We departed the Aeolian Islands, and headed to the “overly touristic” town of Taormina. What should have taken us 2 hours to drive to our accommodation, actually took us 3 hours because the GPS in the car told us to “turn right” in the middle of a tunnel! After being taken through a rather looooong tour of Taormina and the surrounding area we were finally met by Dario , our host , who was sitting patiently on his motorbike at the top of our street. Rhonda gave him a hug as she was so happy to finally find the place!

Taormina is a hilltop town and has been the most popular tourist destination in Sicily for hundreds of years because of the lovely restored medieval buildings and winding streets filled with bars , shops and restaurants.

We happened to be in town at the time of the very popular Taormina Film Festival and the night we arrived was the Italian Premier of the new Indianna Jones movie! Apparently, Harrison Ford was in town but we didn’t see him. Of course, that meant even more people than usual were wandering the streets.

Views from all parts of the town are amazing. We had a sensational dinner in one of the back alleyways. We enjoyed gnocchi with red snapper and cherry tomatoes, beetroot lamb ragu ravioli with goat cheese,and linguine with scampi and zucchini flower. It was delicious.

The Roman Naumachie is the remains of an old Roman wall built in the first century BC. The Church of San Giuseppe with its beautiful Baroque facade , stands in the Piazza IX Aprile and was built in the late 1600’s.

The most famous attraction in Taormina is the Greek/Roman Amphitheatre, which we had to visit to show Jude. It was dug out of rock in the 3rd century BC and would seat 5400 spectators. It was constructed so that ” nature could be a part of the spectacle” BUT because of the film screen set up for the festival, it was not really obvious.

So many people say that Taormina is just the best place in Sicily, maybe it is, but for us there are just too many people, and we couldn’t believe the number of Aussies, you could have been walking down Bourke Street! Of course when one is on holidays, the washing still has to be done. But in saying all that, the views of the coast were beautiful, and we did find a few quite cute bars for a drink along the way!

We left Taormina, put Tony on the ferry and said goodbye to Sicily and headed to magnificent Matera the 3rd most ancient city in the world and has been continuously occupied for 9000 years and is UNESCO world heritage listed.

WARNING……Lots of photos to follow, we couldn’t help ourselves!

We checked into our fabulous little B and B. It was situated in a small narrow pedestrian alley and was fabulous. It had a rather funky bathroom!

It was situated in The Sassi , a cave dwelling district that has 12 levels connected by a network of pathways and stairs. Really good for Gregs knees…….not! The medieval city literally clings to the side of a deep canyon.

We had a fabulous dinner at a great restaurant recommended by our host. We started off with prosciutto and melon followed by a traditional dish from Matera of chicory and broad bean puree. It was followed by pork sausage with turnip tops, and cavatelli pasta with crushed pepperoni, cheese and fried bread crumbs. OMG, it was delicious.

Matera is amazing during the day but come nighttime, it is a completely different town, absolutely beautiful.

Before we left Matera the following morning, we wandered a little around the “new town”. Not as interesting as the Sassi but we did take a photo of the Church of San Francesco d’Assis.

Over our 24 hours in Matera we ended up walking over 15 kms, no wonder Greg’s knees were talking to him. It is an absolutely amazing place and well worth a visit.

So , its that time again, aperol spritz for 2, and a beer for one!

Ciao from Italy

Love Greg, Rhonda and Jude.