Going out and staying in

Today we decided to go out of town and see a different place. But first we had a nice Italian style breakfast at home with the stuff we bought yesterday: panini, cheeses, salami, ham and bresaola along with pineapple and grapes. Yum!

Quick walk down to the market to get fresh shrimps, asparagus, some dried herbs and dried tomatoes for dinner tonight. I had bought some fresh-ish pasta at the supermarket earlier.

Figured out bus times for Taormina and off we went, but not without a quick cappuccino across the road at C&G. By now the waitress knew us and just asked for confirmation before bringing two cappuccinos.

At the station we had to ask like three different people to find the right bus stop as there are three different bus companies with each their own areas and all quite far apart. Bit of a faff, but eventually we found the right one with like 7 minutes to spare. Phew. Once you know, you know.

12:04 we were on our way to Taormina, a small town about an hour North of Catania, perched on the hill side. 

We realised immediately that this was a tourist spot which must be heaving with people in summer. Pretty Italian houses lining the streets with plenty of shops, cafes and restaurants trying to make some coin.
Cappuccino for 3.50-4.00 EUR!!! Instead of 1.20 in Catania. After some gelato we were craving for caffeine, but wouldn't want to pay almost 3x the normal price. Instead we chose to pay close to normal price for a glass of wine and sit in the sun outside a small wine bar off the main thoroughfare. Good times.

Although tempting to stay longer, we chose to walk through the surprisingly lovely park nearby which had stunning views of the coast.

Next were the many stairs up to a church built into a gotto which was halfway up the hill behind the town. We were getting a proper sweat on and it was officially only 23C. What it must be like in summer!!!

View from up there were amazing and the church certainly something very different.

Back down we had a look at the cathedral and castle which really was only a tower.

On the way back to the bus station we got our coffees after all from a small stall that only charged 1.50 and the hot brew in a plastic cup was the second best coffee we had all week! What are the chances, eh?

Cakes everywhere

The narrowestest lane ever, haha

This is how you drink coffee in Italy apparently

Bus at 16:45, back in our Catania apartment quarter past six. Showers were had and then we started cooking. We had intentionally stayed away from any food during the day other than two scoops of gelato.

Peeling and de-veining our fresh prawns took a while, then I cooked up a nice pasta dish with garlic, onions, green asparagus and sun-dried tomatoes.
I never even eat pasta and here I was in Italy cooking pasta myself, haha. Rich said it was one of the best pasta dishes he ever had. Wow!

Chilled for a bit in the apartment before going to bed. Hopefully, we're not going to be pestered by mosquitoes again. Earlier I had counted 16 bites on my calves alone!