After docking in Messina, Sicily, we hopped on a tour bus bound for Taormina, a gorgeous cliffside town that looks like it was plucked straight from a movie set, and possibly designed to induce a heart attack in anyone afraid of heights.
The drive up is steep, winding, and not for the faint of stomach. If you’re heading there by bus, pro tip: don’t look down the gorge. Look up, look ahead, close your eyes; just don’t look down. Trust me. Taormina itself is touristy, yes, but still completely worth the visit. The town’s star is the ancient Greek-Roman theater, which offers jaw-dropping views of Mount Etna and the coastline.
And if scenery isn’t your thing, Taormina is known for some of the best Sicilian food. Since this was our first cruise stop in Italy, we wasted no time diving into the greatest hits of Sicilian cuisine:
- Arancini – fried balls of risotto magic
- Granita – icy, citrusy, and life-saving in the heat
- Gelato – because Italy!?
- Cannoli – stuffed with sweet ricotta perfection
- Pizza – crispy, cheesy, simple, divine
We also learned that in Sicily, the proper way to eat gelato is inside a brioche bun. Gelato sandwich? Genius. But even we have limits. We skipped it… this time.
The scenic coastal road back to Messina winds between jagged cliffs and sun-soaked beaches, and it’s truly one of those “worth the drive” routes; until, of course, something goes wrong. Which it did. The bus was a double decker (super cool) and being at the top seemed like a great choice…
On the 90-minute ride back, it turned out that only the lower level of the bus and one side of the bus had air conditioning. Guess which side we were on? Yep. Top deck Left side = sauna. Right side = spa. I was sweating bullets while those across the aisle looked cool as cucumbers. O was enjoying the AC in her seat on the right and couldn’t understand why I was on the verge of having a meltdown.
And as if that wasn’t enough, a traffic accident on a two-lane highway added a nice touch of “please let this end soon” to the journey.
Taormina is breathtaking. The food is unreal (I am disappointed that I forgot to take photos as I was wrapped up in the deliciousness and trying not to overheat in the 90+ degree weather). If you can make peace with the roads (and pack a mini fan), it's absolutely worth the visit.
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