Tuesday 16th February.
A Day at Taormina
So much for the weather being better in Sicily. It was really raining today so we abandoned the bikes in favour of umbrellas loaned by the hotel and set off on the bus to Taormina. The town is probably 300 meters above the sea so we were relieved the rain had forced us into taking the decision to use public transport. The cloud was so low we didn’t really see Taormina at it’s best but we did manage the Cathedral (small by most standards) the remains of the Roman baths (indistinguishable from the rest of the old Roman foundations), an important clock tower and the Greek amphitheatre from where on a clear day one allegedly can see 100kms, oh and Etna of which there was no sign!
The cathedral doors, the rest of it is Norman with a mixture of other influences and quite a lot of it has been replaced following earthquakes, eruptions and wars!
The view from our balcony - amazing what you can get out of season!!
The famous 'clock tower' to left.
View from the theatre toward Etna!
The Greek stage!
A Day at Taormina
So much for the weather being better in Sicily. It was really raining today so we abandoned the bikes in favour of umbrellas loaned by the hotel and set off on the bus to Taormina. The town is probably 300 meters above the sea so we were relieved the rain had forced us into taking the decision to use public transport. The cloud was so low we didn’t really see Taormina at it’s best but we did manage the Cathedral (small by most standards) the remains of the Roman baths (indistinguishable from the rest of the old Roman foundations), an important clock tower and the Greek amphitheatre from where on a clear day one allegedly can see 100kms, oh and Etna of which there was no sign!
The cathedral doors, the rest of it is Norman with a mixture of other influences and quite a lot of it has been replaced following earthquakes, eruptions and wars!
The view from our balcony - amazing what you can get out of season!!
The famous 'clock tower' to left.
View from the theatre toward Etna!
The Greek stage!
It is a very ancient town with a charming atmosphere and full of shops selling brightly coloured porcelain all of which looks absolutely delightful, mouth-wateringly tempting but actually what on earth is one meant to do with it and anyway no way we could carry any of it on a bike!?
The Taormina carnival began at 3.30pm and we watched a lot of children and young people dressing for the occasion (pity it was so wet) but by then our feet were sodden so we changed our minds about walking home and decided to call it a day and take the bus back to G-Naxos.
Back at Giardini Naxos it was raining as though someone had left a fire hose running. The restaurant at the back of the hotel had decided it was a waste of time opening so we had a five minute walk to the only other place open in town who fortunately served the best fish ever. I can see why Jamie Oliver was so enthusiastic about Sicilian food - it is excellent and has just that little bit extra flair and Arabian influence, along with the Italian ingredients.
We had sardines boned and stuffed with mozzarella, and fried in herbs, - which as usual we had not ordered, the chef just wanted to show us what he could do - followed by some fabulous tuna seared with ground almonds. No veg is ever served with the meat unless you ask. We rather like this as you feel you have had a 3 course supper but in fact it is only what we might eat at home but all presented one after the other, and it does seem to taste better this way. The bread is a golden colour and excellent and the local wine is most acceptable too. We haven’t discovered what the local liquor is yet!
Tomorrow the forecasters promise a fine day – we really hope so as at the moment we are considering cutting our losses, getting a boat to Brindisi from there to Athens and from there to Alexandria and from there somewhere on the Red Sea to get a bit of sun before we develop ‘trench feet’. Vivi's sister is off to Sri Lanka tomorrow and the Dorset cyclists have just come back from Lanzarote and we are feeling we may be suffering unjustly!!!!!
The Taormina carnival began at 3.30pm and we watched a lot of children and young people dressing for the occasion (pity it was so wet) but by then our feet were sodden so we changed our minds about walking home and decided to call it a day and take the bus back to G-Naxos.
Back at Giardini Naxos it was raining as though someone had left a fire hose running. The restaurant at the back of the hotel had decided it was a waste of time opening so we had a five minute walk to the only other place open in town who fortunately served the best fish ever. I can see why Jamie Oliver was so enthusiastic about Sicilian food - it is excellent and has just that little bit extra flair and Arabian influence, along with the Italian ingredients.
We had sardines boned and stuffed with mozzarella, and fried in herbs, - which as usual we had not ordered, the chef just wanted to show us what he could do - followed by some fabulous tuna seared with ground almonds. No veg is ever served with the meat unless you ask. We rather like this as you feel you have had a 3 course supper but in fact it is only what we might eat at home but all presented one after the other, and it does seem to taste better this way. The bread is a golden colour and excellent and the local wine is most acceptable too. We haven’t discovered what the local liquor is yet!
Tomorrow the forecasters promise a fine day – we really hope so as at the moment we are considering cutting our losses, getting a boat to Brindisi from there to Athens and from there to Alexandria and from there somewhere on the Red Sea to get a bit of sun before we develop ‘trench feet’. Vivi's sister is off to Sri Lanka tomorrow and the Dorset cyclists have just come back from Lanzarote and we are feeling we may be suffering unjustly!!!!!
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