Today’s post is 1280 words, 10 photos, a 5 minute read. Enjoy!

Hi everyone,

This week I begin a new series of posts about our time in Sicily, specifically the east side of the island on the Ionian Sea (an elongated bay of the Mediterranean). If you missed my series of articles on Rome, click here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

It was another early start to the day, we were checking out of our AirBnb apartment, 45 Via Baccina in the Monti neighborhood, where we lived for the last nine days. As we waited for our Uber to take us to the Rome Termini to catch the train to the airport, I snapped this last look at the place where we became so comfortable during our stay.

The train whisked us out to the airport. After departing the train car, we noticed the ITA (formerly Alitalia Air) kiosk in the airport train station where we could check our bags and pick up our boarding passes. Free of our luggage, we headed to security that was very efficient and quiet (as apposed to some places that are chaotic and loud). Soon we were waiting for our gate to be posted, bored I took a few more photos.

We were bused out to the plane waiting on the tarmac. We were joined by a large group of students, I’m guessing middle-school aged. They were loud and lively. The chaperones did their best to keep them from disturbing everyone. It worked for a few minutes. For the most part they were respectful except when it got to baggage claim in Catania. We waited until they left to find our bags.

Sicily

The triangle shaped island of Sicily, located off the toe of Italy’s boot, at nearly 10,000 square miles (25,800 km²) is similar in size to the U.S. states of Massachusetts or New Hampshire. Nearly five million people live on the island, most of them in towns and cities along the 1000 mile (1600 km) coastline. Palermo, on the northwestern part of the island, is the regional capital and largest city in Sicily with a population in the metro area of about 850,000. Mount Etna, an active volcano, is the island’s most famous landmark and cultural symbol. During this series you’ll read a lot about Mount Etna. Here’s the first photo taken from the bus window during our ride from Catania to Taormina.

Sicily has a long history dating from 14,000 BC. At different times, the Greeks, Phoenicians, Arabs, Romans, Spanish, French, and English ruled this island. And sometimes they were an independent nation. Sicily became part of unified Italy in 1860. Economically, tourism, agriculture, food processing, electronic manufacturing, financial institutions, and ship building are the main industries on the island. The sunny, relatively dry climate, bucolic scenery, history, architecture, and cuisine attract an estimated 5 million tourist visitors each year and growing. The most common language spoken in Sicily is Sicilian. Italian and English are taught in school. It was interesting to find out that Sicilian and Italian are not similar. Italian is Latin based while Sicilian has elements of Greek, French, Arabic, Spanish, and Catalan. Most Sicilians consider themselves Sicilian first and Italian second.

Our flight took us to Catania, the busiest commercial airport on the island. Our ultimate destination was Taormina, a seaside town about 35 miles (53 km) north of Catania. In Taormina, we would join the Road Scholar program titled, “Winter in Italy: Taormina and Sicily’s Culture and Cuisine.” After picking up our luggage at baggage claim, we searched for the ticket kiosk to purchase bus tickets to Taormina. There was a lot of construction going on at this busy airport and not a sign in sight. After asking a couple of people, we were finally directed to an exit door to the bus terminal where all the regional and tourist buses stopped for passengers. We found the ticket booth and were told that the bus was about the leave. We hurried to the stop only to watch the bus pull away, we were about 30 seconds late. This did give us time to get a bite to eat and drink and absorb the rays of the warm sun.

After about an hour, the next bus came along. In a little over an hour, we were dropped off at the bus terminal in Taormina, basically a parking lot and a ticket booth. My Traveling Partner looked around for a taxi to take us to the Hotel Continental, our lodging for the next six nights. Seeing none, we inquired at the ticket booth, the brusk attendant said: “Three-hundred meters,” pointing to the street with an incline that looked kind of steep when towing a suitcase. Taormina is built on the side of a steep hill. During our stay, we’d experience these hills over and over. Up the hill we went until we reached the taxi stand. The pleasant driver in the car jumped out and helped us with our bags. In less than ten minutes for the fare of 10 € (we were happy to pay it) we were delivered to our hotel.

Since our program didn’t start for a couple of hours, we decided to explore the town. Taormina, population about 11,000, has been a tourist destination since the 1800s. It has beautiful beaches, excellent restaurants, a lively bar scene,  an ancient Greek theatre, old churches, and a central shopping district along Corso Umberto that is popular with tourists and residents alike. Tourism and hospitality are the main economic drivers in Taormina.

Our hotel was about half way up the hillside offering great views of the sea. The gardens around the hotel were nice and well-maintained. The weather during our stay was on the cool side, 40s at night, upper 50s and into the 60s during the days. We needed a jacket most days but the sun warmed us as the day progressed.

We took the 104 steps from the hotel to the main piazza of Taormina at the head of Corso Umberto, the cobblestoned main street. There in the fading daylight, we immediately noticed the Cathedral of Taormina dedicated to St. Nicholas of Bari, an early Christian bishop of Greek descent. The construction of the first church on this site dates to the 1200s and rebuilt in the 1400s, 1500s, and 1700s. It is still an active and functioning church. It’s open to visitors between the hours of 8:30 AM to 8:00 PM. We viewed the interior the next day when we did a walking tour of the city with our Road Scholar guide.

As the sun began to set, I pointed the camera toward Mount Etna, now obscured by clouds. 

We walked further into the city center and saw another church, the Church of St. Joseph overlooking the Piazza IX Aprile. This church was built in the baroque style in the second half of the 1600s with a double staircase to the entrance. See Monte Tauro standing guard over 1300 feet (400 m) above the city. On top is the Saracen Castle built by the Muslim Arabs to defend themselves from the siege of the Normans in 1079. Like I mentioned earlier, a lot of complex history in this ancient place. The Piazza IX Aprile overlooks the Ionian Sea and offers magnificent views of the coast line.

After climbing up the 104 steps from Corso Umberto to the Hotel Continental, we met up with our group over wine and dinner. There were 21 people in our tour group under the guidance of group leader, Rosa Rizza. Rosa was born in Sicily and emigrated with her parents to the U.S. in 1967. After graduating from high school, she returned to Sicily and has lived there ever since. From the start of the program to the end, it was clear that Rosa was passionate about Sicily, its food, wine, culture, art, history, and architecture. We looked forward to the next few days exploring this part of beautiful Sicily.

Join me next week for more stories from Sicily.

Until then, happy travels!

Tom

PS: Click here for a link to the post about my book “Farm Boy.” Contact me if you are interested in purchasing a copy. Thanks to all have plunked down your hard earned dollars and read the book. TM