Saturday, October 23, 2010

On the Island of Sicily...the Charming Town of Taormina


Taormina is a charming town high on the hills of Sicily, between Mesina and Catania with views of Mt Etna on the southern side of town.  Native Sicilians have inhabited the area since ancient times.  In 832 BC Greeks also inhabited the Sicilian coast.  In the late 1800's Taormina became a tourist destination, with it's first notable tourist being Johann Wolfgang Goethe.  In the early 1900's the town became a destination for expatriots.  Notables such as D.H.Lawrence, Truman Capote, Charles Webster Leadbeater, Jiddu Krishnamurti, and Halldor Laxness spent time developing their talents here in Taormina.




Ok...leave it to the O'Watsons to find an Irish pub in a charming Sicilian town filled with antiquities...


The view of the bay from Taormina...


Paris?  No...Taormina!!!


Still a hot spell in Europe...in the 90's with high humidity...tourists taking a moment to catch their breath in the shade...



Remember in the Godfather when Al Pacino goes to Sicily to "lay low" and finds and marries the gorgeous Sicilian girl who gets blown to smithereens before their wedding night???  That was all shot in Taormina...



Apparently, Taormina is still a favorite spot for weddings...


May she have a long and happy marriage...


2 comments:

  1. What wonderful shots of a beautiful place to wander. I've heard of Taormina. It looks lovely.

    Who is Halldor Laxness? I guess I'll go Google.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Darn! I thought you would know who Halldor was!!! Actually, a few of the names dropped are new to me...the most impressive to me were Goethe, DH Lawrence and Truman Capote!!! (mostly because I knew who they were!)

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