Taormina is very steep and winds up the mountain. In the past, donkeys were used. We had to disembark our big bus and then take vans to our beautiful Hotel Continental that overlooks the city and ocean.
It isn’t as hot but rather more humid, and there is always a breeze.
One can’t get lost here. To the east is the sea, to the west is the mountains, then north is the way to Messina and south is the way to Catania.
DH Lawrence, Oscar Wilde, Goethe, Guy de Maupassant, Truman Capote, Salvador Dalí, Winston Churchill, Orson Welles, John Steinbeck, Rita Hayworth, and Elizabeth Taylor have visited Taormina, to name a few. Add Rob and Brenda Street to this list .
Some for health, some for the beauty, some for the weather, some for inspiration, and some for travel and adventure.
Cyprus trees are not found in home gardens. Cypress trees are normally planted in cemeteries because the roots grow straight down.
Greeks carved the beautiful amphitheatre out of limestone in the 3rd century BC. It was built to honor the gods but also served as a social and public building for voting. It had been destroyed and the Romans had a colony here and rebuilt it for gladiator battles and wild animal fights. The Romans built cheaper, faster, and flexible.
The story of Taormina Theatre’s rediscovery reveals how tourism and monument preservation are two sides of the same coin.
In the 18th century, Europe’s educated classes selected southern Italy as the final destination on the Grand Tour, a journey in search of beauty and classical art-related landscapes.
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