Det var den sommeren Karl Martin og Grete giftet seg.
I 2014 ble 40 års ekteskap feiret i Taormina med hele famlien, 8 personer.
til sommerferie i varmen på Secila.
Derfor ble feiring utsatt et år.
Juni/juli 2025 dro hele famlien, nå 12 personer på ferie til Taormina.
I sommer dro hele familien på sommerferie sammen.
8 voksne og 4 barn.
Avreise fra Gardermoen til Catania på Sicilia.
Flyet var veldig forsinka, ca 3 1/2 time.
Vi hadde tenkt å ta tog fra Catania til Taormina, men siste tog fra flyplassen i C
atania var gått da vi landa, så det ble taxi og maxitaxi fra flyplassen.
Ved midnattstid hadde alle fått rommene sine.
The Trinacria Symbol:
The Triskelion, known in Sicily also as the Trinacria, is the three-legged woman
that symbolises Sicily. First adopted in 1282 by the Sicilian Vespers, it is currently the official flag of the autonomous Sicilian region.
Officially, the Trinacria became the Sicilian flag in 1943, during the World War II.
The leader of the independence movement, Andrea Finocchiaro Aprile, was the
first to adopt this symbol. During WWII, the Sicilian independentists helped the
Allies to land in the coasts. After winning the war, the Allies helped Sicily become independent from Italy.
The three legs in the Trinacria Symbol stand for the three promontories of Sicily.
Those promontories are Cape Pelorus, Cape Passero, and Cape Lilibeo.
The Trinacria Symbol - The Symbol of Sicily - Sicily Blog | Excursions Sicily (16. juli 2025)
The Trinacria Symbol is known worldwide as the emblem of Sicily.
Hotel Ariston and Palazzo Santa Caterina. Her bodde alle unntatt Grete og Karl Martin
Bilder fra: Hotel Ariston and Palazzo Santa Caterina, Taormina (prisene oppdatert 2025)
Villa Ross
Her bodde Karl Martin og Grete
(Italian: Regione Siciliana), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea and one
of the 20 regions of Italy, situated south of the Italian Peninsula in continental E
urope. With 4.7 million inhabitants, including 1.2 million in and around the
capital city of Palermo, it is both the largest and most populous island in the Mediterranean Sea.
Sicily is named after the Sicels, who inhabited the eastern part of the island during the Iron Age.
The earliest archaeological record of human activity on the island dates to around 14,000 BC.
Sicily - Wikipedia (16. juli 2025)
The history of Taormina dates back to before Ancient Greece established its first
colony on Sicily in 734 BCE in Magna Graecia. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire,
Taormina continued to rank as one of the more important towns of the island. Taormina
followed the history of Sicily in being ruled by successive foreign monarchs. After the
Italian unification, Taormina began to attract well-off tourists from northern Europe,
and it became known as a welcoming haven for gay men and artists.
Taormina - Wikipedia (16. juli 2025)
Fin utsikt fra balkongen vår
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The legend that concerns them
is set in Palermo and not many people know it. It narrates that approximately in the year 1100, during the Arab domination, in the ancient district of the Kalsa in Palermo lived a beautiful girl who spent her days taking care of the house and the plants that enriched his balcony. One day a young Moor passed by and noticed her while she was busy watering her plants and instantly fell in love with her. Taken by this strong feeling he did not hesitate to enter the house to openly declare all his love to her. The girl, who was amazed by that determination and the feeling that the young man said he felt for her, returned his love but as soon as she found out that the young Moor would soon return to the East, where his wife and his sons were waiting for him, she took advantage of the darkness of the night and killed him while he slept. The girl cut off his head and made it into a vase, in which she planted basil. Sicilian Ceramics: offers, history and production towns | Scopri La Sicilia (16. juli 2025) |
Etter en slitsom reisedag var det godt å slappe av på stranda og ved bassenget.
 Vi var først på Lido Spisone, senere på stranda ved Isola Bella |
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Lido Spisone is a picturesque beach situated in Taormina, a town in Italy. This beach is recognized for its expansive size, making it one of the largest in the region. The landscape of Lido Spisone is marked by golden sands and pebbles that line the shores of the Ionian Sea, all set against the backdrop of rocky promontories. Its clear, calm, and rock-free waters offer an ideal setting for swimming and other water-based activities.
The natural beauty of Lido Spisone is complemented by its relative tranquility. Unlike some popular beaches, Lido Spisone is not generally crowded, providing a serene environment for visitors.
Lido Spisone, Italy - Beach Guide, Info, Photos - BeachAtlas (16. juli 2025)
Her er vi på vei til stranda ved Isola Bella
Vi er framme ved Isola Bella.
På denne delen av stranda er det ikke utleie av solsenger eller parasoller.
Erling og Oda koser seg i sjøen. I bakgrunnen er Isola Bella
Om kvelden siste vi middag på Hotel Ariston and Palazzo Santa Caterina
Mandagen skulle vi til Etna.
Etna covers an area of 1,190 km2 (459 sq mi) with a basal circumference of
140 km (87 miles). This makes it by far the largest of the three active volcanoes
in Italy, being about two and a half times the height of the next largest, Mount Vesuvius. Only Mount Teide on Tenerife in the Canary Islands surpasses it in the
whole of the European–North-African region west of the Black Sea.
In Greek mythology, the deadly monster Typhon was trapped under this
mountain by Zeus, the god of the sky and thunder and king of gods, and the
forges of Hephaestus were said also to be underneath it.
Mount Etna is one of the world's most active volcanoes and is in an almost
constant state of activity.
Mount Etna - Wikipedia (16. juli 2025)
Her stoppet bussen. Vi skulle videre med taubane og så terrengbil det siste stykke.
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Lang
kø til terrengbilene, men det gikk fort unna. |
Fra der terrengbilene stoppa var det guida tur på Etna.
Det blåste friskt, men temperaturen var fin.
Vinden gjør sitt med frisyren.
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Etna 2. juni 2025 bilde fra Mount Etna Eruption: What Happened |
Det ryker alltid fra Etna
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Ladybirds Convergent ladybugs, a type of beetle, often seek high elevations due to their proximity to primary predators such as insects, birds, and spiders. They often mass in the thousands or tens of thousands on various mountain summits, such as Mount Etna, Emory Peak, Guadalupe Peak, and Mount Livermore. Ladybugs are not actually bugs but beetles, with over 1, 500 species. They hatch their eggs at lower altitudes where larvae feed on aphids, and they pupate and emerge as adults who eat aphids in late spring. Why Do Ladybugs Like Mountains (16. juli 2025) |
Det er snø på Etna året rundt, men skisesongen er kort.
Bildet tatt fra bussen på vei tilbake til Taormina.
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Etter
fjellturen ble det lunsj ved nedre taubanestasjon. Det var flere som ville smake på pistasjølet. Da vi kom tilbake til Taormina hadde vi lyst på et bad og tok taubanen ned til Lid la Pigna. |
Lido la Pigna is set in Mazzarò Bay, located only 10 minutes from
Taormina's town centre, comfortably reachable by funicular.
From the cable way station it is only some steps over the road and
down to the beach.
Lido La Pigna in Sicily (16. juli 2025)
Lido la Pigna
Fin utsikt fra Piazza IX Aprile
Piazza IX Aprile is the main square of Taormina and, by far, the most
beautiful one, located about halfway between Porta Messina and Porta
Catania, down the main street of the town, Corso Umberto.
The square is populated with many interesting monuments and, from i
ts terrace, you can admire a magnificent panorama of the Mount Etna,
Bay of Naxos and Teatro Greco, the ancient theater of Taormina.
Characteristic are the outdoor cafés and the artists who draw caricatures.
The square is called Piazza IX Aprile because on April 9, 1860, during a
Mass held in the Cathedral of Taormina, rumors came about the arrival
of Giuseppe Garibaldi in Marsala, a town in western Sicily, to start the l
iberation of the island from the Bourbon domination. The rumors turned
out to be false, and Garibaldi arrived in Marsala a month later, on May 9.
Before 1860, the square was called Piazza Sant’Agostino, after the Church
of Sant’Agostino built in 1448 on the eastern side of the square, now
deconsecrated and serving as a public library.
Piazza IX Aprile – Taormina, Sicily | ITALYscapes (17. juli 2025)
Frokost på balkongen.
Taubane ned til strendene
 Stranda ved Isola Bella |
The construction of the Taormina
cable car began in 1928, as evidenced
by a journalistic article published in the Vie
d'Italia magazine of the Italian Touring Club. Over the decades, the funicular has been renovated at least three times. The current facility is described as a single-rope cable car. The length of Taormina cable car is about 700 meters, along which there is a difference in the height of 170 meters with a maximum gradient of 68%. The plant consists of two groups of four cabins, each with a capacity of eight people for 650 kg. In 2019, the Taormina-Mazzarò cable car transported over one million people in one calendar year. Taormina Cable Car - Prices and Time table (16. juli 2025) |
Etter turen til Etna var det godt med en hel dag på stranda.
Det var varmt den uka vi var på Sicilia, over 30 grader hver dag.
Denne dag ble vi hele dagen på stranda ved Isola Bella,
Middag spiste hele familien samlet på Hotel Ariston and Palazzo Santa Caterina
De serverte fin bufet, med musikk til.
Hovedgata i Taormina
Etter en dag med hvile måtte vi ut på tur igjen. I dag ble det trapper og gangvei tilCastelmola. Før vi kom til trappene måtte vi gjennom byen, først opp til hovedgata Corso Umberto, så tok vi opp Salita Francesco de Luna. På bilde står Grete i Salita Francesco De Luna |
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Veien mellom Taormina og Castelmola
Her begynner trappene/gangveien til Castelmola
Her ser vi ned mot Piazza 9. Aprile
Der korset blir lagt på Simon fra Kyrene
Stations of the Cross
The way of the cross
Via Crusis from Rinaldo of Monte Crucis or the Dominican friar who
retraced the path of Calvary that Jesus traveled to reach the hilld w
here he was crucified.
Thus it became an important religious manifestation for all Catholic
beliefs.
According to what was established by the Friar, it was divided into
different stages called, by the same, stations which represent
different moments that culminate in the deposition of the body of
Jesus in the holy sepulcher.
The most traditional celbration has 14 stations:
Taormina the way of the cross - Sicily Taormina and around
Jesus is condemned to death
Jesus is charged with the cross
Gesu cade per la prima volta
Jesus falls for the first time
Jesus is helped to carry the cross by Simon og Cyrene
Saint Veronica wipes the face of Jesus
Jesus falls for the second time
Jesus warns the women of Jerusalem
Jesus falls for the third time
Jesus is stripped of his clothes
Jesus is nailed to the cross
Jesus dies on the cross
Jesus is taken down from the cross
The body of Jesus is placed in the tomb.
Godt med noe kaldt å drikke. Vi er ca halvveis og hviler med fin utsikt mot Etna.
 Høyt der oppe ligger Castelmola. Veien videre er ikke helt ufarlig. |
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Mange fine utsiktpunkter underveis
The Icon is dedicated to the Madonna della Scala (Madonna of the Staircase). It once enclosed a valuable oil painting, which was not able to detect in which epoch it was made. Originally the Icon was carved in stone and rested in the rock under the castle near the footpath, access to the village from "Porta di Mola".
(tekst fra Comune di Castelmola)
Castelmola
If in one sweep you can
see the Ionian coast, the monumental
Mount Etna, the gulf of Giardini-Naxos,
the Capo di S. Alessio,
the Straits of Messina and the coast of
Calabria, you are either
on Google Maps or you are in Castelmola.
This small village
above Taormina, one of the most beautiful
Sicilian
Villages in Italy, is a real natural terrace built
around the
ruins of a Norman castle which, over time,
has taken on a soft
concave shape, similar to that of a millstone (mola).
It is therefore easy to guess the origin of the name,
an immediate
crasis of “Castle” and “Mola”.
Castelmola
| Visit Sicily official page
(17. juli 2025)
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Først lunsj, så en liten runde i byen.
Vi var på festningen forrige gang i var i Castelmola.
Siden det var så varmt tok vi ikke turen opp til festningen
denne gangen.
Bilder fra festningen ligger her
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Utsikt fra plassen ved
Chiesa di San Giorgio
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Så er vi på tilbake til Taormina,
lettere å gå ned, men veldig varmt-
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Kaldt
øl er godt i varmen. Vi var innom samme cafe som på veien oppover. |
Santuario Maria della Rocca
The legend of the church
The history of the church of the Madonna della Rocca is linked to a legend that
has been handed down through the centuries. It seems that a young shepherd
from the nearby village of Castelmola was surprised by a storm while tending
his sheep. He decided to take shelter in a cave with his animals, but in the
lightning he saw a woman holding a child. Frightened, the boy ran away and
returned to the place with his parents. Exactly at the place where he saw the
lady, there was a crack in the rock and inside was a painting depicting the
lady with the child.
Church of Madonna della Rocca - Taormina | The World of Sicily (17. juli 2025)
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The
Church of the Madonna della Rocca is one of the most fascinating places in Taormina. It is located at the foot of the castle of Monte Tauro, in one of the most spectacular views of the whole city. The church is completely dug into the rock and its history is linked to a mysterious legend. Church of Madonna della Rocca - Taormina | The World of Sicily (17. juli 2025) |
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Etter
turen til Castelmola dro vi rett ned på stranda. Nå trengte vi virkelig et forfriskende bad. Klippen va populær å stupe/hoppe fra. Vi prøvde ikke det. |
| Enda en dag som stort sett ble tilbragt på stranda. Denne dagen på stranda ved Isola Bella. På bildet slapper Karl Martin av, mens Magnus med famlien spiser lunsj. |
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 Om kvelden ble det bytur med Geir og Annette. |
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Vi startet dagen med en bytur
Bilder i Palazzo Corvaja
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| Chiesa Santa Domenica The Church of Santa Domenica is a small church located in the center of Taormina, a short walk from the Naumachia. It was built in the 1600’s and has a very simple architecture both inside and out. The church has a single nave and has a splendid high altar made of red marble from Taormina and inlaid with marble. On both sides of the high altar there are two niches: in the niche on the left there is a statue of St. Rita of Cascia and in the niche on the right there is a statue of St. Cosmas and Damian. Church of Santa Domenica - Taormina | The World of Sicily (17. juli 2025) |
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mainland by a thin tongue of sand, it is one of the most beautiful and
famous beaches in Sicily.
Its name was coined by Baron Wilhelm von Gloeden, a German aristocrat
who lived in Taormina in the second half of the 19th century and became
famous for his strongly bucolic male nude photographs.
Borbone decided to give it to the Municipality of Taormina. In 1890 it was bought
by Lady Florence Trevelyan, an English noblewoman and wife of the mayor Salvatore Cacciola. The couple embellished the island, built a small house and planted very rare
plants and trees. When Lady Trevelyan and her husband died, the island was
bequeathed to their nephew, Cesare Acrosso, who in turn sold it to the Lo Turco family.
In 1954 the island changed hands again and was bought by brothers Leone and Emilio Bosurgi, owners of Sanderson, a historic citrus processing company in Messina. With the bankruptcy of the company in the 1980s, the island was put up for auction, but found no buyers until it was purchased by the Sicilian Region in 1990.
Taormina's Isola Bella: history, how to get there and how to visit it (17. juli 2025)
Avskjedsmiddag på la Botte
| Hjemreisedag. Formiddagen ble tilbragt på hotel Ariston og Palazzo og i parken med lekeplass. Ved 14-tida tok vi buss til flyplassen. Flyet var heldigvis nesten i rute denne gangen. |
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Taormina‘s Public Garden is also known as Trevelyan Park in honor of Lady Florence Trevelyan, an English noblewoman who commissioned its construction in the mid-19th century. The park is located on a hill overlooking the sea and offering breathtaking panoramic views of the city and the Ionian Sea.
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The park is especially popular with tourists because it offers a relaxing and rejuvenating experience from the hustle and bustle of the historic center. The Public Garden is open year-round and admission is free for all.
Taormina's Public Garden - Visit Sicily | Scopri la Sicilia (17. juli 2025)
Siden det var så sent valgte vi å overnatte på Radisson Red.