Taormina, Sicily Hotel Description: The first thing you need to know about the Hotel Caparena is that it is located on the beach and not in the center of the town. The second thing you need to know is that a train runs about 40 yards in front of the hotel and you will hear the train day and night if you leave your windows open. Having said that the beach is beautiful and closing your windows keeps out the noise of the train.

The Hotel Caparena is located about a 15 minute car ride from the center of town. The hotel runs a shuttle that will drop you off and pick you up but you need to call the reception desk well in advance to let them know you will be taking the shuttle. The shuttle holds about 6 people so if the hotel is crowded you may have trouble getting a spot. The staff at the reception desk will call you a taxi which costs about 12€ each way. You can easily catch a taxi back to the hotel from the center of town.

The train station for Taormina is located quite a distance from the center of town.  The hotel was actually closer to the train station than a hotel in town would be. The taxi to the hotel cost 16€.

If you want a view of the sea you need to ask for it or you could end up with a view of the road.

You will find this hotel listed under different names: Hotel Lido Caparena, Hotel Caparena, Caparena Hotel, Hotel Caparena and Wellness Club, Lido Caparena, etc.

Is Sicilian Inspector Montalbano retiring? Say it's not so! In his seventh Inspector Montalbano mystery Andrea Camilleri continues his entertaining series set in Sicily.

With frustrations increasing over his department's actions while providing security at the G8 summit in Genova, Montalbano becomes disillusioned and considers retiring. He is beginning to feel old and to add to his miseries his favorite restaurant has closed. For someone who analyzes, evaluates and enjoys his food with a zeal found only in italy this is a true disaster.

Just in the nick of time Montalbano discovers a corpse. Actually he bumps into it while taking a swim in an attempt to relax and put his frustrations behind him. This discovery arouses his curiosity and he begins to investigate the death.

Our sister blog, Discover Walking has had an article reprinted in Walk! Magazine. With the permission of Discover Walking, Cindi Leeman of Walk! Magazine reprinted a blog about the benefits of walking on the beach.

Walk! Magazine is a print publication that is mailed four times a year - Spring, Summer, Winter and Fall. The publishers are hoping to go to six times per year soon.

Walk! Magazine provides information to walkers of all shapes and sizes. Whether you are a competitive walker, racewalker or someone who walks for relaxation and a bit of fresh air after a long day in an office you will find something of interest in this magazine.

What could be better than a culinary trip through Southern Italy, including Sicily? Wait! Southern Italy? Like many people who have spent time in Italy, I usually mean northern Italy when I talk about my favorite country. Like many Italians, I have had the same prejudices about Southern Italy.

I have not explored much of Southern Italy, but my recent trip to Sicily was such a beautiful experience, not to mention a delicious one, that my curiosity and my appetite is whetted to see other parts of the Italian South.

This desire has been heigthtened by Salute!, a book by Gail and Kevin Donovan, and Simon Griffiths, with Robert Castellani, which describes a fascinating trip through much of Southern Italy and Sicily. The authors include a husband and wife team, a chef who runs a restaurant in Australia, and a photographer.

Milan, Italy welcomed the Rolling Stones for their first European concert after a number of well publicized delays. First, Keith Richards fell out of a tree then Ron Woods went into Rehab. Now the rockers are healthy or as healthy as 60 something men who are not known for healthy living can be.

San Siro football stadium in Milan, Italy hosted the band at the start of their Bigger Bang Tour. According to news reports the band entertained the crowd with songs both old and new and with numerous references to the World Cup winning soccer team. Marco Materazzi and Alessandro Del Piero from the winning team took the stage at the end of the show.

According to a survey conducted by the Doxa research agency the amount of wine Italians drink has fallen significantly over the last 30 years.

As reported by ANSA (the Italian News Agency), survey chief Allaman Allamani said that while Italians in their late teens and 20's are drinking more, they tend to get back to traditional Mediterranean habits as early as their 40's.

Italians are now drinking about 3 glasses of wine a day, a drop of about 50% over the last 30 years. Beer consumption is increasing among younger Italians, but wine is still the favorite for about 93%of the drinking population. About 20% of Italians don't drink at all.

Italians have been concerned about an increase in youth binging and the subsequent increase in drinking and driving. Surveys have shown that alcohol consumption has been increasing among teenagers between the ages of 14 and 17.

International cell phone rentals are the way to go for US residents traveling abroad. International cell phones are very expensive for US residents and don't make sense for most of us. If you travel internationally only a few times a year and then only for pleasure, international cell phone rental is the answer.

My sister rented a PlanetFone when were traveling in Rome. I have to admit that I was more than a little skeptical but it turned out to be a lifesaver when her wallet was stolen in Termini Train station. She was able to call her husband from the train and he cancelled all their credit cards before the train left the station.

PlanetFone makes international cell phone rental easy and convenient. In our case, my sister was in New York City for a wedding and the phone was delivered to the address where she was staying. When she returned home she put the international cell phone in the mail and the deal was complete.

Italy won the 2006 World Cup on penalty kicks and they are now World Champions. Unlike the World Series in the US or the Super Bowl for American football the World Cup is actually watched by and played by the whole world.

Now, I am not even going to pretend that I know anything at all about soccer. This was the first World Cup that I have actually paid attention to and I have to say I have come away a fan. It took a while to get over the shock that two teams could actually play a sport for 90 minutes plus overtime and still end up in a 0-0 tie. Then after not scoring but running all over a huge field it all comes down to individual players trying to out guess the goalie. It is a situation that makes heroes of some and well, I think the term goat comes to mind for others.

I also had a difficult time finding the tackle the first time it was pointed out to me. Being a Steelers and Ohio State fan I consider a tackle to be a full body take down.

Wunderbar - Piazza IX Aprile 7

The Wunderbar in Taormina, Italy on the island of Sicily was made famous in the 20th century by the flow of celebrities visiting its bar. Ever since D.H. Lawrence (supposedly) wrote "Lady Chatterly's Lover" in Taormina, Italy, the town has attracted a long list of actors, actresses, writers and artists. Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Greta Garbo, Tennessee Williams, Cary Grant and Gregory Peck are all said to have visited the Wunderbar.

Sitting in the Wunderbar you can just picture Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton enjoying a cocktail at the bar. But if sitting inside is not your glass of scotch then go outside and sit at one of tables on the promenade that looks out over the Bay of Naxos. If you visit during the day and it is clear you can see Mt. Etna. On a clear night you can enjoy eating and drinking under the stars with the moon casting its reflection off the water.

Naples and Milan, among the largest Italian cities, were named the least eco-friendly cities in Europe as reported by ANSA, the Italian News Agency. Naples and Milan were named as the result of a study conducted by Italy's Environmental Research Institute.

The study, conducted in partnership with environmental lobbyist group Legambiente, looked at 20 'eco-indicators' to give a percentage score to 26 European cities, the ANSA news agency reported Thursday.

Helsinki, Finland, was named the cleanest city with a score of 80 percent. Naples and Milan scored 21 and 25 percent respectively, and Rome was just a little higher with 29 percent, making it the fifth worst city in terms of the environment.

It took me many years of traveling all over the world to learn that I cannot travel with any less than three pairs of shoes and that one of those pairs of shoes should be Teva Sandals. Rick Steves recommends that women take no more than two pairs of shoes. I say you can take at least three pairs of shoes and still travel with only carry-on luggage. I never check luggage on my way to a travel destination and I always take three pairs of shoes.

I resisted buying my first pair of Teva's for years, but now I am a convert. I am a shoe person; I have three closets and one basket full of shoes. I still do not find Teva’s to be particularly appealing, but I have to say for comfort and practicality you cannot go wrong with Teva's.

L'Orologio - Near the Wunderbar and the Duomo, Taormina, Italy

There was so much food served at L'Orologio in Taormina, Italy when I went there for dinner that I could not even begin to tell you everything we ate! I went to L'Orologio with about 10 people so we had a set menu with 5 or 6 courses. There was more food than we could eat and we were all Americans so we can eat a lot.

What I do remember is that we had an excellent pasta dish served with a ragù sauce and fresh herbs. This was followed by a thin steak that was cooked to perfection. I had two helpings of pasta thinking I would not like the steak. In the end I had two helpings of pasta and ate every last bit steak, it was so good. All of the food was served with baskets of bread and of course we ordered several bottles of red wine and water. It was all excellent and it was all very Sicilian.

Dinner lasted a long time and the food was served slowly. I always take this as a good sign as it usually means the food is being cooked as it is ordered.

The Bella Blu Restaurant - Via Luigi Pirandello 28, Taormina, Italy

We arrived at the Bella Blu restaurant in Taormina, Italy shortly before noon and were the only people there. It was a good thing we got there early, since by the time we left there was a long line of people waiting for a table. The place was packed. We were seated on an outside balcony at a little table with a spectacular view of the sea and the funicular that runs between the town of Taormina and the beaches of Taormina.

It was the closest I have ever come to experiencing lunch as an opera. The waiter was attentive and thorough enough, he also sang, he laughed, we kissed. I felt like I was having a lunch experience rather than just eating.

My lunch was a spectacular black ink pasta with squid sauce, I would have to say it was the best I ever had. One of my lunch companions had an excellent pizza, and she was glad she did since pizza is hard to find in Sicily. The Bella Blu is known for their traditional Mediterranean cuisine particularly dishes made with seafood. They also have pastas and grilled steak for those among us who do not like seafood. In almost any restaurant in Italy you can get pasta with tomato sauce if you do not find something to your liking on the menu.

Taormina, Italy is one of the most picturesque towns in Sicily. Located high above the Ionian Sea on the east coast of Sicily, Taormina is a must see town for anyone visiting Sicily. Writers and painters have been visiting the town for centuries and it is easy to see why.

Taormina, Italy has been occupied for almost 2,500 years showing once again that the Greeks knew a beautiful place when they saw it. Taormina has an ancient Greek theater, a number of churches and beautiful public gardens with a spectacular view of Mt. Etna. You do not have to look very far to find a restaurant with a view  in Taormina.

Shops are located all along the Corso Umberto I, the main street in Taormina, Italy. I refrained from doing any shopping deciding that prices would be higher in this town that attracts visitors from all over the world. Besides, it was almost impossible for me to pull myself away from the beautiful views and interesting sites.