Last weekend, our friends Justin and Maddie took us to Taormina, which is located about an hour away from where we live, on the north-eastern side of the island.
Taormina is the cutest little hilltop town that has incredible views of Mount Etna and becomes a huge attraction in the summers. After visiting, I can see why!
After arriving and parking, we walked through the town toward the Teatro Antico di Taormina, which is another ancient Greco-Roman theater. While walking through, we stopped at many shops and churches along the way and enjoyed the general splendor of the town, weather, and atmosphere.
The wall that surrounds the old city, and a mosaic contained within it.
Duomo di Taormina
The old town.
The village itself is perched on a cliff overlooking the Ionian Sea. When walking though the old town, we noticed that there were many, many stairs and tiny little alleyways.
One thing I love about Italy – all the dogs! Unlike in the US, dogs are welcome almost everywhere. My favorite place I’d seen them might be in the Apple store at the mall. We saw this cute little one all dressed up with its owners in the old town. I’d take more photos of the dogs here, but I’m waiting until I know enough Italian to ask permission first!
Along the way to the Teatro Antico di Taormina, we stopped at Bam Bar for a granita. A granita is a dessert that is somewhere between sorbet and Italian ice. It has may traditional flavors including strawberry, almond, mandarin, and lemon. I had mandarin and Jordan had strawberry. They were incredibly delicious.
Eventually, we made it to the Teatro Antico di Taormina! They offer discounts based on age and citizenship for entry into a many historical sites here, and there was quite a debate at the ticket counter about Jordan’s age… it must be the mustache!!
The Teatro Antico di Taormina is the second largest ancient theatre in Sicily. The fact that it is a brick structure dates it to Roman times, but the plan and arrangement of the structure are Greek. Thus, it is assumed that the current theatre was rebuilt on an older theatre of the Greek period. It overlooks the ocean, which is quite a site to behold!
On the way back to the car, we checked out some art and stopped by La Pignolata Guinness Cannoli for the best cannoli I’ve ever had!! And, Maddie picked us some fresh clementines straight from the tree.
Once in the car, Justin drove us down the hilltop a bit to an amazing overlook.
After the overlook, Justin drove us up the hillside to Bar Turrisi. The walk to the bar was beautiful.
Walking in, it looked just like any other restaurant, except for all of the discreet decorations of… well, penises. From the floor tiles to the menu, there were penises everywhere!
We selected a table on the top floor and watched the sunset with a traditional appetizer and drinks (I had a “kamasutra”).
After our drinks and snacks, we then went to Catania for dinner before retiring for the night. We were exhausted, but the trip was SO MUCH FUN!
Look out for our next post to hear more about our first solo day trip. We chose to check out some place new.. and I can’t wait to blog about it!!
Our first weekend in Sicily, we explored Catania. For our second weekend, we joined our friends Justin and Maddie at Murgo for Maddie’s 23rd birthday! Murgo is a winery, restaurant, and B&B that sits at the foot of Mt. Etna just north of Catania. The drive there was quite beautiful.
Once we arrived, we located our table and then took a walk around the grounds to take in all of the general splendor.
Our table, specially reserved for Maddie!
The grounds were breathtaking! And, there were plenty of dogs to go around, as is typical in Sicily.
We then moved inside for lunch. Murgo’s resturant features agriturismo style food, which is freshly made food served family style. They served course after course (I think there were 5 all together), along with their speciality crafted wines.
And those were just the second course!
The third course was pasta.
And fourth, meat!
The last course was dessert, which was yummy, but the real favorite was Maddie’s cake from Caroline’s Soulfood. Not only was it beautiful, but it was DELICIOUS!! The cake was unicorn themed toped with a vanilla bean Swiss meringue frosting, pistachio Macarons, fruits, and cotton candy.
After lunch, we took some empty liter water bottles to the barrel room for a fill up (seriously, straight from the hose). For 2€ each, we got to bring back two liters of wine for later! We also got a tour of their cellars and factory to see where the wine is made. However, it was in Italian, so don’t ask me a lot of questions!!
Maddie and Jordan also took turns getting weighed on an old school scale.
Hopefully, it was a birthday for the books for Maddie! I know we had a great time.
This weekend, our wonderful friends Maddie and Justin showed us around Catania. Catania, the most densely populated metro of Sicily, is also known as “the black city,” as it’s buildings have been dyed black as a result of ash and soot from volcano Mt. Etna over the centuries.
Naturally, I was so excited I neglected to bring my camera. So, iPhone photos will have to do for this trip.
Our first stop was at the archaeological area of the Theater and Odeon in Catania.
The theater was built in the first century A.D. (that’s somewhere between years 1 to 100 A.D. in case you were wondering) and seated approximately 1,500 of Sicily’s most elite.
It was actually built over at one time (with buildings) and was “discovered” in the eighteenth century. Subsequently, the buildings that covered the theater were removed in the twentieth century.
The Odeon was off to the side a bit, and was used for poetry, music, and rehearsals for the Theater. It was also once covered by houses that were later demolished.
Many apartment buildings and a church actually surround the Theatre.
It was quite a site to behold… and my first of many theaters!!
After exploring the Theater and Odeon, we headed to an adorable little cafe to grab a snack since we still had five hours or so before dinner.
Justin and Maddie took us to an amazing little pastry shop, Savia, in which we purchased sweet pastries (they also had savory ones).
After enjoying our pre-dinner snack, we headed back to their car, where we were greeted by the parking police. While you may have heard traffic here is crazy (if you haven’t heard, now you have – there are basically no rules), parking is strict. Luckily, Justin was able to talk to the attendant and she let us pay the meter, so no ticket was had!
p.s. McDonalds delivers here.
Next, Justin drove us to Aci Trezza to see the Cyclopean Isles. If you’re familiar with Greek mythology, these are the stones thrown at Odysseus in The Odyssey by the Cyclops.
Here, we stopped for a drink (which is served with a small board of food) and then drove to back to Catania for dinner. It was dark by this point, so I didn’t take too many photos. We plan to go back another day, so I will update this post then!
Once we got back to Catania, we explored the main square, Piazza del Duomo, and the city center. Here are two photos I managed to take: one of the old city (in which in new city is built on top of, as is the way here), and me on the smallest set of stairs E V E R. Okay, so I don’t really know if they were the smallest set of steps ever, but I had to get a photo just because.
After seeing the city at night, we had dinner at Alvicolo Pizza and Vino – where I had both pizza AND wine. Here is a photo of our pizza, and a snippet of the menu, in which you see the word “cavallo” in #39…
…meaning “horse”. We didn’t try that one yet, but maybe one day!
