Father's Day

Two posts in a week? We're not really that interesting. Just a fluke.





On Father's Day we went with friends to Castle Moela, a town above Taormina. Taormina is a world-renowned tourist spot with beautiful beaches, an ancient Greek/Roman amphitheater and, of course, lots of shopping; art, antiques, clothes (expensive but beautiful), souvenirs, and plenty of places to eat and drink.


Castle Moela is a nice little town on top of the same mountain, so far up that you have to park and walk up a set of steps to get to the town. The views are amazing and there are many little shops to see. The picture above was taken from the restaurant where we ate. In fact, right from our table.


After we ate we walked around the town and took lots of pictures. I'll put a few here but most will be on our Flikr page in a few days.






This picture is of Mount Etna from the top of the steps at Castle Moela. At this point the mountain is about fifteen or so miles away. Beautiful view.










The next photo is of one of the shops in town. We didn't go in but I was fascinated by the front of the store. I've kicked myself several times for not going in because I may never get there again. The bells in a circle on the front wall are actually doorbells though I've never seen them on any doors. (you may have to click on the picture to see the bells very well) I think they're very interesting and if I do go back I'd love to get one of those very unique doorbells.


I really like this photo. It may become a larger framed print on our wall when we move back to the States.



This final photo is of a small piazza in the town. All towns have a large piazza where all the important things get done. The main church is in the piazza, people gather there to visit in the evenings and on Saturday mornings and Sundays after church. In most towns, except for the very smallest, there is also a few smaller piazzas. This is one of those. Restaurants and shops line a kind of circular area with outdoor seating. Most restaurants have a little seating inside but life for the Sicilian is lived outside. (The only exception in the day is riposo-from riposare: to relax. At about 12:30 in the afternoon the stores and businesses all close up and everyone goes home for a large lunch and a two to three hour rest. I think I mentioned this in the last post.)

Anyway, this is a beautiful little piazza in Castle Moela. One of the prettiest I've seen. Bob took this picture from the balcony of one of the bar/eating places where we had some gelato for our dessert.



I'll try to get the other photos posted today or tomorrow on Flik-R.