Surprising Taormina, Sicily

View from Villa Sant’ Andrea – and so I believe we saved the “best” for last, if that could be possible – based upon the number of my pictures and my many infatuations here….

This post is dedicated to all children of the immigrant generation of the late 1800s and early 1900s, whose grandparents and great-grandparents emigrated from southern Italy, and especially from Sicily, and who may share my sentiments of this place.  And, especially to Roseann Tully, who lovingly dedicated her 10th Anniversary Issue to her Mom who was of Sicilian descent.  It is from these people, that we derived our passions and talents – their dedication to craft and perfection-like pursuit of a goal.  Today, the value of the people from that generation who so bravely took leave of their homeland and endeavored to make a life in the “new world” is sadly undervalued and often forgotten.  To forget that the essence of their bravery and talent runs through our veins is to forget how one’s feet became planted on the ground and were then encouraged to move forward.

It is from the memories of these people that I have come to identify with my need to find my roots in the “old country” to see and experience the richness of their homeland and culture – the depth of all they left behind.  They may have carried with them all their memories when they came here, but it has not been until I have visited some of the venues from whence they came that I can understand more fully their value as a people and the grand contributions to our lives and society and found the essence that lives in my own soul. (is that a run-on sentence?)  Thank you to them – I will carry you with me and hope that the generation of my children will pursue the same.

My maternal grandmother, Antonina Butera was born on Ann Street in Morristown,  New Jersey in 1897 or 1898, I believe.  She had several brothers and sisters, some of which may have been born in Italy.  I am doing the research now.  I had always thought that Nonnie’s family was from Sicily, a fact which was recently reiterated by my Mom’s sister Rosina, but a recent conversation with my cousin Vincent led me elsewhere – to Montescaglioso, in the province of Matera, Basilica.  And so more work must be done here.  That her brothers were college-educated and the girls were not has always been a source of pride(boys) and prickly indignation(girls) for me.  Yet, with the benefit of time, I have come to realize that if the girls had indeed gone on to college and careers outside of the home, their skills and time in the kitchen may have received less attention and the wonderful memories for me of their food, sweet and savory, may have been lost even earlier.  And so today, I feel fortunate that the women of that generation did indeed spend so much of their lives in their kitchens, however humble, and brought forward with them their amazing recipes for someone like me to covet and respect.

I knew that where we were going, to Villa Sant’ Andrea, was a very nice place.  But, because I didn’t do my homework, I knew little about Taormina, Sicily before I walked off the plane in Catania.  I had been too pre-occupied with my trips to Rome and Positano and frankly, just went along with the plans for the last leg of our trip.  This resulted in the most delightful surprise of our time in Italy.

I have read and seen many amazing pictures of Sardinia, and Ryan and I have discussed going there a few times.  Yet, somehow, I had in my head and my heart that going to Sicily would serve as a trip back to see the island which I believe to be the homeland of at least part of the family of my Grandmother’s ancestors, Antonina Butera, my Mom’s Mom, mentioned above.  Also, I felt that Sicily would be Sardinia’s sort-of sorry second cousin.  I also had stuck in my mind the images from the Godfather, when Michael gets banished to Palermo after shooting McClusky.  I know, that’s an image which was from the 50s or something, but somehow all my mental images of Sicily have centered around little villages with mostly older people, doing their chores and engaging in their cherished age-old customs.  I am not sure why this has stayed with me, but it has.   Honestly, I have always cherished the images of little Italian ladies in black dresses, stockings rolled down around their ankles, many with dubious facial hair, rather robust body shapes born of indulging in too many years of pasta-making and hard lives in the country.  To me, this was the earthy image of the Italian-country woman, a hard-working, industrious, fearless backbone of the family – someone to be relied upon to do, well, just about everything and someone to be reckoned with.  This is some mixture of fictitous images and based upon the real images of both of my real grandmothers and some other formidable Italian ladies I have known.  And so, I climbed onto the plane in Naples with this somewhat silly, concocted and under-educated image in my mind.

  a vision of what I was expecting when I arrived in Sicily and, truthfully, what I envision myself to look like at some point in the future; I strongly identify with the formidable image of this woman……. anyway, onward to 2013………..

Anyway, the ride from the airport in Catania to Taormina is not too long and I was anxious to see what it would be like.  The Orient Express has two hotels in Taormina – the Villa Sant Andrea and the Grand Hotel Timeo.  Villa Sant’ Andrea is on the beach and the Grand Hotel Timeo is up the mountain on the edge of the ancient town of Taormina.

The Villa is a converted private home which has been added onto and massaged into a lovely small hotel.  Surprisingly there were several families there with small children.  (Don’t kids go to school in Italy?  We saw so many families traveling in all three places.)  We were treated to a tour of the grounds upon our arrival and shown to our room which was lovely.  As the lady from reception showed us around, I was amazed at the care and beauty of this property.  This is Sicily?

At Villa Sant’ Andrea:

I think they have the best rose collection and conditions for growing I have ever seen.  And, obviously the flowers are very special here – is it any wonder I am drawn to this place?  The grounds were meticulously kept – not one bloom past prime to be found!

Sorry, (not sorry) I did get camera-happy – who would not?

  

  

  I have never seen such beautiful white roses growing anywhere! 

  

  

      

  

   Plaque dedicating the formal garden

  I liked that they were growing hydrangeas so successfully in pots – well everything apparently grows successfully here!

  

  

  

Those of you who know me, know that I am not a fan of the color red – especially in flowers, but they have used red very effectively here and I found it warm and happy!  Of course, it is very difficult to not feel warm and happy here!  Taormina is a romantic and seductive place –  a warm and hidden treasure.  I am so glad we happened upon it!

  

  

  Had we not just been to Positano, I would have had a similar reaction to the verticality here.  The affect is not as intense here – mostly because their “world” is not built totally into the side of the cliffs, but the elevations are extreme, adding to the beauty and intrigue.

   Everything grows so happily here, doesn’t it?

  

  

  

  

   Is it any wonder that I am crazy about this place?

“Uptown” at Grand Hotel Timeo and in the town of Taormina:

  

  

  

The Messina gate – until the 18th century the two gates bordered the only road from Catania to Messina:

     view from the Messina Gate (north side)

Charming is an understatement – In and around the town of Taormina (best Cherry Gelato!):

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

The grounds of and from Grand Hotel Timeo:

  

  

I became obsessed with the white rose displays – I have never been able to grow white roses here successfully and when I saw these I was amazed and impressed – they seem totally happy here – and why not?

  

  

  

  

  

    

And, they refer to Mt. Etna as “she”………. we had cocktails with “her”

  

Finishing up – couldn’t help myself  – to all these images!

  

 

  

At the Teatro Greco in Taormina – original structures circa 7th Century BC – this is “above” the Grand Hotel Timeo – brings new meaning to “theatre in the sky”:

  

  

  

  

View from the terrace at Grand Hotel Timeo – this is Sicilian’s idea of a lookout, protection and building feats – Castelmola:

  

  views from the top of the Theatre:

  

  

  

and, last lunch at the Villa:

  

  

and, I can’t believe I was here last week!

Yes, this is Sicily……  And so, Arrivederci……..  until the next time……… A plu tardi, Fino al nostro prossimo incontro, fino alla volta prossima, alla prossima……. whichevery you choose……., I’ll ask Taylor…….

(thank you to Steve Jobs – all pictures taken on my iphone – incredibly good job, I think!)