Ups and Downs in Sicily

Let me start by saying even the downs are good . . .

My reference is really to the climbs—either up to Mt Etna with a wonderfully knowledgeable and funny guide called Fabio, or up to Castelmola with Tim, 1.9 miles of uneven but only slightly treacherous stairs where, at certain landings there are beautiful statues of the Stations of the Cross.

I quite enjoyed all of the effort; it made eating pizza and pasta feel positively necessary to have enough carbohydrate energy to get up and down! My first meal was aubergine (eggplant) ravioli with parmesan. The restaurant was steps away from our hotel overlooking Isola Bella, and it had a lovely view. The local Etna rose was crisp, chilled, and delicious. It was the start of a fabulous five days, and throughout that time there wasn’t a meal that disappointed nor a vista that didn’t give me reason to pause and sigh. When I opened the curtains to our room and saw Isola Bella looking back, well, I am fairly certain I gasped something in delight.

There’s too much to tell and far too many photos to post, but there’s room for highlights . . .

The sea is gorgeous, but cold. We bought slip ons to enable us to get beyond the rocky shoreline, but I only managed up to my ankles. The Mediterranean doesn’t warm up much before June or July, I suspect. Tim, however, was determined to swim in the sea and so after a slow start he managed the full immersion, dodging between tiny jellyfish about the size of a rosebud. Beach bumming was good people watching, though, and the sun was warm.

We took a tour of the Greco-Roman amphitheatre (Teatro Antico) in Taormina; while you can stroll the theatre on your own, it’s nice to have someone tell you a bit about the history and culture and I’d not done any reading ahead. Guido, our guide, told us who lived where (Truman Capote, DH Lawrence, Oscar Wilde, Johannes Brahms, Florence Trevelyan), how the Romans rebuilt the Greek theatre and many of the original bricks still stand, primarily because they weren’t worth stealing. 

The theatre is still in use; when we were there they were setting up for a concert, and I recall an advert for Duran Duran. Guido also kindly tested the acoustics by clapping loudly so we could hear the echo as we stood in the middle of the open air arena. It has a lovely view of Etna as well as the sea; you could lose yourself in the view if the concert isn't worthwhile!

Taormina has lovely squares and main streets filled with shops selling ceramics, postcards, coffee and cannoli and dozens of restaurants. We chose some places simply by where they were rather than knowing where to go—most of the menus have the same selections, and all of the prices were about the same. And it’s just about all Italian; there was one kebab shop we spotted when we found ourselves drawn to a little café on a side street for an iced coffee or a glass of wine at the end of each afternoon.

We hadn’t practiced any Italian—we’d picked up a few phrases when we went to Naples and to  Sorrento a couple of years ago—but it didn’t matter; just about everywhere we went there was enough English spoken to find our way around a menu or a map. Everyone was pleasant and helpful. Well, there was one taxi driver who was a bit brusque and no doubt overcharged us for a short journey, but we had walked quite a bit into nearby Naxos and wanted to get back up to Taormina without the effort of hundreds of stairs.Again.

If I haven’t enticed you enough to see Sicily, and particularly Taormina, do drop me a comment—there are a lot more stories and photos I can share to convince you. Don’t let hundreds of steps deter you—there are other ways to get up and down this lovely area (including a cable way that goes some of the distance), though the pizza tastes that much better when you know you’ve earned it.