Taormina

Sunday May 22

This morning “fa tempo brutto,” the weather is ugly, as it was cloudy and raining. Eventually the rain stopped except for a light drizzle on and off and we left for Taormina with umbrellas. As many times as I have been to Taormina, I could go again and again. It is a beautiful resort town on the Ionian Sea.

Although Teresa lives in Taormina, we went to the upper section perched high on a hilltop. Teresa drove and it was great since Taormina’s streets are the typical narrow winding streets so commonly seen in Italy, with which we have become very familiar. We browsed around the little shops, took photos and enjoyed the panoramic views.

Later we took Teresa to lunch in Giardini-Naxos, the next town along the beach. We have a favorite restaurant from our visit four years ago, and wanted to return to La Bussola.

The same two guys were there, and the food again was fantastic and very reasonably priced. Sicily is definitely less expensive than most other cities in Italia.

Later on we met Angelica, another friend of Teresa’s and Angela’s, whom we had met previously. Teresa took us to the seaside village of Riposto where the gelato is known to be one of the best, particularly the pistachio.

We walked along the harbor, having conversations in Italian and English, as Angelica can speak some English. It was great!

Once we said goodbye and came back to Teresa’s, we checked some email and made a few Skype calls, then went to bed early, as tomorrow we leave early for Colle d’Anchise, which we have heard is an 8 or 10 hour drive from here, including a ferry ride across the strait of Messina.

Angelica Monaco