Sicily, July 2006

This was our "big summer trip" for 2006. We flew from London to Palermo, Sicily, spent 2 days in Palermo, then took a train across Sicily to Catania, where we spent a couple of days, took a day trip to beautiful Taormina, before jumping on a catamaran to Malta, where we spent a week or so, then we came back to London much the same way in reverse.

Palermo

The teatro massimo in Palermo, capital of Sicily. This theatre is a working opera house, the largest in Italy, and the 3rd largest in Europe. The steps in the picture also happen to be the location for the final scene in the Godfather trilogy. A "typical" Palermo street. Much of Sicily is dry and mountainous, and it's nearly always possible to catch a glimpse of the mountains whilst walking around the city streets. Sicily has a real affection for lemons and "home-made" lemonade and lemon gelato & liquor are available throughout Sicily. A backstreet market stall.

Taormina

Taormina is a beautiful little holiday town for the wealthy in the far east of Sicily. It's basically one long market street cut into the side of a mountain, and can only be reached via this long, narrow street that winds its way up the mountainside. Of course, this road is like Le Mans to the italian bus drivers. It's just best not to look if you're not comfortable with taking cliffside corners at speed in large, poorly maneuverable vehicles with questionable brakes & suspension. Our lunchtime restaurant for the day. The archway leads into the main city street/market road. View from my calzone in the other direction. View to the left of the main piazza at the end of the street towards the Med. Yep, it's quite purrty. and quite high up. View to the right. Spot the million euro yachts with the Euro-babes on the deck! Marcelle in a rare non-pasta-, non-pizza-, and non-gelato-eating moment.