SICILY - Part One: TAORMINA and MESSINA PROVINCE

To quote Goethe, who also found Sicily intoxicating, "To have seen Italy without seeing Sicily, is not to have seen Italy at all - for Sicily is the key to everything."  This may be somewhat of an exaggeration, but I do understand his point.

This October, Gerry and I joined my mother on a Road Scholar trip called The Treasures of Sicily.  We explored much of the island and did see countless treasures during the 14-day program.

We started in Giardini-Naxos, Sicily's first Greek colony, located five miles south of Taormina, and Sicily's fastest-growing beach resort.  The Hellenia Yachting hotel was ideally situated, overlooking the Ionian Sea.  It was a lovely place to stay for three nights.

Gerry stands in the back of the Hellenia Yachting hotel. 

Sun or no sun, I am determined to walk on the beach.

Our first day, (Tuesday, Oct 3) we toured Taormina, a lovely, terraced town with a population of 11,000.  Our local guide Angelo met us there.  We walked along an inclined road to an archeological site, the ancient Teatro Greco, built in the Third Century, B.C., carved into the hillside from compact limestone.

Teatro Greco, among the world's best-known Greek theaters.

The brick walls were added by the Romans in the 1st Century A.D.

On a clear day, one can see Mt. Etna in the distance.  We were not blessed with sunny skies, but the views were still not too shabby.

A view to the mountain community in the distance.

The view in the opposite direction, toward the Ionian Sea below.

After our history lesson by Angelo at Teatro Greco, we were given 1 1/2 hours to explore Taormina on our own.  We strolled up and down Corso Umberto, the pedestrianized main street of Taormina, lined with shops, boutiques, cafes and restaurants.

Supposedly, the best shopping in Sicily is in Taormina. 

We also walked over (in the rain) to Giordino Publico, a lush park on Via Roma, which was bequeathed to the city by an eccentric woman, Florence Trevelyan, in the 1920s.

Giordino Publico, a lovely and quiet place to escape from the crowds of center city.

Florence adorned her garden with observation towers for bird-spotting.

Our lunch at Casa Niclodi set the standard for our two weeks in Sicily.  The presentation was also a piece of art for all three courses of this delicious, gourmet meal.

At the entrance to Casa Niclodi. 

First course:  smoked tuna with oranges and fennel crisp.

Entree course:  Swordfish rolls with eggplant caponata.

Our sweet ending:  pistachio parfait with dark chocolate sauce.

We explored Taormina a bit after lunch before we bid the town farewell and boarded our bus back to Giardini-Naxos.

A final picture of the charming town of Taormina.

Wednesday, October 4, we set out by coach to Messina, where we met local tour guide Angelo.  We took the ferry to Calabria, a town on mainland Italy, only two miles from Sicily at the narrowest point along the strait of Messina.

With mom on the upper deck of the ferry.  It is windy, but will it rain? 

The highlight of the day was our visit with Angelo to the "Museo Nazionale," the archeological museum in Calabria. This museum houses the Riace Bronzes, two life-size Greek bronze statues of naked, bearded warriors, from 450 B.C.  They were discovered by an amateur scuba diver in the Mediterranean Sea, just off the coast of Riace Marina, Italy on August 16, 1972.  Angelo told us the fascinating story of the statues discovery, restoration and preservation.

This is statue "A", the younger of the two warriors, with a muscular stance.

Statue "B" represents the older warrior, with less facial hair and brawn.

It was information overload, as we viewed dozens of pieces from B.C., and learned their stories from Angelo.  The Kouros (young boy) of Reggio was made with marble brought in from the Greek island of Paros (which Gerry and I visited in 2002.) 

Kouros of Reggio, 500 B.C.

The head of Apollo, yet another piece in the collection, 400 B.C.

We went to the seaside town of Scilla, also in the province of Calabria, for lunch.  It is the traditional site of the sea monster Scylla of Greek mythology.  The beachside restaurant , Da Pippo, served us an antipasto, followed by pasta with pieces of swordfish, along with a local white wine.

Da Pippo, a small family-run restaurant. 

Gerry and mom sit relaxing beachside after lunch at Da Pippo.

We took the return ferry to Messina and our historical tour continued as Angelo pointed out the Messina Cathedral, which dates back to the 12th Century.  The current building is the result of 20th Century reconstructions, which took place following the disastrous 1908 earthquake and the heavy bombing by the Allied forces in the second World War.

Cathedral in Messina, with the adjacent tower.

  
The bell tower of the Cathedral of Messina contains the largest and most complex mechanical and astronomical clock in the world.

Zeroing in on the details of the astronomical clock.

We viewed the  Fountain of Neptune in the Piazza Unita before we bid Angelo goodbye, and headed back to Giardini-Naxos for our final night.

Messina's Fountain of Neptune, created in 1557.

Thursday, October 5th, it was a scenic coach ride south along the coast to the province of Catania, where we stopped at an agriturismo, Azienda Trinita, in the town of Mascalucia, near Mt. Etna.  It was a beautiful property, with lovely gardens, owned by Salvador and Marina Bonajuto.  Salvador gave us a tour of his estate, and the garden and orchards that thrive on the fertile volcanic soil.

We are welcomed in the courtyard at Azienda Trinita. 

Salvador is proud of his green olive tree.  Harvest time is right around the corner!

The olive tree, in all its glory.

Another beautiful garden view. 

Pine cones are a historic symbol of enlightenment.  We saw miniature ceramic pine cones in various gift shops throughout Sicily.

Th large pine cone pottery on this sculpture in Salvador's garden is impressive.

Also impressive, was the delicious lunch buffet we were served of freshly prepared Sicilian specialties.  It was a mostly vegetarian meal, with green salads, grilled eggplant, lemon risotto, mushroom pizza squares, spinach pizza squares, mozarella-tomato-bread salad, and cucumber salad, along with homemade red wine.

The lavish buffet table.

My plate is loaded and I'm ready to dig in to my groceries.

Most of our group took siestas on the bus ride after lunch as we headed farther south to Siracusa province, where we were going to stay the next four nights in Ortigia.  I was the exception, as I use the bus time to write copious notes in my journal.  Otherwise, the days merge together in my mind into a blur, impossible to sort out at the end of the vacation.

Ortigia is a small island, the historical center of Syracuse.  Our hotel, the Antico Hotel Roma, was my favorite of our four accommodations in Sicily. It was truly elegant, with beautiful marble, an outside patio, hard-wood floors in the rooms and a bountiful breakfast buffet each morning.

We pass remains of ancient walls as we walk along the streets of Ortigia to our hotel.

Ortigia is a largely pedestrian island, and very quaint, with a maze of streets, and no tour buses allowed.  We walk nearly a mile each way back and forth to the parking lot in downtown Syracuse to board our bus for our outings.  It's much more walking than my mother expected, but she not only survives, she thrives!