Taormina <3

Upon flying into Catania I could see out the plane window that it was a wet day filled with gray skies and dreary sights. It seemed a completely different place from Florence (which makes sense because it was!). When I flew into Florence I could see the green of the hills blending harmoniously with the browns and burnt oranges of the houses and the dome of the Duomo. Catania, however, seemed almost apocalyptic compared to the lush first impression I had of Florence. I walked onto the private bus that picked us up from the airport with a sense of dread and exhaustion. “Oh, no,” I thought, “Another walking tour…” And so it began: my week in Sicily and Taormina.

Though this beginning does not bode well for this trip, my fortunes soon turned more positive. We left Catania after a long walking tour where we visited black churches, black piazze, and black streets all created from the Basalt rock of the volcano Mount Etna. I dragged myself onto our cozy bus and plopped myself in the “Forever Alone Seat” as I liked to call it. The seat itself was in a line single seats hence the name “forever alone”. I snuggled into my seat as the bus pulled onto the autostrada towards Taormina.

 From this point both my mood and the bus began to climb as our adorable Italian bus driver drove us up the coast of eastern Sicily and to the cliff that Taormina is settled on. As the bus careened around corners and changed lanes without using its blinkers, I could see the day start to get clearer and the mist began to burn away in the afternoon sun. The mist faded and all of a sudden I could see the Mediterranean Sea outside of the bus window. Little towns nestled up against the blue abyss and I could see little spots of white that must have been fishing boats line the coast. Looking down the coast, I could see giant cliffs looming in the distance. To my surprise they had tiny towns on them! I thought, “There is no way that’s where we’re going. That’s too beautiful for the likes of me!”

We got closer and closer to these cliffs until suddenly we were driving through a tunnel underneath them. When we came out on the other side I felt like I was in some sort of revelation, being born anew. The bus was on the top of a hill but there were still huge cliffs floating above us. In front of us was a maze of highway and roads twisting up, down, and around homes, hotels, restaurants, and, above all, rocks and cliffs. Beyond the road I could see a sandy beach stretching up and down the coast with tiny blue and red dots marking umbrellas and beach chairs. But what drew the eye the most was the Mediterranean Sea. The sun was shining off of it and reflecting like stars in a moonless night sky. Cobalt blue mixed with the colors of the light blue sky to create a sort of broth of aquas, blues, and azures. Across the sea was the Calabrian coast of the mainland of Italy. The mountainous region dominated the horizon on the left, but the right remained untouched by land.

The bus creeped up the mountain, zigzagging along the narrow roads. More than one time I thought we were going to collide with a car or, even worse, another bus but our bus driver was skilled in his profession and we made it to our hotel unscathed. We unloaded our stuff and Rebecca (my roommate for the week) and I headed up to the fourth floor to check out the pool. When we stepped out onto the pool terrace it became unbelievably clear that we weren’t only here for a study tour. We were here to enjoy a week in paradise.