Taormina and Catania

Bon Sera! I'm just getting the hang of Italian and now I need to try to reach way, way back to some highschool French. We had our day in Taormina and Catania. Taormina looks like something you would see in a children's fairy tale book. Built on a mountainside with some breathtaking wiews. Narrow streets, crazy drivers and no parking. We stopped in a pullout on the way down and goy some great pictures. Mom, we'll have a great picture and movie night with you when we get home. Then we carried on to Catania which was highly recommended. We didn't think we would ever get out of there! Unbelievable traffic! Very poorly signed and seemingly no traffic rules. We realized that was because there are no traffic lights so if you are trying to get out onto a main street you just have to push your way in. And they are brutal.No courtesies at all.  Survival of the fittest. Also it's strange to see children sitting in the front seats of cars without carseats or babies on parents laps. The worst was seeing a young girl with her baby sitting in front of her on her motorbike zipping in and out of traffic like a maniac.  We finally found the motorway to come back home and  lo and behold came across a modern, American style shopping mall. Haven't seen one of those for a while. Well, Ian was thrilled to drop us off and be alone for awhile. So Pam and I strolled around for awhile and poked into a few shops and then met up with Ian for a delicious coffee. Unfortunately, that is all we could afford in that mall. It was a very upscale place. I saw casual pants for 300.00euros. Versace, Gucci, etc. Pam and I decided that this was a place for the MAFIA and they're families to shop. And believe me they are alive and well in Sicily. The poor average person doesn't have a hope. When I get home I will sing Oh Canada at least once a day. (not really) But truthfully, we are so fortunate to be Canadians. If I could speak to my ancestors I would thank them for emmigrating to Canada. Anyway, tomorrow we are up early and off on the train to Palermo. Hopefully we will get some shopping done, get to the public market and maybe get some Sicilian icecream. So arrivederci for now. Love to all! I miss you all--especially you Mom and my grandchildren. Now I'm getting soppy.