Back in Sicily again.

 It took a 20 minute walk to Lucca train station, a 90 minute train ride to Pisa , a 6 minute shuttle train to Pisa airport, a 1 hour delayed, 90 minute RyanAir flight to Catania airport, a 30 minute shuttle bus to Catania Historical District and a two minute walk to get us to our B&B. A pass code got us into a lockbox with our keys to a decent size room with a comfortable bed, bar bridge set up with beer water and snacks and a balcony with a stately noisy street view

We wasted no time in packing our backpacks for a two day trip while leaving our suitcases to be stored until our return.

It was close to midnight by the time we crashed for the night after a gourmet meal of packaged ramen noodles obtained from a local mini mart.

 Waking around 7 am we enjoyed a decent breakfast of cappuccino, ham and cheese and sweet pastries before we set off in search of the bus terminal.

 Within 50 meters of our B&B we found ourselves in the centre of a street market that seemed to go in all directions. Stalls of used clothing and cheap electronics sat side by side with fruit vendors and fishmongers. Sections of fish roe the size of small watermelons lay beside swordfish sections, whole octopuses as well as several sizes of shrimp and squid. 

 Breaking free from the crowded market we covered a further 500 meters on side streets crowded with parked cars before we reached the terminal. 

The bus to Taormina arrived exactly at it’s 11am departure time, the driver taking several minutes more to sell tickets and ensure that EVERYONE was wearing a white N95 mask. Nothing else would do, and he was not too polite to any objectors.

 The one hour trip took closer to 90 minutes due to traffic delays and passenger pickups along the route- many delivered with his “Mask Nazi” to those.not fully compliant.

The two lane road frequently dropped to one, due to construction and the drivers began to go into full Peacock mode, refusing to give an inch as there merge approached. This being Sicily and not ‘Murca, no OK Corral shoot outs occurred.

By the time we entered the curves up the cliff hike to Taormina, with their hairpin bends, downward cars were losing the “You back up” NO, You back up!”fight with our much larger bus. 

Upon reaching the terminal he had another 200 meter uphill walk to reach the start of the city centre and it’s Main Street.

If Disney designers wanted to develop a Disneyland ride that looked like an imagined Italian Street it would be the Corso Umberto. With a city gate at each end it wanders, like a long lazy snake along a roughly 1km path along the cliff top, with the Ionian Sea far below. Beautifully decorated buildings lined both sides- mostly restaurants and shops, but also several bars, gelato and cannoli stands, as well as several churches.

 Above, narrow stepped streets branched off leading to more streets of homes, hotels and small local shops. With some difficulty we found our place settled at the top of a long road , bumper to number cars, jamming the route. After calling for further directions, the owner came out to find and escort us inside, pointing out a much shorter route to city centre.

After our check in we spent the afternoon relaxing in our room, waiting for an impending thunderstorm storm to commence and drive off some of the tourist mob.Unusual for this time of year, there have been several in recent days, a source of flooding and damage in other areas.

We spent the morning of our second day here at the beach, reached by cable car or a very steep pathway. Much of the beach is controlled by hotels charging 50€ for a day’s renal of 2 loungers and a beach umbrella- no shorter deals available. Instead we found the small public beach nearby and threw down a towel while we watched the waves and relaxed for an hour or so.

We settled on gelato for lunch and returned to the hotel for an afternoon siesta as the afternoon sun steam baked anyone crazy enough to be out in the 85% humidity