Southern Italy & Sicily
Day 12 - Taormina & Casale
Tuesday, 13 April 2004
Today we drove to a more central area of Sicily to see the ancient hotel of Casale. It was unbelievable.
First of all, it is huge, you can walk around for hours. Second of all, it is so well preserved and protected. It is very famous for the mosaics, which are in fantastic condition. We read that you really need a guide, there weren’t any until we got inside and then an old man, who had worked with the original university teams who excavated approached us. He wanted a very nominal sum, so we agreed and he carefully took us around and gave us a wonderful tour in very broken English — but enough to understand.
Originally people thought it was a single manor, but clearly it was a hotel or spa. It had been covered in a mudslide which had protected it for centuries. There were mosaic floors nearly 80 yards long telling stories of the Odyssey, labors of Hercules and more.
Afterwards we went to an exceptional lunch at the only restaurant near the place. I always worry that they will be tourist traps. This was clearly not. Locals and tourists mixed under the grapevines on the patio and we had a exceptional meal of pasta and veal.
Back in Taormina, we went to the beach again and had dinner at the house.