We have been having so much fun that I have forgotten to blog!  I’ll catch up over the next couple of weeks.  We have lots of tales to tell.  

But we left off in Taormina.  

Here’s a short taste of what turned out to be our favorite restaurant this trip – Malvasia.

It is outside of Porta Catania with delicious authentic Sicilian fare, cooked up by Leonore, the mother of the “Boss” (we know he’s the boss because it says so on the back of his shirt).  Other family members work there, too.  You could order a half-litre of vino rosso locale for 6 Euro or a litre for 12 E, and they have the best octopus salad I’ve ever had.  Everything we ordered (on at least 5 visits) was delicious.  

We went so many times that Chef Leonore would come sit with us after she finished cooking.

But one of our favorite parts was the singing (I tried to upload a video).

Singers often come into restaurants in Taormina, passing the hat after they entertain.  But these singers were exceptional and usually stayed for 5 or 6 songs – thanks to Mama Leonore who came out and clapped for them and served her own special vino as a thank you.  I think we were their favorite stop.  The crowd was happy to see them (probably thanks to the litres of wine) and would sing and clap loudly along.  

The best.  

So – we are living in Taormina, not just sight-seeing. 

We’ve been here a few times before and have seen most of the local sights.  When we come now, it is like coming to a second home – we just shift our views from the Chesapeake By to the Mediterranean Sea.  We are here for almost a month, so we settle into a rhythm of life in our temporarily adopted town.

I work . . .

We do laundry . . .

We do picnic lunches on the roof . . .

And we cook in a few nights a week – which we actually really love because the local ingredients are so delicious – it is a pleasure to cook with them.

But when we go on walks, we have the beautiful Corso Umberto to meander . . .

And there is always an Aperol Spritz waiting at Wunderbar . . .

When we were in St. Lucia this winter, we were so excited to wake up to my very favorite sailing vessel, Sea Cloud, in our own Marigot Bay. 

She is beautiful.  She was the private yacht of Marjorie Merriweather Post (of Post cereal fame and the builder of Mar-a-Lago).  Now Sea Cloud is a fancy small cruise ship. 

Well . . .  we woke up this morning to find Sea Cloud anchored off of Taormina! 

I think she is following us, saying, “Frank, Christy, please come sailing!” 

Maybe someday . . . .

I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I had never heard of White Lotus – until everyone started asking me about Taormina. 

(If you are like me – for background – White Lotus is a TV show on HBO that is set in a fancy hotel chain called “White Lotus.”  The first season was in Hawaii, but the second sesason was set in Toarmina.  White Lotus appears to have a cult-like following.)

When someone first asked me about it, I was puzzled but something clicked into place.  When Frank and I were here last spring, I remembered one of the restaurants said they were closed for “the movie” and there were a bunch a lights around it at night.  I didn’t give it a second thought.  Then, I remembered that I had been a little shocked when I saw that the Four Seasons had sold out to a hotel group I never had heard of called White Lotus.  I was a little disappointed in the Four Seasons. 

Now it all made sense – this was the TV-version of White Lotus.  Here’s a picture from last year – the “White Lotus” is the hotel with the palm trees. When I blow it up on my phone, I can even see the White Lotus sign!

On the street, we hear American tourists exclaim all the time that this place or that in town is from a scene from White Lotus.  We have heard that the hotel itself (back to being a Four Seasons) is “super hot” now and goes for more than $4,000 per night!

Well  . . . this is the view from OUR window – nearly the same view as White Lotus – but I think a little more interesting!

And we have a kitchen, a whole private rooftop deck, and crazily enough – a grand piano.  So, rather than be “super hot,” we will be content to be “low-key cool” in our little VRBO – overlooking White Lotus.  

When we come to Taormina, it is like coming home.  For one, Frank just fits in here like it is a second skin – somehow local Sicilians recognize that he is Sicilian and go out of their way to talk to him in Sicialian dialect, which he understands and remembers from childhood.  He is at peace here.

And we also have been here at least 6 or 7 times (we have lost count) – to this very same apartment. 

We first came to this apartment as newlyweds right after our wedding and have hosted the whole Sicilian family here at one time of the other, as well as grandkids from back home.  We have a lot of memories within these walls. 

And every time, we have a fabulous greeter, Ann, a British transplant who smooths the way and helps us navigate tricky questions, which probably differ from her normal guests –

• how to arrange a car to see the family in Canicatti,
• what kind of gift to bring to Easter,
• where to make dinner reservations for 20 Sicilians who come to visit us. 

She has been part of our journey, too.  (We hope she will visit us in the States someday!)

So when we come to Taormina now, we don’t rush out to see the sights. 

We settle in and enjoy the beauty of the sea from our rooftop.

We go back to the same restaurants where the owner remembers us.

We find our favorite table at Wunderbar and go almost every night to watch the world go by. 

This is our Taormina.

P.S. If I win the lottery, I am buying this apartment.  We have met the owner several times and I’ve told him so.  Frank and I can host limoncello or olive oil tastings on the roof as a cruise ship excursion to help pay for it, with guest appearances by Frank’s cousin, Enza (if you’ve met her, you know how entertaining she is!).  I have it all planned out . . . .  : )

The Two Fools are back on the road! 

• Back to Frank’s homeland of Sicilia and our favorite apartment in Taormina – our new view is pictured above. 

• Plus a visit to family (we hope – it is not easy herding a bunch of Sicilians!). 

• Then to the highlight of our trip – my college friend, Catherine’s, wedding on the Amalfi Coast.  Several of us have kept up post-university with girls’ weekends, Zoom calls, and a running text group.  Now we are meeting in Ravello, Italy to celebrate with Catherine.

• With a few other stops along the way. 

Come along with us!

Christy & Frank

This is our final post from St. Lucia. 

As Frank and I were flying home, my dad called with news that my mother had fallen and broken her shoulder.  I diverted to South Carolina and have been here helping out (and she is finding her own sea legs again). 

But since this was our absolutely favorite day, I am determined to finish this one so Frank and I can look back on these beautiful memories.

When I left off, Frank and I were sailing with Bateaux Mygo on a private sailboat down the coast of St. Lucia, heading to the Pitons, the twin peaks formed by volcanic activity that are on all the St. Lucian postcards.

They are a spectacular site.

Here’s the rest of the blog that I wrote while still in St. Lucia – not knowing what life would bring next . . . .

Once we got closer, we took down the sails and ducked into the town of Soufriere, which is the historic capital of St. Lucia.

It was lunchtime. Before we knew it, the boat slowed and First Mate Andrez hopped in the dinghy and took off – apparently to pick up our lunch.

When he returned, we had a wonderful surprise. His aunt lives in Soufriere and had cooked us an authentic St. Lucian feast – grilled chicken, rice, noodles, yams, zucchini – wow. It was really good.

We also discovered the cockpit table was really an ice chest filled with water, beer, wine, and rum punch.

We picked up a mooring ball by Sugar Beach, one of the most exclusive resorts on the island, and in between the two Pitons. Whichever way we looked, we had an amazing view to accompany our lunch.

We napped, swam, and just gazed at the scene.

Soon it was time to head back.

We motored happily back up the coast, leaving the Pitons in our wake, and re-tracing our steps to Marigot Bay.

This is our last post.

I am writing it from our balcony with tears in my eyes . . .

And believe it or not, a view of my favorite Sea Cloud, who was here again this morning when we woke up!

St. Lucia – and especially Marigot Bay – is such a special and magical place. We will be back.

**Slight disruption as we have traveled home – but we still wanted to capture our very favorite day of the entire trip. 

This is Part I.

Love for Sail

That is what is on the t-shirts of our crew for our very own private sail today – to the famous Pitons.

The Pitons are the two volcanic-formed mountains that are in all the pictures of St. Lucia.  Our main goal for visiting St. Lucia was to see the Pitons by boat.

But there are endless possibilities of boats – fast boats, sailboats, big boats.

We see boats crammed with people taking a turn through Marigot Bay with music blaring. They are on their way to the Pitons, too.

That wasn’t for us, so we opted for a private sailboat for the day with just us (and the crew). It was perfect.

Our boat was a 43-foot Beneteau (a bigger version of Carolina Girl) with two super friendly crew members, Kevin and Andrez.

We chartered out of Chateau Mygo (our favorite restaurant – the boat business is called Bateaux Mygo).

They asked what we wanted to do for the day.  We said we just wanted to sail.   

It was glorious. I will leave you with some pictures.

And a sneak peak at those fabulous Pitons – next up is Part II.

That will be our last post for this trip.

Yesterday, we highlighted restaurants close to our apartment. 

But we really love the restaurants across the Bay  . . . because we have to take a boat to get there!

The Mangrove (AKA JJ’s)

I think this restaurant is called The Mangrove now, but was JJ’s before, so that’s what everyone calls it.  

It is all the way at the end of Marigot Bay.  

You have to take the Beach Ferry to get there, which is part of the fun.  You motor by the mega yachts on the way, along with other interesting boats that look like they are out of a movie set!  

You step off the beach ferry onto a boardwalk and into another world.  

The beautiful bay on one side –

The mangroves on the other.  

The view is spectacular, the people are friendly, and the food is really good.  There are a lot of locals, too, which is a good sign.  I had grilled lobster, which was simply amazing.

When we were there for lunch, we saw 3 excursions come in by small boat from the big fancy resorts on the island.  No doubt these couples had paid a princely sum for a boat ride to beautiful Marigot Bay and an “authentic” lunch on the water.  We felt like true insiders as we boarded the little beach ferry back to the Marina Village

Doolittle’s

Doolittle’s has its own private ferry.

Mid-trip, the red ferry broke down, so they improvised.  This one was fun, too.

The restaurant is named for the “Dr. Doolittle” movie with Rex Harrison, which was filmed in Marigot Bay.  

They have a great view of the beach.

And are known far and wide for the best sunset.  

They also have a lounging area with sofas and pool tables if you want to hang out after lunch.

We went there for our anniversary and had the fish cooked on hot volcanic rock. 

They bring it raw to your table and you cook it yourself.  We had salmon, shrimp, and scallops – yum!

We could gaze at these views forever!

Have we said how much we love Marigot Bay?  It is definitely our vibe.  

And we have had several of you who have asked for more details – it may be your vibe, too!

If you are interested . . . 

Our apartment is in the Marina Village – there are several units on Airbnb and VRBO – they all say Marina Village.  

There is also a Zoetry Hyatt resort (the snazzy hotel that doesn’t let us in).  But it looks beautiful and it right next door.  It seems to have more of an American crowd.

And across the Bay there is the Marigot Bay Resort, which is more low-key.  If we only had a few days, we’d probably opt to stay there (more of a British hang-out). 

There are a number of other villas up the hills, with what I’m sure are amazing views.  

So lots of options here.

And whether you stay in Marigot Bay or not, it definitely is worth a visit for the fun and unique restaurants.  

In this Part I we are reviewing two of our favorites close to our apartment.

Hurricane Hole

This one is the closest to us and technically part of the Zoetry resort, although they let anyone eat here because it is in the Marina Village.  

They are directly on the dock, so you can dine and watch the big boats.  

We’ve been for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The heart of palm salad and the citrus salmon are the best.

Chateau Mygo – Our Favorite

On every trip, there seems to be one restaurant that you go back to over and over – usually the one around the corner that was so friendly and easy and feels like you belong.  

That is Chateau Mygo for us.

It is across the street, and the moment we walked in, we knew it was special.  

It is on the water with a big dinghy dock, so full of sailboat crews each night whose boats are anchored in the Bay.  

They have live music a few nights a week – from a guy playing steel drum to a full calypso/reggae band.

There is a lively bar scene with frozen rum drinks of all sort (all those sailors!), and kids running around the tables while their parents keep an eye. It is just fun.

And delicious. The fish tacos are addicting. Frank loves the fried calamari. I love the fresh grilled mahi-mahi. They also have a pizza oven – we heard the whole story about how they decided to make pizza and bought this oven and then had to teach themselves how to make pizza from a recipe book.

And they let Frank come and fish whenever he wants – they even give him bait from the kitchen!

We will miss them for sure!

***

In Part 2, we’ll highlight two restaurants across the Bay – only reachable by boat.