Secret Paradise in Sicily recently discovered! Yosette and myself, the lucky volunteers at Gianni House, were not too busy this past Sunday, as the guests were out visiting Taormina. Being a nice boss, Gianni decided to take us out with the car and show us around other places in Sicily.
From the road we had a nice view of a castle on top of a rock by the water side. Wanting to take photos we asked Gianni to stop the car in a safe spot, as all roads are very narrow here. Not having a good view for pictures there, we walked back and spotted a wooden path zig-zagging down the mountain, towards the beach. Always on the lookout for the best picture, we walked towards it, only to discover a chained iron gate. Yosette and I are the same sign, only seven days apart, both monkeys in the Chinese calendar, so we think alike. As fences do not stop monkeys we climbed, jumped and loved the adventure and even the illegality. So we got our pictures and enjoyed the topaz color of the sea from this spot.
Later we approached the castle and another gate was on the way. Gianni did not come with us so we found our way around that gate, too. We got some great pictures of the coast from above, but the gate mounted in the following stone wall could not be bypassed. When we returned to the car we found out that this castle is now private property so…. well…. we would not have passed through any gates had we known.
Not far from here, driving further on the narrow zig-zaging road with a breath taking view of the Ionian Sea coast, we arrived at our destination. Gianni did not tell us in advance where we are going, and it would have not made a difference as we had never heard of this place before. He wanted this to be a surprise. At many street corners he carefully watched our reaction and pleasant surprise at the view of the streets, with postcard like old homes and flowers.
Some of the houses looked like a canvas painting and we “wee”, “aahhh” and “wow”-ed like little children discovering a new and enchanting world. One of the homes, on top of the hill, the best looking and the cutest one, of course, Gianni jokingly said was his. We decided right on the spot that we would marry him for it. Since he did not tell us that he was accepting the proposal, we later found a few other old nice and neglected homes that we were ready and willing to make our own. Envisioning and dreaming how to remodel them in a rustic style, we inquired how much might they cost. We are still dreaming to possibly buy one together, remodel, move in, live like artists (maybe paint, sew, write) and for sure eat or daily dose of healthy Sicilian food. What a dream! What a corner of Paradise!
I will not give the name of the village here but if you love the pictures and truly die to know, just ask me. I might just love to tell the secret. 🙂
