♪ Drake- Summer 16♪

When Drake dropped "Summer 16" I suddenly had a good feeling about this summer! I couldn't be more right, this summer flew by and there's so many places I saw and so many things I've learned! Besides going to the UNTOLD festival and seeing Rihanna live, I'll never forget how much I've loved Sicily, especially Taormina. I'm currently packing for my last trip before university starts again, but I felt like sharing these photos my cousin Ioana took while we visited Taormina for the third time. I'm wearing the most comfy skirt from Primark which my aunt got me from the UK and my favorite sandals ever (bought from Sicily actually), which are from Bata.

I've also included in this post photos of the BEST cannoli made in Sicily, from Da Cristina (find them in Taormina). It's where I also discovered how a true gnocchi sorrentina should taste like and the pleasure of having almonds, chocolate and so many other things in your cannoli filling!

Summer of 2016, you've been my absolute favorite!

The hottest day we had in Sicily turned out to be the day we had to travel most, because Villa Romana del Casale and Ragusa are far away from Taormina. The heat was also the reason I don't have many outfit photos from that day, absolutely none would look ok in that much amount of sun! Still, I have plenty of food photos and the beautiful places we visited that day.

It took us about 2 hours and a half to get to Villa Romana Del Casale - which is a Roman villa built back in the 4th century- what's incredible about it is the fact that after a big earthquake most of it colapsed. Yet, hundred of years after that, archaeologists discovered some breathtaking Roman mosaics, in perfect condition - it is, to date, the richest collection of Roman mosaics in the world, which is why it was made an UNESCO World Heritage Site. I couldn't take any photos because they were very strict, but believe me, it's totally worth the visit ( just Google it). As beautiful as it was, we still struggled with the heat, so we stopped at the famous Trattoria La Ruota nearby for some refreshments. There, we had the best cannoli in Sicily (okay, it's a tie with Taormina's Da Cristina, but more on that in a future post!).

After this, we headed to Ragusa (once again a long ride). One very important thing you must know about Ragusa: there is the new town (on a hill) and the old one (the historical and charming part). We kept going down with our cars and then we came to a point we couldn't get any further with our cars (you can see the main photo of this post how much there was still to go down) and then we had to go down the stairs- hundreds and hundreds of them! Ragusa Ibla (the old town) is so charming and unique, it wasn't like any old town I've visited before and it was the best cardio workout I got in Sicily ( I imagine people living there are so fit!). It was about 4PM and we were looking for a place to have lunch, but as you know, Italians have their siesta at that time, so there was almost no restaurant open! We weren't just starving after the cardio workout, but also couldn't cope with the heat anymore. We were lucky enough to find Biancomangiare , which is like a bistro, so there we found ourselves eating- burgers and fries in Italy! If you told me I would go to Sicily and have a burger I would have told you- never in a million years! But you know what? They're on the 2nd place in my life list for burgers (the 1st places belongs to Vivo in Iasi, obviously!).  I guess you never know what's in store for you! Now, about our hike back to the cars after having such a rich meal...it's safe to say we burned all calories that burger had haha!

♪ Paradise - Big Sean ♪

I know I still got many posts to write about Sicily, but the reason I'm behind schedule is the Untold Festival which I attended in Cluj Napoca (I can't wait to also write a post about it, it was an incredible experience!!).

Tomorrow I'll be 21 (Where does the time fly?? I remember being 15 when I wrote my first post for this blog!) and I'm glad I'm sharing my favorite day on my Sicilian trip on this occasion!  Whenever you ask someone about their favorite spot in Sicilia, they instantly reply: Taormina! Naturally, it ended up being our favorite place as well, we went on three different days there and I would still love to visit it few more times in my lifetime.

I loved the streets just as much as I loved the streets in Florence and Paris 

(therefore, they made it into my top 3 list) probably because of the multitude of colorful flowers and beautiful buildings. The Botanical Garden is also breathtaking, but what really stands out is the Ancient Theatre of Taormina. It's a view I'll never forget, we just really couldn't bring ourselves to leave it!! You had the magical theatre, with the sea and the Mount Etna in the background. I just felt infinite staying there and contemplating. At some point, we stopped to get some refreshments and I finally tried the famous cassata Siciliana - I took it as personal challenge because it's told to be the sweetest dessert in Sicilia, and I'm never one to back down haha! It's actually a sponge cake moistened with fruits juices and with ricotta cream between the layers (the same recipe for the canolli filling cream) and covered in marzipan (green usually). Everyone found it to be too sweet, but I went crazy for it! In Taormina I also found the wallet of my dreams, at Furla, on a sale, which I got for myself as a birthday present.

After Taormina, we went to Savoca, a mountain village where scenes from Godfather Part 1 were filmed ( Michael's wedding was not actually shot in Corleone, as it's stated in the movie) and we actually had a delicious lunch at Bar Vitelli , the famous bar where Michael meets Apollonia's father (who owns bar Vitelli in the movie). I've never heard of crostone before, and I love it! I didn't find it in other parts of Sicily and Bar Vitelli also had the best strawberry granita I've ever had in Italy. Aside from Bar Vitelli, it was also beautiful to walk on the roads Michael and Apollonia would walk (with the horde of aunts behind them haha). I chose a light blue dress from Zara for that day, which was a birthday gift from my best friend last year, which made the heat bearable!

“The idea is not to live forever, it is to create something that will.” 

― Andy Warhol

Our second day in Sicily was a full one! My uncle made this genius schedule- one full day when we would arrive at the hotel late at night, always followed by a lighter day when we'd arrive at the hotel at 5 PM and have some time for the pool ( I still miss the pool so much, it was the best!).

We started with the historical Syracusa. I'm sure you've heard about Syracuse from Ancient Greek tales, and it is also the birth town of Archimedes, the brilliant mathematician. The amazing part about Syracuse is that it has an astonishing archaeological Park (it's an UNESCO heritage site) where you can see the Ancient ruins - you can't imagine how big it actually is, and it was particularly hard for us to visit it because we went to Syracuse on our hottest day in Sicily and at some point when we ran out of water I was getting kind of dizzy. Thank God for my straw hat, I don't know what I would have done without it in Sicily! I loved the Greek and Roman theatre in Syracuse but I was most impressed by the Ear of Dionysius (photos after the break)- it's an unique cave, I was amazed about its shape and size.

The old town of Syracuse is called Ortigia and to me it was like a totally different town, tourists usually say it's the most magical part of Syracuse and I agree! The residents of Syracuse usually take their passeggiata in Ortigia and who wouldn't, considering the fact there is a breathtaking Piazza del Duomo (I couldn't stop taking photos of the Duomo, it's an exemple of brilliant architecture) ,the Fountain of Arethusa and some unique views over the sea. I also ate the best Nutella ice cream in Ortigia- ever since I came home from Sicily I couldn't bring myself to buy Nutella ice cream because I'd rather remember that taste!

After Ortigia, we went to a beautiful town called Noto - it resembled with Ortigia, especially the style of the churces but it had a certain air, I could walk for days on its cobbled streets! I also had my first cannoli in Noto and I have to say I prefer a ricotta cannoli over a chocolate or vanilla one, to my surprise. But what left me speechless was how lucky we were- there was a pop-up exhibition in Noto of one of my favorite artists -ANDY WARHOL (Andy Warhol e Noto- il barocco immaginario) . Three years ago I started to be really into pop art and I read a lot about his work, but what ultimately made me a fan of Andy Warhol the man, artist part aside, was the book he wrote - The Philosophy of Andy Warhol. I was a teenager, and you know how certain books shape your future adulthood? This book was it for me! It was so profound yet written in a light way, with a genius sense of humour. I was like a kid in the candy store, I couldn't stop looking of Andy's sketches dedicated to the legendary Cecil Beaton, that Mick Jagger Interview cover, the Velvet Underground cover and all Marilyns and Campbell soups! I honestly never wanted to leave the exhibition, having so many of his famous works in one place made me ecstatic!

I usually mix photos up in travelling posts, but I chose to place them cronologically this time, so I could write notes on what can you see in each town.

♪ ScHoolboy Q, Kanye West - THat Part ♪

I got back from Sicily last week and it took me a while to get all my photos in order and decide how to write about this incredible experience. I decided to make my first post about the hotel we stayed in, because I truly believe the whole experience wouldn't have been the same without the hotel of my dreams, as I call it now.  Sicily (Sicilia in Italian) is an astonishing island, full of ancient history, breathtaking architecture and unique gastronomy (so many famous Italian dishes have been invented in Sicily like arancini, cannoli, granita- I'll make sure to post about the food in the near future).

I usually don't blog about the places I stay in, I use TripAdvisor to leave reviews, but I loved the place we stayed so much! My aunt and uncle read about agriturisimo (agritourism) being all the rage in Sicily lately and they found La Terra dei Sogni. Located in Fiumefreddo, it's a really cosy and intimate place to spend your holiday because there aren't so many rooms. The hotel is placed in the middle of citrus groves, hence the fresh orange and red orange juice at every single breakfast and the possibility to eat fresh orange or tangerine from the trees whenever you feel like. The room was so spacious, but what we ultimately loved most was the pool area. It was the best pool I've ever swum in, the water was so clean and warm and you could easily view Mount Etna. I need to set one thing straight- location wise, it's the perfect one as long as you have a car. We read a lot about Sicily before going there, and I strongly believe you can't visit the whole island without one (there were days when we'd go 400 km, it's a really big island) and I also heard the bus schedule can be unreliable in Sicily. Fiumefreddo is right next to Giardini Naxos ( the ultimate golden sand beach Sicily has) and Taormina- the best thing there is to visit in Sicily, in my opinion.

Outfit wise, I'm wearing my Zara bodysuit I blogged about in my last post. The shorts are from H&M, two days before leaving for Sicily I realized I didn't have any shorts so I went to my local store and found two perfect pairs for the holiday. I really love their print, they're so fun to wear! All the photos from this post were taken at the hotel.