Taormina, Sicily !

Buongiorno from Tarmina. We're going to walk around this beautiful historic town including going into the Greek theater, the public garden, and so much more. And later we're going to go to Francavilla, the ancestral hometown of our friend Cindy. We're also going to go to Lingua Glossa, Fiume Frado, and so much more. This view never gets old, I'm telling you. This is the Duomo and you can see it's built like in a fortress. And right across the cathedral is always the town hall. You can see the flag of Tarmina, the European Union, the Italian, and the Sicilian flag. What's particular about this too is the Star of David because this was the old Jewish quarters. Now we're going to enter Piazza April 9th. Why April 9th? That is the date that Garibaldi, it is said, to have landed here in Sicily. Don't go too fast or you'll miss this. This is one of my favorite, favorite renditions of Jesus and Mary. And there's the Church of San Giuseppe. You know, it wasn't until... I just like sitting here and people and dog watching. Get off the main concourse and make sure you come and check out these side streets. Sicilians are such great artists. And here's the famous Namuccia. This is where they had the naval battles or, well, they don't know exactly what this was used for, but it's a beautiful place to walk through. That plant over there are capers. They're grown wild here. This is just a beautiful walk, especially in June when everything is blooming, but also in May. This is one of the most impressive walls in all of Tarmina, but actually inside is a museum. And there are the famous Testa di Mori. You guys know the story of these moorheads? Legend has it that there was a baroness who lived either in Palermo or Tarmina. We're going to say Tarmina. She was in love with the moor man from Africa. And when she found out that he had family back in Africa, she was so angered and jealous that she cut off his head in the middle of the night and put him in one of these planters. And the next few weeks, look at this beautiful vegetation that grew. And from then on, she became the envy of all her neighbors. And now there's really a symbol of Sicily to have these moorheads. San Pancrazio. He is the patron saint of Tarmina. And here's the bambar where you can get granita all year round. It's a beautiful little spot to people watch and taste some of the local goodies. If you're coming here to the bambar, especially in the summer, make sure you come first and give your name to one of the waiters because there's always a wait list. And here we are early June. Lemon and mulberry and a brioche. And right across from the bambar is Labat, which is one of our favorite restaurants here in Tarmina. We bring friends, family, also our tours over here. It's been here since 1972. Family-owned restaurant. This is the street up to the ancient Greek theater. Now we're inside the Greek theater that was built between the third and fourth century before Christ. Believe it or not, this theater was carved out of the mountain. They literally carved each one of those seats out of the mountain. Third and fourth century before Christ. And it is still an active theater with all types of performances. And in fact, during the film festival of Tarmina, there's performances and events here every day. This first level here is from the Greek era. And when you see the red stones, those are more from the Roman era. Of course, some of them were rebuilt or reconstructed, but you get a little bit of a sense of how the two empires built differently. Here's another interesting thing to note. The Greeks really enjoyed the beautiful panorama that this location offered. Meanwhile, the Romans, Greek, built this facade. It was two and a half stories up high because they wanted to concentrate inside of the theater. Then in the fourth century, there was an earthquake and all of it, well, most of it collapsed. And this is what you have now. Look at this marvelous view. And I'm only halfway up here at the amphitheater. No, it's not an amphitheater, by the way. It's a theater because it's only halfway. The amphitheater were built by Romans. A good example of an amphitheater is the Colosseum in Rome. The Greeks only built theaters. Imagine carving this out of a rock right at the most perfect position. Ancient ingenuity, it's incredible. When the Greeks built this, they used it for comedies. When the Romans came and put that facade and perfected or did their own style of the theater, they had gladiator games. They had to move the bottom part of the stairs to make room to bring in animals and also have gladiator fights. If you go straight over here, you will hit Messina up there around. On top of the hills also Savoca and Forza d'Agro, two towns that are the sites of the Godfather movie. But for us, we love going up there because they're beautiful cobblestone streets and a little town that hearkened back 100 years back. Time stands still in those little towns. Imagine during the Greek times, there were 5,000 or so spectators. Then when the Romans built upon it, more like 10,000. Now, 1,000 to 3,000 people are able to sit in here. But just imagine Etna right over there. She's hiding behind the clouds, but normally you can see the Ionian Sea and Etna and of course the stage. Check out right here. You have the Ionian Sea and Etna. But really from any angle, it's just beautiful. When you come out of the Greek amphitheater, you can take this little side street and all the way down is the public garden. This is a great, great map of Sicily. How beautiful this is. All right, let's go into the public garden. Right inside of the public garden, there's this fitness section. World War I memorial here in the public garden. Look at this cool cannon. The story of this public garden is actually very interesting. It was a Victorian woman, Florence Trevelyan, who came here in 1889. She loved all things nature. She was Scottish and she decided to move here at the age of 37. But as the story goes, she probably had an affair with Prince Edward of Wales. The story goes that she was encouraged to leave Scotland and relocate somewhere and she chose Sicily after traveling all over Europe. And then she gifted the public garden and also Isola Bella to the people of Termina. So now it's a public garden and you can freely visit. And some of these structures held all types of peacocks and birds. Very, very, very well kept garden. This is Corso Umberto, of course, one of the main streets here in Termina. There's Termina also at the bottom and streets going left and right. But this is sort of the area in between the Porta Catania, which is the gate of Catania, and the gate of Messina, which is on the other way. This is halfway between the city of Messina and also the city of Catania. So it was really this main road was sort of a highway for the people. So just imagine all the horses and carts and donkeys that went through here passing because this was the highway to go from the two cities. This is called the Odium, which was covered around the 1800s. It's a small theater that housed about 200 people of the most important in the Roman era. So all the, you know, the nobility sort of speak. Now this is built on top of a Greek temple. So this was a Greek temple dedicated to Apollo. It's built on the remains of it. The seats are the Roman impact. Let's go back to the bella. So here's the scene here in early June. This is Gaetano. He is one of the famous ceramics painters. As you can see, he does it all by hand and his stuff is very unique. You can't find this in places like Shaka or Santo Stefano di Camasa. He's got a very, very unique style. When you come here, you have to stop at our friend Laura's jewelry shop. She has beautiful items from all over Italy and she's been doing it. All your family. And now her daughter is also taking over. It's her passion. She said she was born practically in the middle of gold. By the way, we have, this is where I get our trinacrias. If you guys, we still have some sterling silver trinacrias left. I think I have about 10 of them left and this is what they look like and they get right from here. Beautiful sterling silver trinacrias. So if you want one, make sure you message me, but she's got all types of other great Sicilian items. I particularly like the ones over here with the maps. Those are very cool, but she's got silver, she's got gold, she's got coral, all Italian products. And when you come here, tell them that Esther and Alfred sent you. This is right over here by Piazza April 9th. Here is the skinniest street in all of Italy. And yes, people live up there and there's also a restaurant up there. Sushi is like the hippest new thing in all of Sicily. I always find something in this shop. There's one in Taimina, in downtown Catania, Cefalu, also in Ortigia. Just love their funky funky style. At this moment, there is an exhibition dedicated to an English woman, Miss Mabel Hill. Display here dedicated to Mabel Hill, she's English. And this is dedicated to her. In 1888, she was transferred here to Taimina. And she opened a school for sewing, Qui in Taimina. Wow, look at this. So she taught the Sicilians how to sew, also embroidery here. That is very cool. And of course, there's always the collection of books from all over Sicily. Very cool. There's always some kind of display here. If you saw our New Year's Eve video that we did from Taimina, there was a display of the Christian, Arab and Jewish faiths that coexisted here. And there were different pieces from that era. So when you're here in Piazza April 9th, and the museum is open, make sure you check it out. Grazie. Ciao. Ciao. I know we brought you several scenes and videos from Taimina, including one we did on New Year's Eve, that was spectacular. But here we are six months later. And it's a quite a different scene. Santa Catarina, this is the oldest church here in Taimina. Interestingly, here are some more of the Greek remains. So Christina is one of our guides here. And tell us why Taimina is so historically important. Of course, we know it's beautiful, but historically it was very important. It was first of all a Greek colony, and then a Roman town. And it's strategically based between Messina and Catania. So it was a walled town, over the sea. From here it was possible to see all the surroundings. And it has been an obliged passage for many people until the middle of the 1800s. And Taimina today is a kind of summary of what you have all over Sicily. It's a big Sicilian town. You have all the different populations that we had here in Sicily. You will find them here in Taimina. So that's why many people want to come here. So it's a summary. And the Greek amphitheater, of course, is one of the most important. What other sites besides the public garden? The public gardens, the little Roman theater. Because just, well, very close to the main street, just behind the church, you have a Roman theater, a small one. Odeon. Odeon. Then you have different churches. For example, the main church of Taormina, the cathedral, that looks like a castle because it was also a fortification. Then you have the main square, well, the largest square of Taormina. It's a beautiful square with wonderful view over Mount Etna, over the sea, Giardina, and so on. And then in the surroundings, you can go up to the Madonna della Rocca. There is a little church overlooking the sea and overlooking Taormina. And then you have the side streets of Taormina, also really interesting, richly decorated. We have the narrow street of Taormina. It's a very narrow street, less than 50 centimeters, also really nice. And then the views. The view from Taormina, and then the food, the atmosphere of Taormina. The Granita, the famous bambar. Granita, cannoli, ice cream, gelato, arancini. Well, the list is too long, maybe. Grazie mille. This is the town crest of Francavilla. Chiesa San'Annunziata, 16th century. How does it feel to be here? It's breathtaking, just absolutely breathtaking. Your grandfather, Antonio? Antonio Tatti, was born here, lived here, came from here to America. And what are your memories of him? Oh, he was just the loveliest man, just the loveliest man. Hard worker, just a great, great man. I was only six when he passed away, but I do remember him vividly. One of my best childhood memories. And what does it feel like being here in Francavilla, in the very church he was probably baptized in? Very emotional. I didn't think I would be. You walked in and started. And I felt him. I just felt him here. So, and I know my dad and my grandfather would be so proud that I'm here. As you were sitting in that church, you said several prayers. How did you feel? I just felt like I felt my grandfather's presence. I felt his arms around me. And it was just the best feeling ever. He came with us on the entire tour. He did. He absolutely did. What was it like walking on the footsteps your grandfather walked on? It was amazing. All I could think about was him being a child and, and being there and wondered what his parents were like or what, what his life was like there. And so blessed that he came to America and gave me my father. So yes. And his name was Antonio and your father? Antonio Joseph. He would say Giuseppe. Giuseppe. And did you grow up eating Sicilian food? Absolutely not. No, no, no. My mother was the worst cook in the world. So for those people considering visiting their ancestral hometown, what would you say? Oh, absolutely. Do it. It just, you won't believe how it touches your heart and your soul. 1728 here Look at this wall we just stumbled upon. Elena. Look at this. This is so... Mon Gibello. That's the name of Etna. Oh, that's exactly what she's doing right now. This is absolutely beautiful. This is in front of her house. Mon Gibello in Siciliano. And this is exactly what Etna is doing. What a beautiful woman. Look at this. The entire row of houses are hers. Beautiful. Now here we are in Fiume Freddo, Cold River. Tarmina is definitely on our list during our 2024 tours of Sicily. So check it out, www.youmeandsicily.com. We hope to see you in Sicily. On that note, thank you so much for watching this video and we'll see you on another episode of You, Me, and Sicily. Vi voglio bene. Arrivederci. Ciao.