In written:

We’re Matteo and Micha, in our last episode we explored the city of Messina and went on the hunt for a deep-fried mozzarella sandwich… which didn’t exactly go according to plan. This week we are in one of the most stunning places in the world, Taormina. Where Matteo finds pistachio heaven, we visit the ancient Greek Theatre, and wade through the water to reach the little island of Isola Bella.

We arrived in Taormina and checked in to Hotel Continental, which is only 300 meters from the main piazza and has one of the most magnificent rooftop views in town.

We were lucky to find a great deal on a basic room, only 80 euros for the night and we were happily surprised to find we had a little Juliet balcony with the charming view of a medieval tower.

After dropping off our bags we enjoyed a delicious margarita pizza for lunch.

Now we’re on our way to take a stroll through the gorgeous park of Villa Comunale.

Ever since we arrived here my jaw has been on the floor for how beautiful Taormina is and I’ve heard of its beauty in so many different places from different people, and honestly it lives up to the hype especially the view from this park Villa Comunale because I just, I can’t, I’m not over it it’s just so gorgeous, and casually in the back that’s Mount Etna, the most active volcano in Europe. Which I’m not gonna lie stresses me out just a little bit.

Behind me looks like an aviary, it belonged to Queen Vctoria’s cousin, Lady Florence, and she was a rich English woman who had a passion for birds and so she built these aviaries and these nesting sites.

Oh, you weren’t kidding there really is a submarine. yeah, it’s a submarine.

I don’t think this fits many people though.

“What is this a center for ants? It needs to be at least three times as big!” It says 1991 so something tells me that this is not a World War ii thing. probs not.

We are currently on the way to the Greek Theatre in Taormina; it is the second-largest one in Sicily.

We’re in the middle of the Greek Theatre where gladiators used to fight to the death but now it’s being used as an entertainment stage.  So, they’re currently breaking down from the Taormina Film Festival that was going on a few days ago so live events happen here all the time and you got an awesome view of Mount Etna in the back. It’s crazy to think how old this place is like people way back in the day used to sit here and just watch performances or watch gladiator fights and now they’re straight-up stickers for people in today’s day and age in 2021 to see a film festival it’s a little bizarre. Me and Matteo are major history nerds so this kind of stuff kind of blows my mind. that’s exactly why I wore the closest thing I had to gladiator sandals.

Oh, wow wow, wow!

Pistachio gelato with pistachio crumbs and I don’t know what else he added but it’s all pistachio related. This is the best, smoothest pistachio gelato I’ve ever had in Italy.

Spoiled now!

Is it liquor? liquore al pistacchio.

Bailey’s but pistachio.

That’s so crazy, like a pistachio Bailey’s, it’s delicious! So smooth. So smooth yet so nutty!

If you’re a pistachio lover, Novè does not disappoint!

We’re currently in the lesser-known Greek Theatre, it’s a small version of the massive one.

Here’s where they used to have private shows and auditions before they performed in the big theater, for like judges and higher up people, and police officials and people like that.

Luckily there’s literally nobody here so you didn’t embarrass yourself too much.

Wait, you don’t like my sprinkler and my shopping cart sequence? It’s a classic, am I right?

We are staying at the hotel with the coolest rooftop bar in town and now we’re having happy hour and watching the sunset.

Italy wins the Euro 2020 Semi-Final!

Alright so if you’re visiting Taormina on a budget and you don’t feel like spending the 35 euros on the seafood at the restaurants, no jokes come here for a panino, Bar Sunrise, this dude makes delicious paninos. For four to five euros, you can get a panino and I mean that’s your dinner sorted.

We got two paninis each no jokes, beers at the mini-mart, two bucks, two bucks fifty, you’re good to go.

Ciao!

Tino!

Ciao Bella Taormina!

We’re in the middle of Piazza Aprile which is the main piazza in Taormina, and it’s in the middle of Corso Umberto which is the main street in Taormina and it’s got all the big shops.

From the piazza you have a gorgeous panoramic view of the coastline.

The reason we came here this morning for our espresso and granita is because we hear that Bam Bar is one of the local’s favorite spots and it is a must try so we’re really excited about this!

So, if you guys saw our Cefalu video, we didn’t get cream on that granita.

This one we did try it with cream and it is definitely the way to go. This is the smoothest most beautiful cream I think I’ve ever had in my life.

The brioche is nice and warm, I definitely see why this place is one of the favorites here.

That was definitely one of the more delicious granitas I’ve ever had. The almond had real almond chunks in it and when you put the cream on top it almost seems to seal the frozenness of the granita in, and it was thicker than normal so it was just delectable! We stumbled upon this really cute street that’s around the corner from Bam bar and it’s decked out with these awesome Sicilian decorations. A lot of things look hand-painted or decoupage and it’s just a really cool thing to see.

Even the Vespa’s on this street are hand-painted with the Sicilian symbols.

So, since Taormina is on a hill, in order to get down to the beach you can either drive your car, your scooter or you could walk, we’re not going to do those. We’re going to take the funicular son!

We were going to take the funicular down and up to the beach, but in true Italian style it is not working today and so they’re just redirecting everybody to a bus that’s going down and bus that’s coming up, it looks like a bit of a chaotic adventure but i guess we expect that here.

I got arm pump from holding on to the bar at the top for so long and holding on to Michelle with the other hand. Brakes feel like they’re failing, gears rotting away. The adventure continues.

You’re stripped of all shade unless you pay for it then we can have some, for now we bake.

So, to get to Isola Bella we have to walk, there’s like a little bit of land to get us from here to there because Isola Bella is technically its own little island but thankfully there is this very small rocky path that we can walk on to get there.

You gotta take your shoes off otherwise you’re probably gonna have them float away from you.

This is so cool, it’s like being in like a nature reserve maze, you don’t know where the next turn is gonna take you, there’s all these little coves and nooks and crannies of it.

So the lady who bought the park and set the park up on the hill also purchased this island from the King of Sicily and well that’s where she started developing everything and turned it into another one of her sanctuaries. In 1992, Sicily purchased the island and turned it into a nature reserve.

We just found out that the funicular is running again after we stood at the bus line for like 15 minutes.

I’m so excited, I was so bummed that we didn’t get to take it today and now it’s open for some reason going back up to the hill, so yay!

We have it all to ourselves!

We’re so high.

Three bucks up, three bucks down. This is so worth it; the view is so cool. I’m a little bit nervous because it’s shaking a little bit but this is so awesome.

Funicular mission a success!

Behind me is one of the two ancient gates that were used to enter Taormina.

This one is called Porta Messina and it is the gate that comes from Messina We had to get one last panino from Tino’s… until next time!

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Taormina Sicily Luxury Villla  with Pool