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!”
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 . . . . : )
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.
Two Fools In Love 