Taormina is waaay up on a hill.

 Well, we made it to Catania O.K., and we had all of our paperwork with us, but of course those Passenger Locator Forms I spent so much time on were not even asked for.  What was a surprise was that even though we had proof of a negative test when we got on the plane, when we got off the plane, everyone on the flight was herded into a large tented area to be tested again!!  So another swab down the throat later we were finally on our way to our next hurdle, getting our rental car.  We had already paid for it, so at least that was done, but renting a car is never easy, and after all the paperwork was done, we hauled our suitcases outside to try to find the car, which we were assured would be easy, and there would be an attendant there.  We went quite a way, looking for this car.  We found P4, which is where she said it would be; every car there was dirty and banged up, and there was no one around.  So we hauled all of our belongings back to the rental office, and made her come outside and show us--it turns out that there are two different lots with P4, and we went to the wrong one. Thank goodness.

The drive to Taormina was terrifying.  Sophie would have been exclaiming, "we're all going to die!" I was quietly thinking the same thing.  Mountain roads that on google maps just looked like some child had squiggled them on paper, cars and buses and lorries coming at us at ridiculous speeds, and us with a little Fiat Panda stick shift.  I wanted to cry.  Randy thought it was fun.  

The view from our balcony might be worth it.

Quiet streets of Taormina.  Very few people out
and about in winter

Pretty place; must be very popular in summer.