We love our apartment in Taormina. It is a pretty good deal for such a glamorous spot.  We discovered it last year via the Home Away / VRBO website and came back this year.  And – we found out that it is for SALE!  I told Enza (in broken Italian and charades) that if I won the lottery, I would buy this place and we could live here together.  She said, “OK.”

We laughed about it, but the next morning at breakfast, she showed me her numbers – she said she had stayed up and figured out her best 5 numbers for the Lotteria.

So our quest began to find a place to buy a lottery ticket in Taormina.  And not just any Lotto – Enza said we had to try for the Numero Ora because it paid the most (we figured we’d need as much as we could win to buy this apartment).

It turns out most Tabacchi (Tobacco Stores – kind of like convenience stores) sell regular Lotto tickets, but not Numero Ora. We went from Tabacchi to Tabacchi, all over Taormina.  Frank thought we were patzo (crazy).

Then, on our last day, we gave up and just decided to go to lunch up in the high hills in Castemola. Well, the day started out as a disaster.  We bought Hop On tickets but missed the bus.  Then it started raining.  Finally, a taxi driver said he’d take us up the mountain.  Defeated, we agreed.

Well – it turned out to be the perfect outing. The taxi driver gave us a little tour, regaled us with local stories, and dropped us right in the main square of Castemola.  Where Enza spied a Tabacchi – that sold il Numero Ora!!

So we both played our numbers – 10 Euro each. Fingers crossed – the drawing is stasera (tonight)!

As Enza says, “Non si vince se non si gioca!” (You don’t win if you don’t play!)