What a jewel in the crown Taormina is.  We can't believe how elegant it was, perched up and down a cliff overlooking the sea and the Italian mainland.  Finally the clouds departed and we could see the steam venting from Mt. Etna, with great views from our hotel terrace and, you guessed it, a Roman amphitheater.  We were surprised that concerts are regularly held in it.  What a venue!

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Our local guide David shared so much about the history of Taormina.  He took us to a large park that once belonged to a British ex-pat ... where Stephanie surprised us all with gelato cones from her favorite gelateria!  Then we were off to a tiny out-of-the-way park where -- we still can't believe it -- we got to walk on a bit of old Roman road!

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Lesson Learned:  After the guided tour ended, we circled back and had the tiny park all to ourselves.​  We'll be sure to do this on future tours.  Yes, we've already signed up for another one!