French Balcony View

As on the previous day I enjoyed chilling (with a book) out on the French balcony in the early morning sunshine whilst Mr C snoozed for a while. Our plan for the day was to visit the Alacantara Gorge on the CityBySee bus but, once again, the trip set off at lunch time leaving the morning free.

A New Friend

Photo taken by Mr C

As we were leaving the hotel to visit the municipal gardens, the hotel’s  resident dog took a fancy to me. He came running past Mr C and jumped up at me with a waggy tail, putting his paws on my legs. At one point the gorgeous dog put his paws on my hands.

Municiple Gardens

After this delightful encounter we revisited the municipal gardens to enjoy a relaxing and tranquil morning. Shortly after we arrived Mr C realised that he had left his hat in the hotel room. While he walked back to the hotel  to retrieve his hat, I stayed in the gardens to explore them at my leisure. I enjoyed my slow paced walk around the garden, seeing things that I had missed on our previous visit.

Isola Bella from above

When Mr C returned, hat in hand, we left the gardens and headed in the direction of the bus station. Our walk took us past what was described on our previous days tour as a Romantic Ruin and also the Necropolis, which is the remains of an old Byzantine cemetery, before finding a viewing platform looking out over the Isolla Bella bay.

A Cafe with a View

Next to the viewing platform there was a convenient cafe, L’Oblio, it was a cafe with a view. As we were being served with drinks before our food order of aranchini arrived, the waiter somehow managed to unbalance the drinks on the tray causing mine, a fresh orange drink to be spilt. Luckily he missed me.

Alacantara Gorge

After enjoying lunch and the views, it was time to walk the short distance to the bus station to board the bus to the Alcantara Gorge. We were treated to amazing views and driven along many narrow almost un-navigable streets whilst listening to the interesting commentary of the various things we were seeing. The Gorge itself was beautiful and, on this brief trip, the focus was using the lift to get down to the gorge and the free wine tasting available in the shop area.

We descended to the gorge but due to time constraints we were unable to explore much more than that. We had just enough time to see the 3D video experience and to find out that the free wine tasting was only mini morsels of food and liquors. The tasting session was rushed and designed to lure tourists into buying the local produce. After the previous days experience we made sure we were back at the bus in plenty of time.

Etna Sunset

Back in Taormina, we stopped for refreshments in a cafe bar before indulging in an Italian ice cream. In the hotel I had a relaxing soak in the bath which was briefly interrupted by Mr C providing me with an unexpected glass of Prosecco!

Room Service

Shortly after this  ‘room service’ provided us with biscuits after two days absence…

We dined in Le Quattro Fontane where the food and service were excellent. I chose seabass, it was served in a butterfly style and was delicious. I followed this with Cassata; all I can say is WOW!

We made our way back to the hotel for an early night to be ready for an early morning start for our visit to Etna.

11 Comments CherryPie on Oct 31st 2019

11 Responses to “Taormina – Day Nine”

  1. ....peter says:

    this was a beautiful place to show us Cherie… i loved your picture of the Isolla Bella Bay …thanks for the snack at the end of your journey….peter:)

    • Hels says:

      I loved the photo of Isolla Bella Bay as well.

      I also loved the cafe, L’Oblio, with trees, plants and an amazing view. If the espresso and cakes are good, I would never leave.

  2. That dog looks so skinny.
    I am sure it’s small enough to fit into your suitcase
    and bring it home. ;)

  3. lowcarbdiabeticJan says:

    It looks a lovely place, your photographs are so nice to see.

    All the best Jan

  4. The Yum List says:

    There is something so peaceful about looking out to the horizon.

  5. shabana says:

    lovely photos dear Cheri :)

    first image of water with pattern is beautiful, loved the sitting near and above the water ,so relaxing :)