ITALIAN FOODIES

TAORMINA - SICILY

The first time we went to Sicily was about 7 years ago, we went to Siracusa for 2 weeks. While we were there we visited Taormina for a day and said we would return there for a holiday in the future.  

So we returned there last June for a week’s holiday. We were 6 months pregnant so a nice relaxing holiday with lots of good food and early nights was on the cards and Taormin didn’t disappoint. The town itself is up on the mountain so the main mode of transport is the cable car. We’re beach people so we stayed in Taormina Mazzaro which is a lovely beach area just 5 mins by cable car from the town. I would recommend staying in this area if you are going for the beach or else stay in the town as the cable car closes around 2am. You can get a taxi after that but it will set you back €20 each time. 

Our hotel Villa Sant Andrea www.framonhotels.com or for really good pictures try www.booking.com (search Sicily) was right on the beach with fabulous views, a friend of ours in Sunways booked it for us so we had a huge terrace overlooking the beach. The hotel itself was very quaint and traditionally decorated and the gardens were fabulous. At night they lit candles throughout the gardens and the walkways - very romantic! It’s a perfect hotel for couples and weddings. We ate in the restaurant one night, it was a bit expensive and once again the food was only average. Italians don’t do haute cuisine very well, they just seem to lose the flavour! The restaurant itself overlooks the beach and I would definitely recommend having dinner there one night just for the setting and the atmosphere alone but get the visa card ready.

 If you are looking for a family hotel, Bru’s mom had stayed in Taormina the week before us and she stayed in Letojanni in the Hotel Antares www.sunways.ie . She said the food was very good and there was nightly entertainment for the family. Taormina was accessible by cable car also so it is a good location.

Taormina itself is really quaint and very traditional with it’s little side streets and archways and the big church in the centre. It’s a very popular place for weddings, there are a few cafes beside the church and you could spend hours just sitting there watching everybody , most of the weddings seemed to be Italian.

There are a great selection of restaurants in the town, most of them are down the little side streets and alleyways. There are 2 very good restaurants near the church www.ristorantealduomo.it and our favourite L’orologgio which was up the steps beside the church and the Wunderbar cafe. We actually ate there twice, it’s a family run restaurant with great food especially the fish and the antipasti buffet. Swordfish is a speciality of Sicily and they serve it fresh everyday, make sure to try the smoked version as a starter. The prosciutto melone was one of the best I’ve had in Italy. It’s such a simple dish but so tasty.

There are a lot of bars along the main street Corso Umberto, but don’t be afraid to wander down the steps that lead off it. You’ll find a great selection of really nice bars to have an aperitif or a few bevies. All the bars serve a great selection of cocktails, spirits and beers. We’re a bit partial to Bombay gin and tonic  but I unfortunately wasn’t able to drink it this time, but Bru had a couple extra for me. He’s so sweet sometimes!!

We love our gelato as I’ve mentioned before, there is a big bright orange gelateria on the main street with the best display you’ve ever seen and of course the ice-cream was only average. Go into one of the smaller, traditional shops and I can guarantee there is no comparison in the quality and flavour. Needless to say in my condition I consumed quite a few gelati!!!

The great thing about Taormina is that there are a lot of sight-seeing excursions from there, a visit to Mt Etna is a must. You can also get the ferry to Malta, we went on our first trip and loved it. Malta has 2 sides to it, the commercial part and the old town which is really quaint and traditional. The casino is a great option as it stays open all night if you prefer to stay away from the bar scene which is quite touristy and lively.

If anyone else has a restaurant recommendation or anything extra to add, please do in the comments section. I’m sure there are a lot of people travelling there this summer and it’s great to know a few places before you arrive.

Happy Holidays!!!

p.s. We had to stay in the Capotaormina hotel for 2 nights and I wouldn’t recommend it as it’s in a really bad location. There is no access to the cable car so you have to get a taxi home every night.  

POSITANO - AMALFI COAST

A couple of years ago we rented an old fiat from a friend of Alfredo and drove from Atina to the Amalfi coast. Bru’s Zio(uncle) Lello gave us directions and told us which exit to take off the motorway.  As we were approaching the exit I thought it strange as it seemed to go into the heart of Naples and all the signs for Amalfi said straight on but when a local gives you directions you follow them and of course it was the wrong exit. All I can tell you is that I have never been so afraid in my whole life, we were bang in the middle of one of the worst parts of Naples. We were lucky because it was about 3pm and all the baddies had gone to lunch, even the Italian baddies take long lunches, food is more important than crime at lunch and dinner.

We eventually pulled into a really dodgy garage to ask for directions as Bru hadn’t put his Italian card in his phone so we couldn’t ring his uncle. You can imagine how happy I was and what I called him!!!! We eventually got back on the motorway and later found out that the area was one of the most notorious crime areas in Napoli and we were so lucky to have the local registered car as we weren’t obvious tourists and car hyjacking at gun point is rife there.

Anyway with the help of a few g&t’s we recovered and had a fantastic week.  Positano is absolutely beautiful and is built on a cliff and of course our hotel was at the very top. We had over 200 steps to the beach. We did it once and took the long way through the town after that. Our hotel was fab www.marincanto.it , it doesn’t have a restaurant but we prefer to eat out anyway so we didn’t mind.

There is a great selection of restuarants on the beach, the only one we didn’t really like was Tre Sorelle,Chez Black seems to be the most popular and you normally have to wait for a table.  We had a private section of the beach for our hotel and had a lovely lido that did great fresh food so we ate lunch there a lot. We ate in a lovely family restaurant above Positano called Da Costantino which served really good home-made food. They even provide a bus to pick you up as they are so high up the cliff - fab views. The owner is a bit of a character and likes to chat!!

There is a really upmarket restaurant in the centre of the town called Palazzo Murat www.palazzomurat.it . We decided to treat ourselves and go there for dinner and I would recommend it for the setting alone. It’s the most beautiful place I have ever eaten, the food was very fancy but average unfortunately and not cheap!!!Even if you don’t go for dinner go for an aperitivo just to see it!

The only complaint I have about Positano is the lack of bars, there is one place www.musicontherocks.it but you have to pay in even for one drink. There is an expensive pretentious restaurant there aswell called Le Terrazzere but I wouldn’t recommend it even though the setting is amazing.

On our way back we stayed in Sorrento for a night but we found it a bit touristy, it’s still beautiful but not really our “cup of tea” or should I say “espresso”. We found a really nice bar beside our hotel called Photo where we had a really nice meal, cocktails and free nibbles.

We got home alive and didn’t leave the motorway until we reached the exit for Atina.