Day 11, Catania , Sicily - Taormina


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September 9th 2015
Published: September 12th 2015
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Day 11, Catania Sicily (Taormina)


View out of or cabinView out of or cabinView out of or cabin

Everywhere I go I find car haulers
Looks like another excursion in the heat. We docked in Catania and our excursion today is to Taormina on the northeastern coast which is another walled city, this one being started before the Greeks conquered this land. Quaint little alleys and streets with shops, restaurants and apartments jammed into every possible corner.

Our guide gave us the overview not only of the city but of the island as well and it’s many different rulers. Sicily was always considered as a province onto itself ruled by the Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Normans, Angevins (?), Spanish and Italians. During these different governments they all came to Sicily for their holidays adding all of their art and influences. Also due to all these rulers Sicily has a distinct language very different from Italian - according to our guide it is a mixture of all the different languages

During our drive on the coach we witnessed drivers ignoring all sorts of signs and traffic signals. The guide informed us that Sicilians in particular but Italians in general drive defensively and don’t pay too much attention to the traffic laws. As she said when the majority ignore the rules you can’t give them all a ticket. She also said that they don’t park over here…. They just stop.

This is a high speed tour so no time to stop for lunch. We grabbed an arancini (rice ball stuffed with ragu) and a Cipollini (bread wrapped around meat & cheese). Must be for the tourists because we know they can do better than this.

When we returned (exhausted once again) no time to rest up, shower, change and off to dinner, then the casino and finally the lounge for some drinks and then stagger back to the room and collapse.



Tomorrow – POMPEII!!


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Roadside fruit standRoadside fruit stand
Roadside fruit stand

and i do mean roadside. where ever there is room to stop. Look at the size of those melons! (no that is not a euphemism)
Window of CathedralWindow of Cathedral
Window of Cathedral

interesting crucifix with people climbing to heaven
Fountain in squareFountain in square
Fountain in square

potable water
top of fountaintop of fountain
top of fountain

a pregnant centauress. don't get to see that every day...
roof top viewing.roof top viewing.
roof top viewing.

is that a hockey rink?


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