Sunset over Sicily

We finally arrived in Taormina, Sicily. Taormina is a smaller town about an hour outside Catania, where we flew in. This means we had to rent a car and drive through the mountains, and through the cliff-side town, to reach the hotel. Scott drove and I navigated. It was a harrowing ride due to all the switch-backs and narrow lanes. At one point, we had to drive in reverse back down the road because a bus was trying to pass us going the other way and the road wasn't wide enough. Also, we didn't have a map. Not surprisingly, we became confused and disoriented and stopped to ask directions. A guy at the gas station tells us we can't drive the car to the hotel, so it's best to park in a lot and walk. He directs us to a parking area, and we attempt to enter. Unfortunately, the gas station attendant neglected to mention that the parking "lot" was actually a ten-foot wide road at the base of a retaining wall. We pull in, and the only spot left is on a grass median up over a very high curb opposite the wall. Our tiny car couldn't handle it, and we heared the grinding of metal as the chassis of the car scraped the curb. Oops.
We decided we better try another lot, but by this point another car has pulled out of a spot and is blocking the road ahead of us, leaving no option for us but to back out of a long, narrow, car lined slope in our standard transmission car. Scott was forced to do the Austin Powers move where you back up and go forward a million times while the woman in the car blocking our way laughed and I attempted to back-seat drive. At no point did it occur to the woman that if she just backed up a few feet, we could take her parking spot and she could pass us. Eventually, we extricated the car from the lane. Next, another gas station attendant tells us to pass a roundabout to go through a tunnel. He doesn't mention that there are TWO tunnels off the same roundabout, and Scott decides to turn around in the middle of the entrance to the first tunnel to select the second tunnel entrance. Probably not a legal turn, but hey, no one was watching. The second tunnel turned out to be correct, and we found the hotel. Above are pictures of the view from the terrace.

Above is the street our hotel is on.

We definitely had to stop for some after dinner gelato with my folks.

Below is a view of the next town from a square overlooking the ocean.

We just had to take a picture of this bar. It seems a little out of place, since the remainder of town has a more traditional look (and is not German).

I have no idea what the significance of this church is, but it was very nicely lit.

We plan to see some of the ancient Roman ruins in the area tomorrow. There are also several towns within driving distance that are popular for sight-seeing, including Agriento and Syracuse, but after the driving escapades today I don't know if we'll go. The driving was easy enough once we got a map, but the beach suddenly seems more appealing. - Anna