tales from Taormina

Because I hadn’t planned to go to Sicily on this trip, I had no clue where to even begin. Luckily, one of my friends is Sicilian so he gave me the low down on where to visit. Thankfully, he recommended we visit Taormina which turned out to be on of the most spectacular experiences.

Our time spent in Taormina was beyond what I could have even dreamt possible. The city itself is just so beautiful, well preserved, and downright fancy. We stayed in an airbnb apartment that overlooked the entire city which was amazing. The city of Taormina lies upon a giant cliff overlooking the sea. It's one of those elegant, jaw dropping views that doesn’t seem real--much less possible. The main piazzas of the small town overlook the gorgeous seaside with views of Mount Etna in the background. Along with stunning piazzas, Taormina has such a beautiful coastline with a brilliant little island called Isola Bella that is accessible a little strip of land. The whole town and surrounding landscape is just like the picture of a story book.

There were so many noteworthy things that happened while we were in Taormina but I also have to mention that some of the most spectacular moments were simply the times we spent meandering up and down the streets of Taormina in awe of the astounding architecture, flower-filled balconies, and beautiful people.

• One crazy thing that happened was that we randomly ran into a friend we stayed with in a separate hostel a few days ago.  It was completely unexpected and so fun to run into a familiar face. Since we stayed together at a small hostel, we felt like old friends who had known each other for a lifetime. After running into our friend Melina, we spent the next day with her and some friends at the Isola Bella beach. We played cards on the beach and soaked up the beauty of the place around us. Though we were all complete strangers, we shared a common love for travel and life which made us all bond together like a temporary family.
• One day we spent visiting Mount Etna which was probably my FAVORITE THING IN THE WHOLE WORLD so I will post something completely separate about that….
• On two separate occasions, strangers offered to give us rides while we were walking on the road and we somehow agreed to trust them. Both rides led to some funny adventures but we made it out alive both times so don’t worry mom and dad.
• I quickly discovered pistachio cream is EVERYWHERE and that pistachios are dominant in Sicily. This was probably the highlight of my entire life to be honest. I LOVE PISTACCHIOS.
• We hiked up to the next town called Castelmara and had unbelievable views of the surrounding landscape.  
• We fell in love with Taormina’s charm and left a little piece of our heart back in the town.
• Lastly, I kept wondering why more people don't visit Taormina...