And so ends another exciting day! After I wrote the blog yesterday, I was exhausted from not much sleep the night before, so I went back to sleep. It was raining anyways and we had an outdoor activity planned. That got put on hold for a couple of hours. We had yet another lunch yesterday! It was the 30th birthday of the bride’s only daughter so we had a family lunch.
It was just a short walk from our apartment, so it was great. A short walk is 15 minutes. We are getting the hang of where we are and where we need to go. Everywhere is either up or down! However, there is much along the main street as well and this location only required going down a few steps.
While it is never too late in life to travel, it would be a challenge for anyone with mobility issues to visit a place like Taormina. So many stairs and I haven’t really seen much in the way of accessibility, but I’m sure it exists. You would just need to choose wisely where you go.
I’m lucky that despite some aches and pains in my knees that I’m able to get around no problem.
OK - so I’m tempting fate this morning and put out the food waste bag. Let’s hope that I did it on the right day and at the right time! The system is not complicated but you must be on your toes that you get the right bag out on the right day. I think they pick up food waste three times a week. There are no huge garbage trucks that come by and pick up like they do in North America. Even in the larger European cities, garbage is handled a whole lot different than in our wasteful North America!
Here’s the little garbage truck that we saw on the main street, which during the day is restricted to pedestrians. It’s pretty small. I’m very good at getting pictures of things but not showing the scale. You can see the driver’s leg in green at the front.
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| The mini garbage truck |
For dessert at lunch I had a fruit salad and the pineapple slices were so thin you could see through them. They were shavings of pineapple. Yum!!!
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| Fruit salad for lunch |
We were seated at six tables in the restaurant - in a room just for us. We arrived at 12:00 and didn’t leave until 3 PM. Meals are very long! Since we were the ones to receive our dessert last, we were just finishing up when everyone else started leaving as people had bags to pack and planes to catch. The birthday girl and her girlfriend were on their way to Greece. We said good bye to everyone (until today) and then headed out for our afternoon adventure which was the amphitheatre that was built in the third century BC.
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| The Taormina amphitheatre |
We could see this from the castle ruins the previous day.
The church we had visited the day before is on the first point on the left and the castle is on the next one over. There is a whole other village up there as well. It’s a crazy place to build, but you certainly got a good view of the Ionian ocean and anyone who was coming to attack!!
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| The castle ruins in the background |
Looking at the amphitheatre and thinking about any large structure built back in the day (cathedrals, castles, etc) you just wonder how the heck they were able to build all that. The arches are smooth and strong. The rooms are massive. It was an amazing feat to say the least.
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| Inside the amphitheatre |
They have AI generations of what the amphitheatre looked like back in the day - I guess to the best of the knowledge they can glean from historical sources and it’s interesting to note that this wall was extremely high with loads of columns. And there wasn’t a bit gap in the wall!
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| M and Dillon in front of the stage in the amphitheatre |
Same thing in the back — there were two large walls in the back with columns and there is room for many spectators. Like all progress, I think this was the centre of the universes for this area, but it fell out of favour at some point.
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| Looking over the seating |
They even showed pictures of how they envisioned them having a roof on the place. Now the roof was for sun shade only and consisted of long canvases stretched across the surface. I’m not sure if that was real or not but the concept was great.
It was nice to sit in the sun and just relax after some whirlwind days. On our slow walk back to the apartment, we stopped at a few shops and picked up a few small souvenirs. It’s a challenge to pick ONE magnet that is meaningful to the trip. We settled on one and we were good. I think M and Dillon were struggling with one. But why buy two and then later have to cull, when one will suffice. Make the tough decisions before you buy. Life is full of decisions.
DH managed to find me a thimble to add to the collection and I found a cool bracelet.
Once we got the apartment, M and Dillon packed up as they were moving to a new apartment. We were going to walk them there, but it’s up a lot of steps! The walking distance was only 11 minutes, but I think it was on the road and the roads are crazy to walk on.
We helped them to the taxi stand with all their luggage. Thankfully we were going downhill and whenever a car came from behind, someone yelled CAR. I’m sure we were quite a sight! Within a short time, we got a notification that they had arrived. I don’t think they had as much difficulty finding their place as we did the first night we arrived.
DH went to a restaurant for dinner and I went to the grocery store and bought a salad. I am done with large meals for a while. I also bought some breakfast items as we have an early start to today’s adventures.
But as I was sitting in the main room of the apartment last night, I heard M and Dillon. How neat — they found stairs from their apartment to the main street, and the stairs just so happened to pass right by where we are! I’ll have to take a hike up to their place later. I figured there were stairs, but the stairs are not marked on Google Maps —- well, we might have seen them on terrain view.
Anyway, they are much further up the hill, so they have a much better view than we do. But I’m not really here for the view from the apartment.
We had to stop and look at clothing on the way back from our afternoon adventure and we spotted these in a men’s store. Look at this tiny shirts and they had hand made buttons on the shirts!!!
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| Mini shirts |
Speaking of views — this was the view last night. There was some fireworks going off, but we couldn’t see them, but I think M said they could see them from their apartment.
Here’s the one crazy thing about European homes — the number of switches on the walls. And what the heck do they all do? I was in the kitchen prepping the waste for today and I was trying to find the light. I can hear a whirring sound —- oh this one unlocks the kitchen window which is high on the wall. And other places when you turn off all the lights, a green flashing light comes on, but I was able to disable that by repeating touching it.
I think their electrical outlets, timers, etc, are way more advanced than what we have, but without things being labeled, it’s trial and error to turn the lights on! But that’s OK — it’s all about learning!!
Our front door works on some weird locking mechanism which we have figured out, but not without the help of the video. And when you pull the door shut, it locks automatically, so don’t forget the key.
Plus, it’s hard not to forget where you put the key ring in the house, because there is a key on it which turns on the power in the apartment. Well, I’m guessing that some power works or the fridge would be having difficulty. But it’s a good power saver for forgetful tourists who would be inconsiderate enough to leave the lights on when they leave the house.
The laundry room with a washer is under the stairs and we found an iron and ironing board so DH could iron his shirt for the wedding. Just in case anyone wanted to see a European iron — they are the same as back home, but with a different brand.
We have one more group adventure today and then I believe that the group will start disbanding. Actually, some people have already made their way home. Our little group of four splits up tomorrow but you’ll hear all about that in a day or so.
I’m glad I’m traveling light and sure wish I had my backpack, but my small and light suitcase is OK. It’ll still be easy to move around. Not a lot of clothing options since it’s cool and I seem to wear the same thing every day, but that’s OK. Perhaps it’ll be a bit warmer on the main land.
We have only seen a small portion of Sicily. I have two more things I’d like to do in Taormina, but I’m not sure I’ll get time, so we may have to come back at some pint. But there are so many other places on the list to see —- there just won’t be enough time or money to visit them all. I guess it’s all about priorities!!!
On that note, I’m out of here. I might go out for a short walk this morning before we have to leave.
Have a wonderful day.
Ciao!!!