Taormina

Taormina. It’s a tourist trap for sure. But it’s a beautiful one and still so worth a visit.

It’s the quintessential Italian cliffside town, with earthy toned buildings perched high on the cliffs, tumbling down in a ramshackle way towards the ocean. Little cats laze around on sun warmed stones, people amble along the street, and you can hear a charming mix of Italian, English, and myriad other languages among the chat.

We lucked out with accommodation for sure this time. A little B&B called Villa Giannina that meant our walk into town looked a little like this…

…and a lot like this. The best bit (I mean come on we’re all foodies over here right?) is that breakfast is included and served in the hosts quaint little sitting room with omelettes and pancakes made fresh to order. In fact, try telling an Italian you don’t want one, I dare you!

We thought taking a walk down to the pretty little beach Isola Bella from the town would be a good idea. It’s not. It was pretty scary and there’s zero footpath and basically hardly any room for a car to pass you on hairpin turns. I think we both aged about 10 years by the time we got to the bottom. But we did get there. And to be honest there were some quite spectacular views along the way.

I’ll confess, we did get the cable car back up. We may have been brave enough to walk straight down a cliff side but we definitely weren’t brave enough to walk up it again.

Isola Bella is beautiful. Even on an overcast day. I’d love to come back on a day when the sun in shining and lighting up the oceans colours.

back up in the little town the doors man, the doors and windows get me every time, everywhere I go.

Apart from the architecture, If you’re interested in history, Taormina has a pretty interesting one, both ancient and more contemporary. I loved wandering the streets imagining Oscar Wilde and Florence Trevelyan taking the same steps and how the pace must have been in their time.

There’s a really pretty Park built into the hillside below the via Bagnoli Croce that was bequeathed to the town on Florence’s death. It’s a lovely shaded wander and it’s filled with interesting follies designed by her.

But you can’t come to Sicily without trying the ricotta cannoli. So, let me tell you where to go. Try Pasticceria Etna Snc along the main promenade. Choose your cannoli inside and they’ll fill it with fresh their fresh ricotta mixture (think chocolate chips and orange rind yummm). An espresso alongside set upon the pretty tiled tables and a bit of people watching and I can’t think of anything better.

moving on for the savoury tooth’s amongst us, pasta pasta pasta. But then straight back to gelato ok?

The best moments I find are generally food related. So I’m going to end my post on that kinda high point. Go try the cannoli for me and let me know what you think?

L x