Southern Italy 2008 Part 6

So we've been on this trip for several days now.  We have seen A LOT.  This trip is a trip with a pace to it.  Places to go, people to see.  And we've been under the charm of Taormina, this little gem of a seaside town.  We have rebelled against our beloved Jane & decided to opt against taking a tour of Ragusa and Syracusa.  Some of you may scoff at this, but have pity.  We've been on the go so much that I don't think we'd be able to take it all in.  Instead we sleep in and take in more of Taormina.  We have a day with an Italian pace, not an American agenda.  We end up back at the pasticceria for capuccino since we've slept past the 9:3o ending of breakfast.  Instead we had capuccinos & cornetti.  We stroll some more.  It's a crazy day for weather, cloudy-sunny-rainy, same pattern all day long.  Just means we have to linger longer at lunch!  We finally give in & visit an internet cafe.  Can't wait to hear how Baci & Zizi are doing.  Deb & Ms. Mary have been pampering our cats while we've been traveling.  Deb sends us email updates which helps fill the void.  Must admit that we are wondering what is going on with our guilty pleasure, also know as Young and the Restless!  After much relief to learn that the kitties were doing (maybe a little too) well and the head writer (thank goodness) was leaving Y&R, we worked up an appetite.  We were going to try a new place, but the rain had picked up & Nikki kept thinking about pizza and salmon pistachio risotto and cannolis, so we returned to al Giardino.  Most of the group must have felt the same way too, because they were ALL there!

We got the same thing as last night plus minestrone, the cannoli & Wayne & Nikki shared an Amaro--purely to digest their meal, I'm sure.  I got caught up thinking about my mom and her problems with dementia, and each time we passed Nonna from the restaurant, it brought it back that much more.  The grandson took Nikki & I over to meet her.  She is the Grande Dame of the place.  She spoke some English and we spoke some Italian in return.  It brought some warmth to my heart.  Family is so important in Italy.  Wayne, Nikki & I are very close.  Unlike a lot of places in the US, Italy seems to see the value in this & appreciate the closeness of family.

We shopped at this wonderful jewelry store, Monili Bijoux.  The proprietress, like most in Italy, had her dog, Agnello, with her in her shop.  He was 15, which is just amazing.  The owner, I forgot to ask her name, had very interesting good, costume jewelry.  So we did not leave there empty-handed.

This time we had a chance for a tiny siesta.  We were so full from lunch that we even skipped our aperitif!  We ate at La Piazzetta.  This was a beautiful restaurant hidden like Vecchia Taormina in an alley.  We had seafood for each course.  I even ate squid and octopus--if you knew me, you'd know this is nearly unimaginable.  Our dessert was a semifreddo.  Of all of the trips to Italy, we've had more dessert on this trip than ever before.  We had never had semifreddo before, and we will not repeat this mistake on future trips.  It was just wonderful.

We are really going to miss all of the wonderful white wine we've had in Sicily.  The first night we went to an Irish bar for after-dinner trips and celebrated a football victory while we were there.  Everyone was going back, but we felt like stuffed turkeys.  So we went back to pack AGAIN.