Taormina in Pictures

With the most recent eruption of Mt. Etna, I thought I would show some pictures of my favorite place in the world, the beautiful and relaxing cliff-side town of Taormina.  Both times I've stayed there, I had a view of Mt. Etna from the hotel and I can't imagine what that view must look like during an eruption.

The cable car, or funivia, from Mazzaro back up to Taormina

 Isola Bella from the beach

 

Isola Bella, the island formerly owned by Lady Florence Trevelyan and now a nature reserve owned by the Region of Sicily

 Greek Theatre

 Our "capitan" Ciccio, who took us around Giardini Naxos and Taormina for a tour of the grottoes, and gave us almond wine and melon for lunch.  

I actually took this picture in 2006 during my first visit to Taormina

One of the most beautiful piazzas I've seen, Piazza IX Aprile

Beautiful Mt. Etna from hotel balcony this past summer, 2011

Monet's Garden and House

During my two years in Paris, I didn't take nearly enough day-trips as I would have liked, so when my mom was in town visiting, we made sure to visit Monet's Garden in Giverny, a place she has always wanted to visit.  It was opening weekend of the garden (in the first week of April) and although it was still damp and chilly, it turned out to be a great time to visit, as we nearly had the place to ourselves.  We took a train from St. Lazare in Paris to Vernon, and then hopped on a shuttle bus to Giverny.  In the middle of the summer, it could be a nice walk from Vernon to Giverny- it's probably only a three mile walk.

Growing up with a mother who loves gardening, I had always been exposed to Monet's gardens through hardcover gardening books from the library, calendars of his abode, and visits to museums like the Musée d'Orsay.  When I first saw the green bridge over the pond, it was like seeing the paintings I was so familiar with all these years finally come to life.

The best part of visiting Monet's Garden is that it is always changing, depending on what time of year you visit.  As we were there in the spring, all the bulb flowers were in bloom and the bright purply blues and whites provided a nice pop of color against the gray April sky.

When also toured Monet's house, which was absolutely stunning.  We weren't allowed to take pictures inside but each room had a different feel and the yellow dining room and beautiful blue-tiled kitchen were gorgeous. It was a nice thought to imagine Mr. Monet sitting in his studio, painting the beautiful nature scenes outside his window.

Monreale

 It was quite an adventure getting to Monreale this past July.  We followed the directions our hotel gave us by walking to Piazza Independenza and taking the 389 AMAT bus from there.  While we were on the bus, our driver told us that his bus line was no longer going to Monreale and where we should get off and transfer.  Seemed easy enough, right?  At the next bus stop, we waited, and waited, and waited, for a bus that never came.  We weren't the only ones.  We tried to tell a local woman of about 60 years old (wearing high heels and enough lipstick for the entire Rockettes) that the bus we had just come off of was no longer servicing Monreale.  She began to shout at us in jumbled English and Italian that we didn't know what we were talking about.  The other people at the bus stop looked uncomfortably at her public outburst and we decided not to argue.  The woman decided to hitchhike and proceeded to ask every car with a male passenger if they were going to Monreale and they all responded by ignoring her.  Finally we found a good man that told us that we should take the AST bus which was just down the road.  By that time, it had been a good two hours since we took off from central Palermo.  Despite an intensely difficult time getting there, Monreale was beautiful.  We didn't spend as much time as I would have liked due to the bus adventure, so I would like to return some day.  I only used my phone inside so the pictures do not do it justice.    

Brioche and Opera in Palermo

 This place in Palermo near the waterfront was the first time I saw a waffle/gelato combo on the menu.  It was pretty scrumptious.

The more traditional brioche con gelato 

I highly recommend a tour of the opera house, the Teatro Massimo.  Although I was unable to visit La Scala during my visit to Milan a few years back, this more than made up for it.  It is the third largest opera house in Europe (after the Garnier in Paris and the Vienna staatsoper) and the interior is not only beautiful but perfection in terms of acoustical design.  In the summer months, the Palermo opera moves outdoors to the Teatro della Verdura.  And if you're not a music lover like myself, you should visit the Teatro Massimo for its place in cinema history- the final scenes of the Godfather III were filmed here.