Taormina, Italy
Robot Americano
People say the coffee everywhere in Italy is better than American espresso. Wrong.
Hotel Caesar Palace, Via Consolare Valeria, 130, Giardini Naxos
We are really starting to get a hang of this beaching-in-Sicily business. For one, if you can rent a chair, do. It means you can stay in one place, without getting sunburned or having your sitbones get sore from the rocky shore. We picked Isola Bella for our beach du jour and quickly found the Lido at La Plage Resort. Two “lifeguards” (they don’t save lives, they take your money) escorted us to our beach chairs and umbrella and also gave us the WiFi code. 🙌 We spent the entire afternoon at the beach, only disrupting our sunning for lunch, which consisted of granita, arancini and pizza bread. The water was the best we’ve seen on the island - completely clear, with hues of blues and turquoise for miles. 😝
During our research, we discovered that the filming locations for The Godfather II are close to Taormina, in a town called Savoca. Bar Vitelli, where Michael Corleone takes a break to drink some water and ask for Apollonia Vitelli’s hand in marriage is still open in the town. With a ton of effort and frustration (grazie mille, Bryan), we wound through the hills to arrive at Bar Vitelli - only to discover that all of the businesses were closed, due to a power outage. 😣 We planned to get a few drinks there - wah. But, Yennie was determined to pay respects to one of her favorite movies (she’s seen it maybe over 50 times, thanks to AMC re-runs).
We walked up the hill to the Church of St. Lucia, where Michael and Apollonia were married. And found a cute bar truck, which was open because it ran on a generator. #hellyes. AND, it was an Aperol Spritz truck! Everything: Aperol and Campari! Between the three of us, we only had 13€ (cash only bar, of course), so we had to be judicious about what we ordered. Bryan got the lion’s share, since he dealt with horrible traffic and bad directions to get us there. He ordered a Negroni. 👌
Kaoline hadn’t seen any of the Godfather Trilogy, so she wins Best Sport. Yennie did her best to give her a quick synopsis of the film and explain why this little town was important in the movie. But, in the end, the town of Savoca is so perfectly picturesque that we could all appreciate it for what it is: Sicily!
Dinner was back at Hotel Caesar Palace. No frills, no fuss - just buffet. Holla! We all had a big plate of pasta with white sauce or pasta with red sauce and called it a night.
Negroni
Very strong Negroni from a bar truck - so freaking precious.
La Dolce Vita - Ape Wine Bar, catty corner to the Church of St. Lucia, Savoca
