On June 4th, our itinerary for the third day in Sicily is:
Catania - 55KM - Taormina - 55KM - Catania
Morning: Head to Taormina, known as the most beautiful town in Sicily, which is also the filming location for "Chinese Restaurant." Visit the most famous site in the town, the ancient Greek theater located on the mountaintop, which has nearly 2000 years of history. Despite its ruins, the former glory can still be seen. This theater is the best viewpoint to overlook the volcano, fishing village, and coastline. After descending, return to the old town center for free time at the beach. Evening: Return to Catania.
We set off from the hotel to Taormina after breakfast.
Taormina has been a major source of income from tourism since the 18th century and is the most popular attraction in Sicily.
The most renowned monument is the ancient Greek theater built in the 3rd century BC, which can be viewed from different angles, sometimes nestled in the mountains, sometimes by the sea, and it also offers a view of Mount Etna. The theater is still in use today, and tickets for the summer music festival are often hard to come by.
Taormina has many historical buildings, a plethora of souvenir shops and restaurants, medieval houses with flower-filled windows and balconies, and steep alleys filled with artistic atmosphere, making it very charming.
I specifically shot a short video to document the world heritage site of Taormina.
Our first stop is the filming location of Huang Xiaoming's documentary "Chinese Restaurant." We took photos here, surrounded by bougainvillea.
On the way into the city, we saw many flower pots shaped like human faces on the windowsills of residential houses.
The tour guide told us there is a story behind this, which you can look up online.
The guide explained that a young Arab merchant came here to marry a local girl, but after he fell in love with another girl, the first girl discovered it and killed him, burying his head in a flower pot on her balcony.
That's roughly the story, indicating that the locals have a steadfast view on love, as evidenced by the murder case that arose from love issues, making these flower pots particularly unique.
This town also has a special attraction, which is the garden on the cliff.
This garden is truly beautiful. It was built for the cousin of Queen Victoria, who came here from England to get married.
The park also features cannons, World War II statues, and a torpedo model behind them. I suspect these are related to the American military landing in Sicily during World War II.
We strolled through the parks, alleys, and commercial streets in Taormina.
There are many tourists here, especially from Europe and America, who particularly love this town of Taormina.
This is a world heritage site.
Taormina is most famous for its ancient Greek theater built on a cliff, which began construction in the 3rd century BC, making it the most uniquely located ancient Greek theater in the world.
Every summer from July to September, the Taormina Arts Festival is held here.
Upon arriving at the ancient Greek theater, we first entered a small museum in front of the theater for a visit.
Inside, besides some exhibits, there is an LED screen introducing the original appearance of the ancient theater.
The top of the ancient theater has VIP seats, occupied by generals, wealthy tycoons, and nobles, who sit in the VIP boxes.
This theater can accommodate about 10,000 people, and behind the columns of the backdrop is the dressing area for performers.
There is also a large orchestra pit, which is semi-circular...
When we stood at the top of the ancient theater, we found the view was particularly good, allowing us to see the large scale of the theater and overlook the entire town of Taormina and the bay, which is truly magnificent.
Any visitor to Taormina will definitely come to this ancient Greek theater.
After leaving the theater, we rushed to eat some popular ice cream.
Sicily is full of ice cream and pizza.
This is what we mean by Sicily having both sweet and salty.
The sweet is ice cream, the salty is pizza, and both are particularly delicious and reasonably priced.
At the entrance of the old town in Taormina, there is a local popular ice cream shop where we checked in and had to try the ice cream.
While visiting Taormina, we went into a restaurant for lunch.
We ordered pizza here, and there were various types of pizza. We didn't know what to choose, so we asked the waiter for local specialties, and ended up ordering three pizzas, one of which was called frog pizza.
I thought it was made with frog meat, but I didn't see any frog meat, which might be a translation issue or something else.
Sicilian pizza is different from pizza in China; it has a stronger and saltier flavor. My friends from Beijing felt that Sicilian pizza isn't as good as the pizza we buy in Beijing. I believe if Sicilians came to Beijing and saw the pizza there, they would definitely think it’s not as authentic as the pizza from Sicily, after all, the birthplace of pizza is Italy. Well, different people have different opinions.
Taormina is a hotspot for tourism in Sicily, with tourists everywhere in the streets, alleys, gardens, and theaters.
It has a main road lined with shops, including major brand stores.
It is bustling with activity, filled with a lively atmosphere. The only regret is that we only did a day trip here; we should have stayed overnight to wander around the small town slowly.
However, there are too many fun places in Sicily, and our schedule is packed every day, departing at nine or ten in the morning and returning to the hotel to rest around four or five in the afternoon. Older people want to visit more places but can't be too exhausted.
Taormina, I will have to come back next time.
(To be continued)