Taormina, Sicily

Taormina is a resort town on a large cliff overlooking the sea. The rich and famous have been coming here for decades. While we aren't interested in the high end shops, the views are stunning and there's a huge, well-preserved Greco Roman amphitheater with seats pointing towards Etna in the distance. If you want to know what Taormina really looks like, check out Season 2 of White Lotus. It was filmed here

We climbed up the long steps to a church built into a cave for the views. And we visited the amphitheater. Other than that, we just strolled the streets and soaked up the views while enjoying the local flavors (almonds and pistachios). We also tried our first granita, which in Taormina is between a sorbet and ice cream.

Unfortunately it's been cloudy and we haven't been able to see Mt. Etna until the morning we left. The sun finally came out and burned off the clouds. A lot of people come here just for hiking or driving around the volcano. They make lots of wine and grow a lot of pistachios on those slopes. We've been fine with just chilling out and enjoying the clean and pleasant city but seeing it on our last day was a real treat.

This will probably be the most expensive city on our trip in Italy and we're fine with a couple of fine dining experiences and also cooking in the apartment. Tomorrow we change trains in Messina and then head west to the port city of Cefalu.

More photos and videos are here.

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