Sicily And Salzburg. Our Favorite Part of Taormina
I’ve got a ton of posts to crank out on our family vacation to Sicily and Salzburg. I’m hoping to get my butt in gear. Here’s a quick peek at what I expect to cover:
- Getting There. Connecting In Rome And Using Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Points Overseas
- Hotel Review: Sheraton Catania, Sicily
- A Return To Taormina, A Beautiful City On A Hill
- Our Favorite Part of Taormina
- Exploring Mt. Etna
- Walking And Eating In Downtown Catania
- A Day In Siracusa
- Priority Pass Lounge At Catania Airport
- Mess after Mess. airberlin To Salzburg
- Hotel Review: Sheraton Grand Salzburg
- Sound of Music Tour
- Walking Around Salzburg
- L’Osteria Restaurant
- Salt Mines at Berchtesgaden
- Cable Car at Untersbergbahn
- Tasty Donuts, Salzburg
- Train To Vienna
- Hotel Review: Park Hyatt Vienna, OMG
- Park Hyatt Vienna Review, Part 2
- Riding The U-Bahn Subway In Vienna
- Schmetterlinghaus: The Imperial Butterfly House
- Haus des Meeres: Aqua Terra Zoo
- Austrian Airlines Lounge, Vienna Airport
- Austrian Airlines VIE-IAD, Business Class Review
- Wrapping Up
We’ve been so lucky in our travels to find some great dining experiences. We experience a city through its cuisine. We favor local restaurants over more popular establishments. For example, Cul de Sac, buried in an alley behind Piazza Navona in Rome, is one of our favorite places to eat. It was discovered by a popular wine magazine a few years back, so this 40-year classes isn’t as quiet as it used to be.
Taormina really is a beautiful city, with plenty of hidden gems. The first time we visited Taormina, we discovered one of them. We enjoyed it so much we made sure to find it on our return trip. That was a bit difficult since we didn’t really know how we found it the first time!
During our first trip, we had no idea there was a large parking garage located on the edge of Taormina. We drove around for a bit and found a spot to wedge our car. That first trip was in April and it was a chilly day. There was a small shop with a few crates of oranges sitting outside the door. It was sort of trapped in our mind as we walked around town.
On our way back to our car, my wife wanted some tea. We wandered inside. Boy, am I glad we did. Inside was a tiny shop where they made fresh granita. During that first visit, we didn’t notice the sizable patio. There were just a few small tables inside. Maybe it was warm weather, or expansion due to popularity that brought us back to a much larger experience. On our return trip, Bam Bar was hopping.
Here’s a Google pin in case you want to find it. It’s definitely not on the beaten path. Unbelievably, I somehow didn’t end up with pictures of the menu. Let’s hope I can paint a vivid enough picture.
Imagine whatever fruit is in season. Maybe it’s large, tart lemons. Or, juicy oranges. Maybe a melon, at the peak of ripeness. Bam Bar turns that fresh fruit into granita, using the traditional Sicilian recipe. You can walk up to the counter and watch them do it.
The flavors are unbelievable. The texture is so smooth, no ice chunks here. Just in case that isn’t enough, they make their own fresh whipped cream. I’ve had their granita both with and without whipped cream. It’s hard to say which is better.
The Final Two Pennies
I have no idea how we found Bam Bar the first time. It was a good enough memory that a decade later, I pored over a map of Taormina before setting out. We were determined to find it. We waited 15 minutes or so for a table. You’ll find pictures of the owners with celebrities. If Bam Bar was a secret 9 years ago, it isn’t any longer.
Locals and tourists were huddled around the small, hand painted tables. The selection of granita measured 20 or 25. They all sounded wonderful on a hot day. We picked a few flavors, waited in anticipation. Would they be as good as we remembered, or was it just a fond memory?
It was, again, unbelievable.
The post Sicily And Salzburg. Our Favorite Part of Taormina was published first on Pizza in Motion
