning, and were able to look over the town. It is extremely peaceful up here. Since May and June are considered the "shoulder season" in Taormina, there isn't too many people, just enough to make the walk down the street interesting.

After breakfast, Anna and I decided to make our way down to the beach, while Joe and Jen went sightseeing and shopping. In order to get to the beach, we had to take a cable car ride down the cliff. Normally, it is nearly impossible for me to get Anna on a cable car. However, some of you may have heard about a certain "death trap on a string" ride we took in South Africa a couple of years ago. This one was much more mild than that.

The beach in Taormina was beautiful, if rocky. We took the advice of the lady at the front desk of our hotel, and found a beach club with some chairs and umbrellas. With drinks and books in hand, we settled in for an afternoon of soaking up some rays and doing absoulutely nothing. It was everything we hoped it would be.

The water was cold and clear, and there were several schools of small fish swimming around. Too late, we discovered that there was a SCUBA shop in the cove we were at, and we weren't able to go diving. However, we've already decided that, if we come back, we will definitely sample the diving around Sicily.

After the beach, we stopped at an ancient Greek ampitheatre in Taormina. The theatre itself has been refurbished, and there are more wood and steel risers than granite. It doesn't have the grandeur and presence of the Odeon theatre in Athens, but it was still interesting to see, and the views were spectacular.

This picture was taken by another American tourist looking off the backside of the theatre. For some strange reason, it seems like all of the other Americans we've run into on this trip are from the South. Or perhaps it's just easier to pick out that southern twang in a crowd. "Y'all wanna stop and get some gelati?"

The picture above is a street shot of Corso Umberto, the main pedestrian street in Taormina. It's a nice town, and we've been able to relax here after all the hustle and bustle of Rome and Florence. The food has also been excellent. There is no shortage of restaurants.

Tomorrow, we are driving to Raccuia to see the place where Anna's Grandpa was born. She is excited, and I am looking forward to it as well...as long as my nerves don't give out on the drive there first. - Scott