Sicily: Taormina

It’s almost unreal…I woke up in lovely autumnal Geneva

And tonight I’m enjoying dinner…my first sicilan pizza…in Sicily !

 al fresco …and an almond Granito which was simply to die for …

And for all my friends who insisted I should try…I enjoyed a fabulous Canolo the next day 

How did this all start? Let’s say that it’s a combination of several factors including my grandma mentioning times and again Panteleria (which faces Tunisia), my interest for cosmopolitan crossroads and, last but not least, my recent visit of a fabulous exhibition at the British Museum 

I keep wandering  in the picturesque and very crooked streets that reminded me a bit of Tangiers and Tarifa… or even Valletta

Charming Taormina ….picturesque and graceful 

a city which apparently developed rather recently 
despite an Ancient Greek theater …

A much lower key yet charming Odeon Restau got in the city center!…And some mentions of it as a naval wreckage place as well as a Crusaders stop!

Not to forget its vibrant contemporary culture And this is only the end of a day which saw me cry out of laughter at the stuck luggage belts at Catania airport, retrieve a car without any signposting indication (because Sicilans, like Italians trust our intelligence…or believe that only the fittest should survive), think about visiting the Etna today and giving up for lack of clear indication and finally arriving at my long time dream hotel discovered in the Grand Bleu… truth should be told, although lovely the overflowing swimming pool is by far much smaller than what the cameraman had lead me to believe…However I did indulge in the glorious crystal clear (and still warm) Mediterranean…and later in the restaurant which depicts one of my favorite scenes in the movie when the mama finds her son in a restaurant as if her food weren’t good enough 😉 and indeed I enjoyed a grilled lobster which was a true delight, and fell in love with this site to the extent of adding one day to this pure indulgence…

Add the dramatic landscape and lush nature and you could say this trip starts under favorable Auspices…

✌️ PS. Time to leave the Aetna background for Stromboli… but I thought I should share my brief encounter with a few charming Israelis on the beach who were surprised I had ever visited their country, let alone several time. “Why did you come, there are so many other places to visit?” To which I replied that they shouldn’t worry I also visited other places and that I still found their country breathtaking. To which one of them said with a sigh “Peace, we need peace, we want peace ” when I replied it was a problem for the whole world he said no…”our problem entirely, I don’t want my son to die fighting Arabs, I don’t want him to go to the army“! Food for thought. I obviously can’t escape being confronted to my tender demons…may their wish come true!