And with the hoards of other tourists. After our transit day we are now in the very popular resort town of Taormina. Actually we are in town that is down the hill from Taormina itself and is considered the 'beach' of the actual town.
Taormina has long been a place the well-to-do have gone to for relaxation even back to Roman times. But it has only been considered a high point on the Grand Tour since the mid 19th century. You can read more about the story of how a German painter got it popular here. Wife and I don't exactly qualify as the rich and famous. But then again, most of the tourists who come here aren't either. But this is one of those 'A List' type places we usually avoid. But it is the end of our trip. We were considering taking a ferry to the mainland and doing three days on the boot tip of Italy, Calabria but decided it was going to be too much. So we punted and chose Taormina.
We got a great condo apartment that is very comfortable but boy, it is quite obvious that this is out-of-season especially here down at the beach as opposed to up in the main town. We chose this location because it is a short walk from a cable car that takes you right up into the main town. Cool right! Walk from the condo to the cable car. No Sicilian mountain driving and having to find parking. Except, oops, they've shut down the cable for the winter effective November 9. It's like we are back in Finland.
So up we go. The drive really isn't all that bad. Found a place to park with only a few minor detours and going the wrong way down roads (this is pretty much de rigeur for me driving in Europe...Wife says it is helping her get a beautiful pure white to her hair as a result). We needed to get Covid tests done for the flight back. Found the lab with no problems (thank you GPS) and it was done quick and efficiently. Then it started to pour. The weather is going to be horrible for the rest of the time we are here. Should have moved our whole trip a week earlier in hindsight.
In addition to the town overall, THE sight is Greek Theater....Oh God No not another Greek Theater! After the disappointment in Siracusa, I was not excited. But, as it turned out, it was actually right up there with some of the best we've seen (though I still think the theater in Hieropolis in Western Turkey was far and away the best we've ever seen. It's toward the end of this post. BTW, if you want to know why Wife and I are a bit jaded when it comes to Greek and Roman ruins, peruse more of the posts related to the 2018 Eastern Mediterranean trip).
On to the Immagini!
There was actually some patches of blue outside our condo patio Wednesday morning!
Wife confers with her local staff to determine how best to attack Taormina
Start with miscellaneous old church not even in our guidebook (which sucked by the way, DK Eyewitness. The only reason we bought is because it was the most recent) but which had signs indicating it had Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque components.
Finally our Muse takes us to the Center of Town
One of the gates to the city
As luck would have it - With Construction!
I took this picture with the express purpose have having something that would goad #3 into a comment about inappropriateness of female images
Less inappropriate
On the way to the Greek theater
And into it
Not only is the Theater itself impressive, but its location and vistas are equally wonderful.
The Proposed HQ for de-I Sandia Outfitters Sicilian Expeditions
Possibly the BEST Toilet at a Public Place in All Our Travels
Actual seats on the toilets, toilet paper, locks on the stall doors, soap, paper towels in the paper towel holder, clean. If you think I am exaggerating, do a bit of travel...even in the U.S.
Back into town, the gate without construction
Fooling around with photography
1 comment:
Gosh, you never seem to be rid of those heads...
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