When I began my ride today, the destination that I had in mind was the famous town of Taormina. Not a terribly ambitious destination — by 11am I was in Giardini Naxos, and Taormina is at the top of a big hill that overlooks Giardini — but then again, I was feeling pretty relaxed today; and I haven't got much further to ride anyway, until I once again reach Messina. So from Giardini, I slogged up the winding mountain road that takes you up to Taormina; and once I'd conquered this steep but not-overly-long road, I went to see what all the fuss is about, and why Taormina is considered one of the top tourist hotspots in Sicily. Well, Taormina is a gorgeous town: squashed into a tiny hilltop plateau, it's all narrow cobbled streets and fresh mountain air; the architecture is gorgeous, and can be seen in the many churches, palaces and terraced houses in town; and the views of the beaches and bays of Giardini on one side, and of Mazzarò on the other side, are quite breathtaking. However, the place is riddled with tourists — you can't even sneeze without being offered a souvenir handkerchief — and it's also ridiculously expensive. This dangerous combination made Taormina decidedly unappealing to me, particularly as a place to spend the night.
![](http://worldtripphotos.greenash.net.au/2007-11-22-12-00-00--view-of-mazzaro-from-the-road-up-the-mountain-to-taormina.jpg)
View of Mazzarò, from the road up the mountain to Taormina.
![](http://worldtripphotos.greenash.net.au/2007-11-22-12-01-00--classy-hotels-and-resorts-line-the-road-into-taormina.jpg)
Classy hotels and resorts line the road into Taormina.
![](http://worldtripphotos.greenash.net.au/2007-11-22-12-02-00--central-street-of-taormina.jpg)
Central street of Taormina.
![](http://worldtripphotos.greenash.net.au/2007-11-22-12-03-00--looking-back-to-giardini.jpg)
Looking back to Giardini.
I hung around in Taormina for about ½ an hour, just to explore the central streets, and to take in the views and the ambiance. But that was enough for me: spending the night here was out of the question. The price of Internet, in particular, made an extended stay here an absolute non-option: the cheapest place I could find was charging a whopping €5/hour! Seeing that I had little else to do for the rest of the day, apart from go online, there's no way I was going to use up several hours of 'Net time at those pries. I didn't even want to know how much a room in a B&B would cost here; in fact, I was so taken aback by the ripoff prices here, that I postponed my morning coffee until I was somewhere else. After I'd seen enough, I rode back down the hill, and returned to Giardini, in search of more reasonable food, board, and geekery.