Taormina is a beautiful town about an hour north of Sigonella. This Sunday, we took a trip up there and didn't really know what to expect. I had the goal of seeing the famous Greek Amphitheater. Once we got there, we saw a town on top of the mountain and Nathan just kept driving.
The drive up was really impressive. I'm not usually the best passenger with winding roads and steep drop-offs, but there were guardrails and it wasn't that scary at all. The views were pretty worth it.
Some of the roads were super narrow. Wilson thought it was great that he could reach out his window and touch the buildings. We only got into one pretty hairy situation, but a 72 point turn and probably as many swear words got us out of that jam!
We were at both times encouraged and horrified that very large buses were making the drive - some at a faster speed than us.
Our first stop was the town of Castelmola, which sits dramatically on a mountaintop west of Taormina. The first stop in Castelmola is Piazza Sant'Antonio when you first arrive at the top of the winding drive. It is a small piazza with a couple cafes, a pizzeria, and the entrance stairs to Castello di Mola.
The site of Castello di Mola has been used by various ruling parties since about 800 AD. The Byzantines, Muslims, and Normans all had outpost defenses here for the port city of Taormina.
The castle itself it pretty run down. What is left are the remains are 16th century Norman castle ruins.
The top of the castle was windy...
...and also beautiful.
Walking around the small town, we saw many ceramics.
Here was a neat map of Sicilia (pronounced Si-chill-ee-ya) plastered on a wall.
I love the painted shutters and doorways.
Have I mentioned the amazing views?
This shrine was on the side of the road, carved into the mountain. A beautiful Ave Maria oil painting is in the back.
We had lunch in the beautiful Piazza Sant'Antonio. There were blankets to keep warm from the wind. Leo loved this and kept one on the whole meal.
Nathan has (finally!) become a coffee man. Here is his caffe macchiatto. It is very different from the Starbucks version. It is the Italian espresso shot with a little milk. They slightly stir it to create a mark, or macchiatto, on top. You add your own sugar as desired and we love it.
Could this pizza be more American?? The description mentioned sausage and potatoes, so Nathan decided to give it a try. The toppings ended up being more hot dog and french fries than he had imagined.
We also got a Margharita and Spicy Salami (pepperoni) pizza for the table.
They also brought three different types of bruschetta - an original tomato one, one with eggplant, and an olive tapenade. All delicious!
After lunch, we headed down the mountain. Once again, we had the Greek Amphitheater as a destination. And once again, we saw a castle on another mountaintop that we had to check out. This mountain was Monte Tauro, and the castle is Castello Saraceno, the main castle in Taormina.
Right before the steps to the castle, we saw a small church that was built into the side of the mountain.
Inside was amazing. The whole ceiling is rock. The church is call Madonna della Rocca and was built around 1640. Legend has it that a young local boy was tending his sheep when a storm came. The boy got scared and took refuge in a cave. While he was in there a lady appeared and comforted him. When the storm passed, he told his fellow villagers what had happened in the cave. Many people started coming to see the spot and they decided to build a church.
The church is rustic and we found it very charming.
Have I mentioned we were still getting amazing views??
Our walk to Castello Saraceno was uphill and a rough path. The castle is probably on the site of a Greek acropolis during the Greek rule of Taormina. The present day castle was rebuilt by the Muslims around the year 900 AD. It was then conquered by the Normans and in 1134 it was used as a monastery.
After our steep climb to the doors of the castle, we found out you cannot go in to the castle anymore.
So, upon driving down to Taormina proper, we rewarded our hikers with some amazing Gelato!
After our much needed Gelato pitstop, we finally got to see the Greek Amphitheater.
This amphitheater is the second largest in Sicily. It was originally built by the Greeks in the 3rd century BC and heavily renovated by the Romans in the 2nd century AD. It is still used today for concerts and plays. From the theater, you can see the sea and Mt. Etna. It was incredible.
The kids found, of course, found a tree growing behind the walls much more interesting...
We loved wandering through the ruins.
They have a model of what it probably looked like in it's Roman hey day and it was about three times as tall with many more columns.
All around the theater, there were tops of columns and other pieces of the original structure just sitting out for viewing.
We loved exploring the theater and it was well worth the wait!
Right by the theater is the pedestrian street called Corso Umberto. It was so beautiful and lively.
There were lots of stores selling neat specialties.
Lots of art, some for sale and some for display.
Many, many beautiful churches.
Lots of cute restaurants and cafes.
The street was long and probably went on for a mile or so.
Overall, Taormina has so much to offer and was a great way to spend a beautiful day. There is more to do here than we could fit in, but we're sure we'll be back with everyone who visits so maybe we'll find something new each time we go.
These views!!
