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Jane in Mazzaro'

Monday, 16 April. This was a rare free day. After breakfast at the hotel, we walked the length of Taormina and took the funivia (cable cars) down to Mazzaro' on the beach. We thought we were going to Isola Bella, a tiny island (but only at high tide) that we saw from the bus every time we rode up to or down from Taormina. Instead we ended up at the next bay to the north, the Baia di Mazzaro', an altogether charming little cove with a popular beech. We declined the offer of a ride in a fisherman's rowboat but walked out onto the rocky hill that shelters the mouth of the cove.

 

 

Funvia down from Taormina

Isola Bella seen from the road

Baia di Mazzaro'

We took the funivia back up to Taormina. On the walk back to the hotel, Jane bought a necklace of polished lava stones. It was a beautiful sunny day, and even Mount Etna was cloud-free. At 1:00 we had pizza for lunch, a nice change of pace. Afterwards, Jane rested but, but for Darrell, this was his last chance to climb to Castelmola (1540 feet above sea level).

He started out at 2:45. It was a very steep 45 minute climb, but he finally reached the town. It was very picturesque, with most of the streets only a few feet wide. Really, you couldn't call them streets. They were strictly for pedestrians, not only because they were so narrow, but also because frequent steps were necessary to follow the steeply sloping rock the town was built on. Darrell passed the ruins of the old castle (1578) that gave the town its name. He found the cathedral, facing the sea. Next to it was a modest piazza, the only open area in the town center.

Castelmola from below

Piazza by Cathedral

Taormina from Castelmola

 Trying to find a place with a view of Taormina, Darrell started following the narrow lanes in that direction. He kept going down more and more steps, but always there were more little houses in front of him. Finally he found an opening and could see Taormina. Exploring further, he came upon a signs pointing down a flight of stairs. It read "Taormina." Thinking this would save him from having to climb all those steps to get back to the place where he'd entered Castelmola, he followed the sign.

It led to a nice paved path, though mostly more steps, but at least leading down. Eventually he came to a gate in a beautiful wrought iron fence. He went through it onto an area paved with tiles. There was a very small church there. A sign read (translated): "Saint Biagio, 1st Century A.D." Darrell concluded that it was the Saint, not the church, that was from the 1st Century.  Inside, the church consisted of one small room. The walls were covered with very old frescoes.

Path from Castelmola

Darrell walked all around the church but couldn't find any continuation of the path. He finally started walking back up the way he'd come. Before going too far, he met a German couple coming down. When he warned them that the path was a dead end, they said they'd just taken it the day before. So he followed them back to the gate at the tiled area. There on one side the tall grass was slightly bent. That was the path! It was rough and uneven, and he occasionally bumped his head on a prickly pear cactus overhanging the path, but it was much shorter than the way he'd gone up to Castelmola. He got back to the hotel at 4:45.

At 7:00 our entire group gathered in the hotel bar to say our farewells. We were leaving at different times in the morning, so wouldn't see each other then. We had our last dinner in the hotel at 7:30, said some more good-byes, then went to our room to pack. On the way, we stepped outside to look at the lava flow on Etna and found it was larger and clearer than the night before. Darrell borrowed a pair of binoculars from the hotel desk to get a better look.

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