We head into the markets including an Arab style fish market both of which were very active, busy, noisy and interesting. The meats were in open air and being sliced skilfully into the thinnest slices imaginable. I noted that the would certainly be closed down by the food authorities in Australia but then again I didn’t see the entire population keeling over with food poisoning.
We spent some time walking around the shops and residential areas seeing the “Duomo” on every second corner before heading back to the car. Although having paid for just one hour and being there for three, our “attendant” simply guided us out of the spot and saw us on our way.
Next we stopped at Acireale, a coastal village with a Norman fortress ruin protecting the waterfront. Interestingly the girls were at the beach – let me explain – they climbed down an extremely large number of steps to the rocks at the foot of the Norman fortress and lying on the rocks.
Another forty kilometres and various coastal towns saw us arrive at Taormina having the negotiate a serious road of hairpin turns before arriving at Robert and Kathy’s Hotel and then moving on to my hotel 300 metres up the road. After a period to recover from the drive I walk down to Robert’s hotel where we have an average meal at the rooftop restaurant.
Next morning we meet and head up towards the main part of Taormina – about 300 metres. I must say this is a most charming shopping district which goes on forever and is interspersed with the various historical sites such as the Greek Theatre and various churches.
Around 14:00 we have a quick bite at a Trattoria and head to our hotels for a bit of a relax. I head back to town to buy a present for one of the kids and then collect the car to go for a drive up the coast. We stumbled upon a beachside resort which I would describe as one of the poorest excuses for a holiday area that I have ever seen. It was as though time stood still with partially derelict three storey buildings lining the road along the beach with some cheap and nasty looking restaurants on the beach proper. I guess I should describe the beach – pebbly, blackish, strewn with litter and cigarette butts.
Anyway back to town where we go to dinner at the Capaldi Restaurant within the El Jebel hotel on the high side of Taormina. The restaurant was open air on the rooftop looking up and down the coast and over Taormina. The food, service and atmosphere was sensational. Our waiter, a Sri Lankan, recounted his passage to Taormina and Italy which was fascinating. He spends 4 months a year in Sri Lanka with his family over the European winter living the rest of the year with his Sri Lankan (they met in Italy) wife.
The food was superb with my choices being Bresaola with goat cheese dressing and a black Mt Etna mushroom, bacon and truffle sauce. The waiter insisted on bringing a dessert degustation which Kathy and I polished off. I would regard this restaurant as a must not miss food destination. I then rolled home for a relatively early night.
Next morning we left for North Mt Etna which was around 1.5 hour drive partially through mountainous winding hairpin roads. During the drive the temperature dropped from 22 degrees to 11 degrees in just 15 minutes. On the way there were massive fields of black lava rocks often with colourful wild flowers growing out of them.
Reaching 2000 metres we had intended to get a four wheel drive for the remaining 1000 metres but they told us it would be a one hour wait while the weather cleared (hopefully). As it appeared that the weather would not clear we decided (luckily as it did not seem to clear) to our next stop Randazzo. This was a very interesting city with much of it medieval with much of it in disrepair – in fact most of it. But it seemed to work for the people who lived there. It was a bit hard to understand why more of the city had not been restored as there was no apparent poverty and lots of newish cars etc., but it seemed that the people that lived there enjoyed their way of life.
After some paninis made by momma in the bread small bread shop we decided to head up to Messina which we originally planned to give a miss as not having too much to offer – as confirmed by my hairdresser of 35 years Joseph. Anyway I would have to say he was basically right. There were a number of magnificent large imposing buildings most of which were in disrepair and not in use. One building which looked similar to the Queen Victoria Building and with a magnificent glass roof was all but empty. After seeing all the churches and what little there was to see we decided we must have missed something so programed the GPS to the Armani shop which took us to a nice shopping street but that was all.
Forty minutes later we were back in Taormina and decide on a meal at a simple restaurant with a stunning view. Robert was adverse on the basis that the view and the food are inversely proportional but luckily (for me anyway) this proved wrong with a nice meal with great views.
Anyway I think the 750 kilometres of driving in 5 days is catching up with me so an early night.
Regards to all
David
