Taormina

Today I got up very early and drove about 25 miles north up the Ionian Seacoast to the ancient hillside town of Taormina. Today's picture of me was taken by a young Spanish lady in Taormina's famous Greek Theater built in the 3rd century B.C. by the Greeks and rebuilt 500 years later by the Romans. If you look way in the distance you may be able to make out the snow-capped Mt. Etna volcano. Yes, that is smoke coming out of it but I am told that driving in Sicily still poses a far greater threat to my health than Mt. Etna does!

Taormina is a very old and beautiful city with tremendous views of the Ionian Sea and the Ionian Riviera. There are lots of places to eat (the cream cornetto when I got there and the pineapple gelato as I left were both excellent) and Laurie will enjoy the shopping when she arrives in February. The town is a big summer resort destination and it was nice to see it during the calm of the off-season. The only negative is that many shops were closed because it is the off-season. Very few cars are allowed into the town but they do have a seven story parking garage thank goodness. Bad side of easy parking was the nine euro charge to park.

I am starved for reading material in English. I finished my one book and didn't bring any more because of the baggage weight issue on the airplane. I bought a day old USA Today newspaper for two euros in Taormina. I almost bought a book on Sicilian cooking because it was in English but I stopped short.

Also visited the Taormina City Museum in the Palazzo Corvaja. There main exhibit was a set of 400 to 500 year old manuscripts, some were illuminated. It was kind of a "The Name of the Rose" motif.

On the way home I bought my first tank of gas. WOW! Gas goes for 1.40 euros a liter. I bought 51 euros worth of gas to fill up the Fiat. DOUBLE WOW! I don't want to hear complaints about the price of gas in the U.S. anymore!

Tonight we have a fund-raiser event in Catania for the Elefanti, should be both interesting and fun.

First practice on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. for three hours. CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THE BOYS IN ACTION!

Davide surprised me when I got to the office with an Elefanti sideline parka. It looks great and will keep me warm at practice I'm sure.

Since I do not have the internet in our apartment yet, I probably won't be back in the Elefanti football office until Monday for any updates.

Ciao a tutti!