The Town of Taoromina is really quite quaint. Yes, it is touristy and busy but it has a small town feel to it. The first day there, after our marathon drive, we just chilled. We spent the day wandering the street and alley ways, just poking around the stores and sights. We did the Greek Theater but found the Gardens were really the place to be. Very peaceful and beautiful and views that were spectacular. The main street is relatively flat and straight. Deviate and you will climb stairs. Lots of them! Our hotel was 3-4 big flights from the main street so I didn't miss the gym at all! At the time we didn't know it but this was a good warm up for Positano.
Ok, full disclosure: this was the worst day of the entire trip
. Four words should explain why: DAY LONG BUS TOUR. Not what we would normally do but they have their place. This one was 12 hours long. Yes, Twelve Hours. The hotel staff takes pity on us and arranged an early morning breakfast in the lobby for us before we leave. Its 5am. This was a godsend as we didn't eat lunch until 1pm. We started out with a mile walk to the bus station, then 4 hours to cross Sicily to Agrigento and The Valley of the Temples. Had we not done Greece last year, this would have been awesome. As it was, it was still nice and very informative. The Temple of Concordia was especially well preserved and had an art exhibit going on in it so for an extra fee you could walk inside it. Yeah, I'm cheap. The kids were a reduced rate so I sent them in to take pictures. After the Temples we went to the coast for lunch. Now, You're on a Italian Island, on the coast, small restaurant. You have the choice between a bunch of pasta dishes, salad or steak. All you can drink wine and bread are included for a cost of 15 Euros
. What do you get? Of course, you get the pasta. This is important for later in the day...
After a short lunch break we head back on the bus for another 3 hours to Piazza Armerina to see the Mosaics. This site is supposed to have some of the most colorful, well preserved mosaics around. Everyone wants to see the beach volley ball team. No, I'm not joking. A mosaic of bikini clad girls playing volleyball are the highlight of the stop. They were nice but I guess I'm not into Mosaics. Chris, even less so. Rather than fight the crowd, he stays on the walking path and befriends an older British gent who also dislikes mosaics. In conversation, he asks Chris how his lunch was and what did he have. Chris answers that he had the pasta with pesto and it was fine. The Brit had ordered Steak. (Dooh) -Now comes the part I've been dreading about writing. You see, his comment on lunch has haunted me since then.- "Mine was a bit ropey" Do you what to guess how many times I've had to listen to Chris describe something as 'Ropey"? I mean, who orders steak and expects a gourmet meal in a place like that. Remember, all you can drink wine!!!Ropey. Thats all we heard for the rest of the trip. Finlay, now after a month of being home, 'ropey' is slowly working its way out of his vocabulary. I'm sure the old guy was a nice enough guy, but I really could have done without Chris' meeting him. Another couple of hours on the bus, gets us back to Taoromina and our mile walk to get back to the hotel.
After being couped up in the bus seats, the mile walk was the best part of the day. All this being said; since this was the worst day, so overall the trip was pretty good.
Not so Magic Bus
Thursday, June 03, 2010
Agrigento & Piazza Amerina, Sicily, Italy
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