Built by an aristocratic family in 1919 among lush, subtropical gardens, this secluded retreat retains all the charm of a private residence. Belmond Villa Sant’Andrea enjoys a reputation as one of the most romantic hotels in Taormina.
Settle into a sun-dappled seat and relax. Then, when action calls, a cable car whisks you in just three minutes to the town centre, with its many cultural attractions and sophisticated shopping scene.
A tour of Belmond Grand Hotel Timeo in Sicily, Italy. Located beside an ancient Greek theater, the 71 room hotel is decorated in exquisite Italian baroque style and boasts breathtaking views of the Mount Etna.
A Sicilian hideaway that fuels the imagination. Set in the heart of Taormina, Belmond Grand Hotel Timeo serves up views that have enchanted for more than a century
The first hotel to be built in the city gazes out across the coast towards Mount Etna and beyond. Here you can breathe in the full spectacle of Sicily. Bask in manicured gardens, savour sensational cuisine and fuel your imagination with cocktails on the Literary Terrace—just like generations of celebrated guests before you. Belmond Grand Hotel Timeo is now open. Please click the link below to find out why we are trusted for travel.
This walk was filmed on June 13th, 2020. It is part of a much longer 3 hour walk around Catania but I thought this clip of the fish market deserved its own video.
Catania is an ancient port city on Sicily’s east coast. It sits at the foot of Mt. Etna, an active volcano with trails leading up to the summit. The city’s wide central square, Piazza del Duomo, features the whimsical Fontana dell’Elefante statue and richly decorated Catania Cathedral. In the southwest corner of the square, La Pescheria weekday fish market is a rowdy spectacle surrounded by seafood restaurants.
WALKING IN CEFALU, SICILY: Cefalù is a coastal city in northern Sicily, Italy. It’s known for its Norman cathedral, a 12th-century fortress-like structure with elaborate Byzantine mosaics and soaring twin towers. Nearby, the Mandralisca Museum is home to archaeological exhibits and a picture gallery with a portrait by Antonello da Messina. The beaches of Mazzaforno and Settefrati lie to the west.
►Map of the Walk◄ https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mi…
▼▼Video Timeline Links▼▼
0:00 Drone Intro & Map of the Walk 1:14 Beach Walk 5:31 Historic City Center Entrance 8:39 Medieval Wash-House 11:29 Porta Pescara 12:55 Tourist Pier 23:50 Street Walk 27:00 Scenic Viewpoint (Bastione di Capo Marchiafav) 31:00 Street Walk Toward Duomo 33:13 Piazza Duomo 38:00 Cathedral 43:37 Street Walk 50:03 Walk towards La Rocca Entrance 52:53 La Rocca Entrance 1:05:43 Scenic Viewpoint (Cross) 1:10:26 Scenic Viewpoint 1:23:00 Ruins of the Castle
ITALY MAGAZINE (Aug 25, 2020): Here, Michelin-star restaurants are hidden behind the secluded gates of family inns and the best wines are served by winemakers on a panoramic terrace using a vine leaf as a coaster while crystal clear waters are just a step away from the hydrofoils. And, though nothing lands in your lap since you have to climb through ferns and craters and puff along steep slopes to reach the most beautiful places and enjoy a magic sunset in the Pollara bay – it remains totally worth it.
Pane cunzatu – literally, seasoned bread, is the most famous Aeolian specialty. It is different from the namesake recipe you can find all over the island, which is more similar to a sandwich. Here a huge, round flat loaf’s base is topped with a generous amount of local delicacies, resembling more a pizza.
Once upon a time Salina was considered the “lesser” of the Aeolian islands despite being the second biggest after Lipari with three different comuni of Santa Marina, Malfa and Leni and six volcanoes scattered around its 10-square mile surface. However, it was a place that silently carved out a very special place in the heart of island lovers. It smartly matched its wild nature and untamed spirit with a relaxed and friendly atmosphere offering a dashing bit of otherworldly hospitality.
The Targa Florio was an open road endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily near the island’s capital of Palermo. Founded in 1906, it was the oldest sports car racing event, part of the World Sportscar Championship between 1955 and 1973. While the first races consisted of a whole tour of the island, the track length in the race’s last decades was limited to the 72 kilometres (45 mi) of the Circuito Piccolo delle Madonie, which was lapped 11 times.
After 1973, it was a national sports car event until it was discontinued in 1977 due to safety concerns. It has since been run as a rallying event, and is part of the Italian Rally Championship.
The race was created in 1906 by the wealthy pioneer race driver and automobile enthusiast, Vincenzo Florio, who had started the Coppa Florio race in Brescia, Lombardy in 1900. The Targa also claimed to be a worldly event not to be missed. Renowned artists, such as Alexandre Charpentier and Leonardo Bistolfi, were commissioned to design medals. A magazine was initiated, Rapiditas, which aimed to enhance, with graphic and photographic reproductions of the race, the myth of the car and the typical character of modern life, speed.[1]
One of the toughest competitions in Europe, the first Targa Florio covered 3 laps equalling 277 miles (446 km) through multiple hairpin curves on treacherous mountain roads, at heights where severe changes in climate frequently occurred. Alessandro Cagno won the inaugural 1906 race in nine hours, averaging 30 miles per hour (50 km/h).
By the mid-1920s, the Targa Florio had become one of Europe’s most important races, as neither the 24 Hours of Le Mans nor the Mille Miglia had been established yet. Grand Prix races were still isolated events, not a series like today’s F1.
After winning the race several times, Porsche named the hardtop convertible version of the 911 after the Targa. The name targa means plaque or plate, see targa top.
From Wikipedia
From a New York Times online article:
A passeggiata, or evening walk, around the perimeter of Ortigia reveals many notable structures and stories. Start from the Parco Letterario Elio Vittorini, on the eastern side, and head clockwise. As waves crash against the rocks below the sea wall, you’ll pass crenelated lookout points and the chiseled facade of the 17th-century Chiesa dello Spirito Santo, before finding yourself in the palm-planted gardens of the 13th-century Castello Maniace.
Founded by Greeks around 734 B.C.,
Ithe southeastern Sicilian city that Cicero called “the greatest and most beautiful of all Grecian cities” achieved a size and status in the ancient world that made it a rival of major powers like Athens and Carthage. Takeovers and makeovers by Romans, Byzantines, North Africans, Normans and others left their marks as well, influencing everything from religious art to the region’s distinctive savory-sweet-sour cooking style. Much of the ancient city has crumbled since Cicero’s day, though the ruins can still be explored in Syracuse’s celebrated archaeological park and museum. But the main attraction today is the historical center of Syracuse: Ortigia island, a maze of narrow streets, ornate Baroque churches and centuries-old palazzi.
To read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/05/travel/what-to-do-36-hours-in-syracuse-sicily.html
From an Italy Magazine article by Silvia Donati:
If the nuns of Catania’s Benedictine Convent devoted all their time to praying, the monks of the adjacent Benedictine Monastery were said to be a bit more lax about their spiritual duties. In southern Italian author Federico De Roberto’s most famous novel, I Viceré, which is very accurate in describing the social and political background of Catania in the years that followed Italy’s unification, the monks are described as carrying out the “art of Michelasso,” an Italian saying used to describe someone who, well, is idle, avoids hard work and responsibilities.
Their monastery, known as Monastero di San Nicolò l’Arena, resembled a sumptuous noble residence rather than a place where to retreat and pray to God. It was also very big, almost a city within a city, located in a panoramic position with views of the sea and the Etna volcano on what was once the acropolis of the Greek colony of Katane.
The Benedictine Monastery’s wealth was an indicator of the power the religious order had acquired, in Catania and beyond. This is still clear when you visit the complex, a maze of rooms, basements, stairs, courtyards, colonnades and very long hallways, where architectural styles from different eras superimpose on one another.
To read more click on following link: https://www.italymagazine.com/news/earthly-pleasures-and-baroque-splendor-catanias-benedictine-monastery?utm_source=ITALY+Magazine+Newsletter&utm_campaign=72762c7bd7-ITALY+Newsletter+-+January+12th+2018_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_7e828ebed3-72762c7bd7-349881
From Wall Street Journal article written by Lettie Teague:
ON MY FIRST TRIP to Sicily about 12 years ago, I had lunch at a restaurant in Palermo. The wine list featured two choices: Corvo Rosso and Corvo Bianco, the same two Sicilian options then found in most American restaurants and stores. Fast-forward a few years and now complex, serious Sicilian reds abound on both sides of the Atlantic—while Sicilian whites are still largely unknown.
Even savvy oenophiles like my friends Eberhard and Paulette aren’t familiar with these island wines. When we got together for dinner a few weeks ago and I suggested ordering a white wine from Mt. Etna, they were clearly skeptical. “It’s a lot like Chablis,” I said reassuringly.
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Click on link below to read full article at the Wall Street Journal:
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