Visions of Taormina.

The first stop on our week long adventure in Sicily was to Catania, which is the second largest city in Sicily, and built on top of the lava of Mt. Etna. Catania has been given the nickname of “the black city”, which was the opinion I had before I even learned of it. A large portion of the building material used in Catania is stones made out of the hardened lava, which is black, thus giving the buildings and therefore the city, a dark look and feeling. Catania was nice, but I wasn’t overly impressed, and was a little worried that Taormina would have a similar feeling to it, seeing it too is close to Etna. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Taormina was a tiny picturesque town that I would love to live in. The first full day we had in Taormina made me instantly fall in love. The language school we were attending, Babilonia, was absolutely breathtaking and I felt like I was in paradise. Everything from the warm rays of the sun, to the sweet smells of the wisteria, made me fall in love and never want to leave. Taormina definitely was a tourist attraction and a coastal city, but strolling the streets of the city was an experience unlike that of Florence. English is not the language you hear by most tourists passing by you or inside a shop. Perhaps it is because of the language school, but most people speak Italian, or at least attempt to. Many times inside the shops, owners asked if we went to the school, helped us with our Italian, told us they would tell Alessandro, the director of Babilonia, that we spoke only in Italian, and gave us a discount for being a student there. Many times in Florence, when I or other students, try to speak Italian in a shop the workers will often respond back in English, which can be very frustrating to a student that is trying to practice and make an effort to speak the native language. Those in Taormina were very friendly and encouraging to us, which made each encounter more pleasant than the last. Taormina, despite being a tourist attraction, has a very small town feel. It was not uncommon for me to see the same people every day, and start to build a rapport with them. I often witnessed locals running into each other on the street, saying a quick hello, or seeing what the other was up to for the day. Despite the beauty and rich history of the town and the immense presence of Mt. Etna, Taormina had a simplistic, peaceful and genuine feel to it that was quite enchanting. During my trip I made an effort to try many of the typical Sicilian dishes and I was not disappointed. Everything was absolutely delicious, and I wish that I could find such dishes in Florence. One of the things that I liked the most was all of the restaurants that were located on the little side streets and staircases. Even if we didn’t have a view of the sea, the cute back corners and tables scattered about the stairs made for a pleasant and picturesque evening. It definitely was a perk that the town was built on the side of the mountain, because you could use the direction of the slope to help you find your way. I did not use a map at all during the week and did not get lost once. We often decided to just wander through the streets and take little mini-adventures and see where the road would take us. While Florence is an old city with a rich history, it feels very connected to the present and has its own share of daily problems. While I have been in awe of the history and beauty of the city and I'm miles away from home, I never feel completely separated from reality. The feeling of crazy city life and daily politics is always there, unlike in Taormina.   Overall, Taormina felt like its own little world, where there were no problems and everyone got along. It was quite surreal, and I loved every minute of it. 

E. Montemurro