Sicily Day 5 Taormina (Similar to Venice, but with a Volcano)

We woke up to a beautiful view of Mount Etna. When we arrived in the evening we were told we could see it, but we didn’t truly understand until we walked outside and saw it. The room had a nice view overlooking the coast line. After lounging around and recovering we took a walk through town to explore. There were cozy walks everywhere with narrow alley’s and very few streets for cars. We went to Da Cristina, which was recommended by my cousin Daniela because of their rice balls. We had 2 of the 6 different styles along with some amazing authentic Sicilian pizza. The first rice ball had pistachio and peas, the second fennel and sardines. I am not a fan of anchovies or sardines normally, but everything here is fresh and far more enjoyable and editable.

Before and after lunch we stopped in all of the local churches we passed. They were beautiful, but very simple and small, and in some cases you see some have been closed over the years. I loved it though, that while I was walking around, I was able to walk into a church at 7pm with open doors, something that is very hard to find now days. After lunch we did, maybe I did a little more shopping than I normally like to do, but it was too nice not to. We tried to attend mass at the time we were instructed, but sadly caught the back end of a funeral due to some miscommunication. It was again an ironic reminder of the Venice vibe we were feeling the whole time we were here. It was in Venice we stumbled into a funeral as well, and were able to participate in watching the local tradition of saying goodbye and praying for the transition of a loved one. At one point we were in a shop, and the man began turning his lights off and signaled he was going to pray for the man Giovanni.

After mass we roamed the main street a little bit more and walked through the gardens as recommended. Along the way we saw something that was Romeo and Julietish and decided to have a fun picture. We shopped some more, picking up the much sought after limoncello cousins, if I spelled that correctly. Melonchello, pistaciocello, lemon creamocello and other novelties of Italy. We wrapped up the night with a nice meal at a well rated local restaurant. There we had some different styles of lasagna and swordfish. I forgot pictures of this, but it was a nice experience at the restaurant cistern.

For more photos from the day and the trip click here.