Near to the Necropolis and the Romantic Ruin is a viewing platform over Isola Bella Bay.

Conveniently situated by the viewing platform is Cafe L’Oblio, a cafe with a 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

This was the third day in a row that we had to plan breakfast around a meeting with the tour rep. We decided to go in for breakfast and Mr C slipped out to pay for the trips. In the end he only paid for the Etna trip as there was still doubt surrounding the Aeolian Islands trip.

After the meeting and breakfast, we headed into town and caught the cable car down to Isola Bella Bay where we took our life in our hands walking along the narrow roads, dodging the cars. Our walk was interrupted by a sprinkling of rain so we took the cable car back to Taormina where we had lunch overlooking the Cathedral square.

We visited the Sicilian Cart Museum then briefly returned to the hotel before visiting Palazzo Dei Duchi Di Santo Stefano which is a Norman structure situated near to Porta Catania. The interior of the building is used by the G. Mazulla foundation. The works of this artist are displayed in the palace and the gardens.

We next enjoyed a refreshing drink overlooking Piazza Duomo, soaking up the atmosphere in the Italian sunshine. Some things just have to be done.

Whilst we were back at the hotel getting ready for our evening meal the wind got up and we heard a loud crash. Initially we thought something had blown over until it dawned on us that it sounded like a motor accident; several roads are just below the hotel. I looked out of the window and saw people looking over the wall and photographing/videoing the scene below, which I found upsetting. However once again I was able to watch the sunset over Etna.

Later, as we walked to Trattoria Tiramiso Taormina for dinner, we saw the remains of the accident which was still being attended by the emergency services. I was left hoping that no one was seriously hurt. Whilst dining we got chatting to two Americans who were sharing their holiday experiences with us. Also whilst we were dining the tour rep texted to advise that despite the bad weather the Aeolian Islands trip would go ahead, but by now we had gone off the idea and didn’t want another interrupted breakfast…