Pete has been keeping the blog fires burning so to speak, writing about all the wonderful points of Sicily in general and Taormina in specific. However, he has omitted one of the most fun things – the myriad wonderful things available for purchase.
I won't even go into the touristy things, as I assume no one actually buys those. Or no one keeps them long, in any case. However, within feet of our abode here you can buy many anatomically correct kitchen aprons (yes, you read that correctly), both male and female, poorly-executed pottery of all kinds, the inevitable keychains and kitchen magnets, as well as soaps (?) shaped like lemons, hats with lemons on them, and bad limoncello.
What is more fun to look at – but which I likely will not buy – is the high end stuff. The gorgeous jewelry, the Jimmy Cho shoes (those who know me personally know I would NEVER wear those), the Dolce and Gabbana purses, the couture clothing.
No, I'm a middle-of-the-road kinda gal. Most of us from Central Pennsylvania are, I imagine.
The lovely leather is fun to look at. I have my eye on a great purse in a little Italian leather goods shop. Maybe for my birthday? We'll see. I'm not quite ready to commit.
Because there are also such other goodies to check out! The better quality ceramics – the tiles and plates are wonderful, evocative of the area and soooo pretty. There's marvelous Sicilian beverages … the limoncello, the pistachio versions of that, the almond wine; not to mention the grape-based volcanic wines which are very tasty. Then there's the pasta. The pistachios, and all the goods made with pistachios. And almonds. And honey. And lemons.
And I found a stationery shop. Well, actually, my friend Liz found it but I was a willing participant in the journey there and the buying thereof. I love fountain pens, and found a beautiful cherry (yes, the wood) pen wrap there – I've been eyeing these up even in the states – so that is coming home with me.
And then there are the easily consumables-- the gelato we buy every day, the granita which is so delicious with brioche (more on this another time) … the water bottles we buy.
There are so many things to buy here, and so much fun doing it!