Sicilia (Part 2)

Days 23-24

Saturday morning we woke up well rested and ready to continue on our adventure.  We went straight to the train station to get tickets to Taormina, but the first train did not leave for another 2 hours.  Though we were disappointed not to get an immediate move on, since we were in Sicily, it was very hard to put us out.  We made our way to a beach because I decided I absolutely had to get my toes wet in the crystal clear water of the Mediterranean.  Though the beach was rocky and not exactly someplace you would want to spend a day sunbathing, we were so comfortable skipping rocks, listening to music, and just chilling not two feet from the water that we spent the remainder of our time in Messina right there.

We hopped on our train and an hour later arrived in Taormina.  (The ride to this city was a experience in itself.  The train hugged the coastline the entire way and the view was amazing.)  All we knew about this city was that there was a temple somewhere at the top of a mountain and on a cliff.  We saw a structure that could feasibly be this temple and started up a road.  This road quickly turned into the original path the Greeks must have used when they first built the temple on the cliff.  It was a fun, if daring, climb, but definitely not for the faint of heart.  We finally got to the top of mountain only to discover there was a much easier road that normal people who had access to maps took.  But we found our temple (which was actually a Greek theater that had a tiny temple as part of it) and could not have been happier.  It was everything we had hoped it would be, giving us breathtaking panoramas of the Mediterranean, picturesque views of the colorful town, and a magnificent perspective of Mount Etna.

Taormina itself was colorful and lively and everything I wanted in a seaside Italian town.  Looking back, it was definitely my favorite part of the weekend, and the place I would recommend everyone visit if they head to Sicily (just take a car up the mountain, not the dirt track we followed).

We climbed back down the mountain (the same way we went up, because once you go up the side of a mountain, going down is a piece of cake), and hopped back on a train that would take us to our final city: Catania.

We arrived in Catania too late to see anything, but made our way to the bed and breakfast we had booked the night before.  The room, which cost 10 euro a bed, seemed fine enough until we were shown our room's private balcony.  Then that price seemed like a steal.  Our balcony opened onto a piazza that housed the Castello Ursino and was an amazing view to have over a glass of wine at night, or to have breakfast to in the morning.

While we made the rounds on Sunday to some of the cities attractions like the museum in the Castello Ursino, a Greek amphitheater, and the cities cathedral, we were quite pooped by early afternoon, and decided to do nothing more than sit on the stairs of a fountain and people watch (which was really fun on Sunday afternoon in the main square) until it was time to catch a bus to the airport.

Some final words on the weekend:  Never have I been so glad I pack light, as we were able to put our bags down only when we slept.  It was an incredible experience to only have the bare necessities pre-planned and just go with the flow.  I'm not sure if I'll be able to do it again, but I am glad I was able to do it once

Ciao
J