Taormina

There are two ways to get to Taormina by public transport from Catania. In this case the bus is preferred because the train station is at the bottom of the hill. The bus dropped us off at the Interbus terminal outside of the hilltop town. If you were to attempt to walk up it would take you an hour. But you could use the aforementioned bus as a shuttle.

You can tell from the crowds entering that Taormina is immensely popular. It has a clifftop view over the Ionian Sea, and there are views to Mount Etna from vantage points.

The first sight i want to see was the Odeon, the ruins of a small Greek amphitheatre.

This is the view a performer would have had.

It's right in the midst of occupied houses. Imagine living next to millennia old ruins.

Next to it is the church of Santa Caterina (page in Italian) from the 17th century.

On the way to the large ancient theatre I passed a modern theatre celebrating the Taormina Film Fest that takes place in July.

I declined to pay admission to enter the ancient theatre. I didn't want to get tired walking in it, and you can find photographs from every angle on the Internet. It's in pretty good condition and is used for the film fest, for example. So I took a picture of the path there, lined with souvenir stalls.

There is a gap of an hour in my photos, so that must have been the lunch I took in a pizzeria.

In the Via degli Artisti, there is small garden.

Beautiful decorations on this building.

A hard working cat.

Very pretty accommodation.

A bit further west on Corso Umberto, the main pedestrian walk, we reach Piazza IX Aprile, an open space with the Chiesa di San Giuseppe. The high ground with the Norman castle is in the background.

The Belvedere di Taormina is spacious enough for many people to view the Ionian sea from the railings. It must be a great place to be at dawn and dusk. The cloud shrouded Mount Etna is in the far left.

A panorama of the piazza.

A series of shots from the railings, panning from left to right. That road is probably Via Roma, linking to the sea level.

To the right.

Hotels along the Via Roma, and the coast to the south.

A panorama of the Ionian Sea. Views like this made the excursion worthwhile.

Zooming in on the hotel.

A telephoto shot of Mount Etna.

A bit further west, the side lane with attractive signs for La Scala Restaurant (scala means stairs of course).

Continuing west, we reach the Duomo di Taormina.

Which is in the Piazza Duomo, naturally.

And finally the Porta Catania, an old city gate, where I turned back and retraced my steps on Corso Umberto.

I think somewhere around this time I succumbed to the lure of a gelateria.

A curiosity I encountered on the return walk, Vicolo Stretto (narrow), only one person wide.

And for symmetry, this is the Porta Messina, the old northern gate to the city, where I came in.

I thought it might be a good idea to call it a day in Taormina and not compete with the daytripper crowds on the bus. My ticket allowed me to change to an earlier service online.

While waiting for the bus to arrive at the terminal, I took a walk around the area to photograph more views.

The cables are probably for the Mazzarò service.

It's a pity I didn't get to explore the beaches to the north of Taormina. I'll just adopt the sour grapes stance that they would be chockers with tourists like Taormina, a very touristy destination.

A panorama to end the post with. It sure would be nice to have overnight accommodation here. Then you can have the city to yourself after all the daytrippers have left.