Welcome back to When Wine Calls – “2025 Wine Afficionados Tour”.
Approaching Catania Airport, the towering peak of Mt Etna is striking and unmistakeable commanding your attention in comparison to the surrounding landscape. Seeing it for the first time was exhilarating and we could not wait to land and experience adventuring on its slopes in the coming days.
On arrival we picked up our hire car after walking a considerable distance from the terminal and headed north for the city of Taormina, a short drive up the coast. Along most of the route Mt Etna continued to fill our windscreen, changing its silhouette as we commenced sighting the mountain instead from the north.
We had booked a boutique hotel, Hotel Casa Adele located close to the entrance to the Old Town as it provided secure parking without understanding at the time what that meant in respect of the topography of Taormina.
As we followed the GPS along the precarious winding roads up the hill to the town it became apparent that we probably should had done more research and stayed lower down the mountain and catch the cable car or taxi up.
On our first pass around, we missed the critical turnoff to the hotel and had to drive all away around the winding roads again to have another go then drive down this extremely narrow one way road until we saw the concierge standing on the road waving us down to enter a small garage adjacent to the hotel. We were very relieved when we turned the car engine off, handed him the car keys for the duration of our stay and removed our bags to check in.
As it turned out, the location of the hotel was perfect, located only a few short steps from the city square with panoramic views of Mt Etna and the coastline as well as one of the entrance gates to the Old Town – it could not have been any closer despite the challenges to locate it.
After check-in it was time for dinner and certainly a drink, the concierge recommending to us a restaurant immediately across the road. After a great dinner we went for a walk through the Old Town to capture the amazing night landscape;
after which we discovered a tremendous garden bar It turned out to be a fantastic introduction to this wonderful part of Sicily.
The next day it was an early start as we had booked an all-day jeep tour on Mt Etna finishing off with a visit to the famous Gole dell’Alcantara. After meeting our driver, he took us passed the renowned island of Isola Bella on the way to picking up some other tour members. We had planned to catch the cable car down to explore Isola Bella further, a small rocky island connected at low tide to the coastline and the home of Florence Trevelyan and her husband until their deaths but unfortunately ran out of time with so much else to see in Taormina.
While the jeep tour was not quite what we had expected in terms of logistics with large groups from differing countries making up the overall numbers split up into language groups the tour itself, which included a walk on the volcanic slopes of the mountain
and a short lava cave tour were both spectacular,
with a limoncello at the end of the tour as a reward for our trekking on the lava fields a nice touch.
After a typical Sicilian lunch in a ski hut in the woods
only a small group proceeded on the afternoon tour to Gole dell’Alcantara (Alcantara Gorge). The gorge has been formed by the Alcantara River carving through solidified lava flows from Mt Etna forming basalt formations up to 50 metres high. To explore these formations, you walk through the very cold water rushing through the gorge to a waterfall near the end. The lava walls of the gorge are unbelievable, and it was worth the effort to view them despite the temperature of the water.
Our final day in Taormina offered us the opportunity to walk around the old city and through the intriguing old cobblestone streets and laneways including the main street Corso Umberto that runs for around 800 metres from Porto Catania on the east side of the town to Porta Messina on the west side with the impressive Piazza IX Aprile at its midway point.
Along the Corso Umberto were some amazing buildings and laneways including Vicolo Stretto (narrow alley), the narrowest side street in Taormina with a width of less than one metre along its length.
There were also some quaint little wine bars to discover.
In our walk we also came across the Villa Communale di Taormina or Public Garden. The villa and gardens were the home of Lady Florence Trevelyan ( Note: the same English woman who lived on Isola Bella) who built these unique buildings within the gardens called Victorian Follies which are just amazing to walk around.
There was also a WWII mini-submarine on display in the park with its bow looking out over Mt Etna which was certainly a contrast to other parts of the garden.
As the day neared its end we headed back to the hotel and went up to the rooftop to have a well-earned Aperol and admire the magnificent views up to the imposing Castella di Taormina overlooking the city – we had the rooftop to ourselves which was tremendous. It was then off again looking for a local restuarant for dinner providing a wonderful end to our few days in this fantastic city.
The next day we “very carefully” drove back down the windy roads to the motorway and headed north with our next destination the seaside town of Cefalu.
Long term parking in Cefalu is a real challenge so we had organised with the boutique hotel, Ossuna Bay Hotel located in the Old Town to park in a private secure parking area nearby and walk with our smaller bags around 800 metres to the hotel which suited our needs perfectly.
There was a fantastic small restaurant near our hotel which served the most amazingly fresh seafood bruschettas that were to die for with a fresh salad – unfortunately we managed only one meal there as the rest of the time they were closed for some reason.
Our room in the hotel had amazing views over the Tyrrhenian Sea (a part of the Mediterranean) with crustal clear blue water and sandy beaches as well as being able to be part of the atmosphere of the Old Town.
While the old town has a lot of charm to walk through for us this was a relaxation stop laying around in the Lidos on the beach during the day, swimming in pristine clear warm water;
and eating incredible seafood dinners overlooking unforgettable sunsets at night.
One issue we did have to sort out while in Cefalu was my mobile phone which had been playing up since we left Valetta with the screen getting progressively worse each day. In Cefalu it finally became unusable, so we searched online for a local repair shop. After finding a shop, Aggiustalo with excellent reviews we went looking for it in th new town. The owner was a local who fortunately spoke very good English and agreed to instal a new scereen that day for us. He was a lifesaver and a tremendous person certainly deserving of his high rating.
These days when you travel you simply cannot do without your phone as all your travel bookings and tickets are electronically stored on it and while we also carry the key bookings in paper form as a back up some airlines in particular insist you check in online using their phone app.
While our time in Cefalu had been short it was a wonderful place to recharge the batteries and enjoy Sicilian beach life for a few days.
Next stop on our road trip of Sicily is Trapani. Join us then as we explore the northwest corner of this fascinating island. Until then take care.
Bruce & Pauline
When Wine Calls 
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