After our Etna excursion we headed to the resort town of Taormina. We were so unprepared for this day, we didn’t even have a tourist guide so we decided to wing it. We by-passed the highway for the more scenic route. Although you get a much better taste of how the locals live, the roads are narrow and the Italians tend to drive IN THE MIDDLE which leaves you gasping for air around those hairpin turns. And our credit card auto insurance DOES NOT cover a car rental in Italy…we can understand why.
Perched up on a very high peak we could see a Castle at the top and thus followed the signs to Castelmola. What a gorgeous yet heart pounding drive.
The castle wasn’t much to see but the view was breathtaking and the little village was such a joy. We stopped in the town square to “people watch” and hang out with the locals.
After enjoying some antipasti and a cool drink, we headed for Taormina. You have to stop in Nicolosi and find the cable car that takes you up to Taormina for 3.50 Euro ($6.00 USD) round trip. Once you arrive at the top, head to Corso Umberto, the main street and a shopaholics dream. It was late so we settled in at a local eatery up one of the side streets with balconies covered in bougainvillaea. The moon was out as we enjoyed ravioli and eggplant parmigiano on our red and white checkered tablecloth with the obligatory candle light and glasses of vino. We tried to get to the Greek Theatre, built in 3BC and still used presently but it was chiuso (closed).
Today we left Riposto headed out the Straits of Messina but the winds came up from the North at over 30 knots so we pulled into the anchorage near Naxos Giardini and I could get the whole view from top to bottom of where we went yesterday.
We got a great view of The Royal Clipper ship enjoying the last of its downwind sail. The sails were coming down fast and furious.
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