September 20, 2022: Taormina, the Santorini of Sicily

September 20, 2022 cjbishop@yahoo.com

We are leaving Siracusa, heading to our last stop, Taormina, with intermediate stops in Catania and Giardini Naxos. We really enjoyed out stay in the Siracusa area; it is our favorite stop so far!

Catania was one of the early Greek settlements but when the Romans occupied it, it was most likely the largest Roman city in Sicily. The city was virtually destroyed in 1693 by both an eruption of Mt. Etna and an earthquake. Talk about bad luck. Then in WWII it was bombed heavily. The city is rebounding but is not as popular as its sister cities near Mt. Etna. We spent a few hours there with a quick walking tour and some free time to shop. We then moved on to our group luncheon at a beach cafe (Lido La Romantica) in the town of Giardini Naxos.

Egg plant and peppers. Sicily has a great variety of fresh vegetables.

Novel food cart serving mussels and bruschetta.

Meat market selling all parts of the carcass except the ‘moo’.

The cathedral of Catania dedicated to St. Agatha.

Street vendor selling a lemon juicer. Yes, we bought them!

Naxos is the oldest Greek city in Sicily. It dates back to 734/5 BC, about one year before the Greeks established Sircusa (Syracuse). Siracusa destroyed it 300 years later when it became the dominant Greek city in Sicily. What little is left today is part of the beach town of Giardini Naxos, known for its sandy beaches and thus popular with sun worshipers.

Black volcanic rock starting to appear becasue we are approaching Mt. Etna territory.

Fountain in Naxos, the original location the Greeks settled.

Starter of seafood including calamari, octopus, fish and fritters.

The national symbol of Sicily. It appears everywhere.

Only took this picture to show that many females in Sicily favor tattoos. We saw a lot of women with tattoos.

After lunch we were treated to a boat ride along the coastline of Sicily, with a singing captain and a bottle of lemoncello that he provided. It was a very enjoyable one hour journey and allowed us to experience Sicily from the sea.

The beach where we boarded our boat. We had to walk down (then up) 97 steps to rerach the roadway.

Our Sicilian captian who played Dean Martin songs as we cruised! It seemed very appropriate.

One of several bays we visited during our boat ride by being serenaded by the Captain and his radio.

By late afternoon we were in for final destination of the day and the trip, Taormina, a cliff side town overlooking the Ionian Sea on the slopes of Mt. Etna. Giusi took us on a brief orientation walk before leaving us for the evening. Taormina is in a lovely setting; it is glitzy; it is vibrant. Think of it as the Santorini of Sicily. My initial impression was that I was really going to like it!