As you already know, I'm more comfortable taking buses than trains reasoning being that I want to observe the scenery of the many towns and cities I pass by to get an idea of how life truly is in the country side. My next destination is Taormina in Sicily which is located on a hill top off the eastern side coast. My bus ride from Leece would be taking 9+ hours and the schedule for my original departure was not on time as I arrived there early. Even an elderly woman approached me and spoken to me in Italian about when is the bus arriving and obviously I couldn't communicate with her well but the bus finally arrived and we were off to the region of Sicily. Our bus made a detour along the coast of Golfo De Taranto which is on the west coastline that is adjacent to the Mediterranean sea as we arrived at the port of Reggio di Calabria.
From here we had to take the ferry across the sea to Messina which is the northeastern province of Sicily and that took about 30-40 min ride but with very rough waters and wind. Everyone on board was allowed to leave their vehicles and walk around the ferry to take a view of Sicily or just stretch out. But as I recalled before we reached the port of Messina, I walked back to my bus and noticed couple of people didn't returned to their seats which got me thinking what would happen when we dock at the port? Would the driver take a head count or just leave as we approach the dock?
The vehicles drove off the ferry onto the street as the doors opened up leading to the port of Messina. From there, I felt bad for few of the people that didn't get back to the bus but should of known that the bus was going to leave when the ferry reaches the port to dock. So we made a quick stop to the Messina bus and train terminal for dropoffs and head onto to straight to Catania. But I needed to stop off at Giardini Naxos which is 10 min away from Taormina and make a bus transfer.
Reaching to the hill top of the mountain of Taormina was a familiar road in San Francisco which of course is Lombard street. The street was so narrow, the bus had to make very decisive when to turn due to oncoming vehicles. But as I arrived at the bus terminal of Taormina, I quickly noticed the environment and vibe around me, this place was more of a resort that you could go to during the summer time. Walking around town just like being in Palo Alto or Stanford shopping center, many high end boutique shops for tourists to spend outrageous prices for clothes, accessories and dinner. Traveling on the funivia was fun at the bottom of where Mazzaro beach was located to the top of Taormina, its basically a those sky cable cars that travels from station to another. Isola Bella is a small island you can walk across from the beach of Mazzaro, and it was just a wonderful site to see.
But getting to the bottom was nothing but a challenge especially for me taking a risk And the view from the top of Taormina to observe the scenery of the the neighboring towns was outstanding but also a great look at Mt. Etna that is one of Europe's most active volcanoes. And of course I can't forget the Teatro Greco, one of Sicily's famous theaters for entertainment. I could imagine witnessing a live music performance there as a spectator would be something to cherish once in a lifetime experience. It was the perfect time to see this amazing architecture since the high season of tourists flocking in to Sicily hasn't quite hit yet.
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