After a grueling day and a half getting to Sicily, we went to our hotel, the same one I stayed in two years ago. Taormina is about 40 minutes from the Catania Airport. It was dark when we arrived, so Jim couldn’t see the scenery awaiting him. We managed to go to the hotel restaurant for a sandwich (really yummy) and a beer. The kitchen closed at 10:30, so eating more at that hour would have not worked.
Jim crashed immediately, while I stayed awake for hours. Italy is eight hours later than Ajijic, so sleeping in the middle of the day wasn’t easy for me. Ultimately, I got about five hours of sleep and welcomed a lovely shower and a delicious breakfast this morning.
We hung around our room to allow more de-compressing and even had a video call with Ajijic friends who are also in Sicily. They were going to join us for our cooking class starting on June 8, but it was full. Instead, they are going a week earlier, starting June 1. Once they get to the villa for the six-day class, we will connect again to get their impression of the location.
We started our tour at 6:00 PM today with a food frenzy! I will endeavor to upload lots of photos of Taormina. More challenges!
We met Giovanni, along with a couple from Los Angeles, to begin our evening tour. Giovanni lives in Catania and has worked as a tour guide for many years. He is charming and very sweet. The other couple, Caroline and Dennis are very nice and with only the four of us, the tour will be great fun.
Our first stop was a nearby restaurant, Pirandello 2.0, where we were wined and dined starting with a delicious glass of Prosecco, and then a very good white wine. We enjoyed crusty bread with an excellent olive oil for dipping. We started with a mini appetizer of arancino (a fried rice ball that can have a filling of cheese or ragú), a brioche, and a savory chip with a pistachio cream.
This was followed by a wonderful marinated fresh tuna and a fresh grouper appetizer to enjoy with the sparkling wine. Next was sautéed octopus on a bed of potato puree and breaded and fried calamari (squid) (which I tasted but passed on). Giovanni was very knowledgeable about the food and the wines. The white wine was an Etna Bianco and was excellent. We were also serenaded by lovely music with songs that were very familiar. Everyone sang Volare with them.
Our next stop was another restaurant, Porto Messina, (which was where my daughter and I had an amazing cooking class two years ago), where we had two red wines, an Etna Rossi and a Luna Nero D’Avola. The first wine was a light, flavorful red, while the second was a full-bodied red, matched with the food we were eating. At 7:30, the restaurants were full and lively.
We were served a variety of breads, along with a pickled onion and a roasted red pepper spread. Next, we had an eggplant caponata, two local cheeses and a small serving of eggplant Parmesan. All the portions were small but satisfying. Dennis and Caroline, our tour mates, were fun and we enjoyed getting to know them.
Finally, our last stop was a pastry shop where we tasted a sampling of an almond wine, a moscato wine, and limoncello. We had a small canolli, a pistachio-filled cream puff-like treat, and another nut-filled treat. My head was reeling from all the alcohol because I don’t drink very much. Still, it was a treat to try all of these unique flavors.
We returned to our hotel to relax and enjoy a quiet rest of the evening. Tomorrow, we begin at 9:30 with Giovanni to see the Greek ruins, visit a couple of interesting towns and do the Godfather Mafia tour! As a group of four people, this is as close to a private tour as one can get!