Taormina

I forgot to mention yesterday, when we walked around in town, one of the shopkeepers had yelled hello in Korean to us. I was actually impressed that he nailed the ethnicity, so I turned and said “that’s pretty good!” And he smiled pleased with himself. Typically, I’m asked if I’m Chinese or Japanese first and yelled at with words in those languages on travel overseas - he didn’t even ask, just said hello! To be honest, we’ve heard Korean here and there in Malta and Sicily, but not the larger tour groups we typically see. So I was pretty impressed and it wasn’t aggressive or annoying at all - just made me smile.

Also in town, we saw signs for day trips for all the famous places in Sicily leaving as early as 6 to 7 am. I explained to my family, we’ll be going to these places as we roadtrip around the island! So we’re enjoying our time here before we leave Taormina - like our delicious breakfast that was on the terrace:



Also on the terrace….I had seen planters all over town with faces and I learned that it’s a symbol of Sicilian culture and from a legend about a couple - the woman being Sicilian and the man, a Moor. Moors had once ruled the island and traditionally, the ceramic heads are made in pairs, in memory of the young couple. There are two versions of the story - one where the woman killed the man after learning he had a wife and family back home and wanted to keep his head and the other, they were murdered for their forbidden love. Apparently, it is popular to grow basil in the planters:



You can see that it’s cloudy and it rained all day. Here’s a photo from the pool deck and we all relaxed in different parts of the hotel - the lounge, library, the room, and etc.



So we rested all day and enjoyed before dinner cocktails once again on the terrace which included snacks and lots of fog:





Our restaurant was about 6 minutes away and we could only walk as there are no cars in old town:



By recommendation from a colleague, I had booked dinner at Osteria Santa Domenica Taormina. The bread course included bread from Sicilian grains and a turmeric and white fennel bread that was very moist:



We opted for the tasting menu - my mom opted for the “of the sea” and Justin and I ordered the “of the land” tasting menu. We enjoyed anchovies, fried zucchini flowers, octopus, carpaccio, lasagna alla Norma, beet risotto, tuna, and beef before the pre-dessert and desserts. Today was the first day they served these menus as they rotate every several months. The food collage below:



After dinner, we walked back a longer way home as we thought the busier roads would have better drainage than the side alleys and would be easier to navigate.

Randomly, it also appears folks are getting excited for Eurovision, the famous song contest. In Malta, we saw a stage being set up for the semifinal and I understand there’s another semi today and the final this weekend. So fun being in Europe during this time, Eurovision and after the election of a new pope!