Sicily and The Aeolian Islands: Taormina and Castelmola

Our stay on the lovely Stromboli came to an end with a a long hydrofoil trip back to Mazzale and then a drive to Taormina.

Alex was booked into the Hotel Isabella right on the Corso Umberto, the rest of us in The Hotel Continental. The jaded wood panelling and the furniture in the Continental made it like stepping through a time warp. Our rooms were similarly jaded too. Clearly, this hotel had seen better days. However, it was clean and comfortable enough, and convenient for the restaurants of Corso Umberto.

There's plenty to see in Taormina, so we explored the town in the afternoon and decided to stop for coffee in one of the main squares and people-watch. Cannoli are a local speciality - deep fried tubes of pastry dough filled with sweetened ricotta - so Rosie and Brenda decided to give them a try. They were disappointing - with stale-tasting tubes. Their comic effect was more successful.

Alex decided to take a break from the rest of us, so we booked a table at Al Duomo, very close to our hotel and highly rated on TripAdvisor. As we approached the restaurant, a French group pushed past us, presumably in an attempt to get a better table. We were therefore very pleased to have a perfect table, outside and overlooking the square, while they ate indoors. It wasn't cheap, but the food was excellent - the best tuna carpaccio Simon had ever had apparently - and the service efficient friendly and efficient. Recommended for a posh meal if you're in town.

Our walk the next day was to Castelmola, which overlooks Taormina from a  long way above. It was clearly going to be a tough walk. After rendezvousing with Alex at his hotel, the first stretch of the walk was up a very long and steep set of steps. Once we got to the top of those,  was a steeper stretch of track and then road to the main square of Castelmola. It's another attractive place, with great views from the square, and the even-higher castle. After exploring both, we found a bar with a terrace for a drink before starting back. Rosie rescued a small bird from a tube which would normally support an umbrella.

The route back was more attractive - it passed a 1st century church before descending gently. We were hungry by this time. There was plenty of choice as we re-entered Taormina, so we chose Malvasia because it  seemed to have most locals, including a large group getting through a large number of courses. They quickly moved an extra table outside for us (even though the pavement wasn't very level). We all chose simple pasta dishes and house wine - all lovely and served with cheer and efficiency.

With no plans for the afternoon, Rosie and I took the cable-car down to Isola Bella, where we braved the causeway to get from the beach to the island, only to find that the island was closed. So we relaxed on the beach for a while.

Dinner was at Restaurant Gran Duca. Service there was poor - we clearly weren't spending enough for them. Food was good enough though.

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Sicily & The Aeolian Islands: Stromboli by day

Stromboli is an amazing place. The main settlement is in the North East of the island that is shaped by two narrow 'roads', one along the coast and another at a higher level. These form a one way system for the three wheeled carts, golf buggies and scooters that pass for traffic here. The local police have a golf buggy with a blue light on the top. There are no pavements, but pedestrians and vehicles seem to get along just fine.

We had a warm but hazy day for our walk to see Sciarra del Fuoco - formed by lava flow. The start of the walk repeated the stiff initial climb from the previous evening, and then contoured around a well-made path at around 1000'. This was very colourful, with a the pink of cistus and yellow of broom all the way. We eventually reached the mule track built by Visconti when filming on the islands, and soon got our view of the lava flow. This apparently glows at night, but all we could see was steam as it entered the sea. We climbed the  narrow track to the makeshift helipad to get a better view and were treated to a few eruptions from above while there. Quite a backdrop for our picnic lunch. The dark grey plumes were presumably there the previous night when we'd been at the top!

We descended the mule track to the aptly-named L'Osservatorio restaurant, where we had a drink in the sunshine and watched more eruptions, then made our way back via the coastal path and the residential streets, stopping for a delicious ice cream on the way.

Dinner was pizzas all round outdoors at Ritrovo Ingrid on the main square. It was Eurovision time, and we amused ourselves by trying to remember the UK entries from the 1970s. 

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