The Godfather Towns

Another full day as we visited the “Godfather Towns”. There are 2 small towns up on the high hills where scenes from the

Godfather movies were filmed. Yesterday we had a number of hairpin turns on our travels. We had so many more today it was not really possible to count them as we went higher and higher to these small villages. The first village was Savoca. We stopped in the small plaza which has a sculpture dedicated to Francis Fiord Coppola. The movies have boosted the popularity of this place. We did encounter another ship tour. We walked to the church where scenes were filmed . As we made our way up the small road we stopped at a shop selling Sicilian wines and olive oil. We decided to make our purchases. The place had many old residences that were damaged in past earthquakes but are slowly being restored as the town get more tourists.

Down the mountain, a short drive and then up more hairpins higher up to the second town of Forza D'Agro where more scenes from the Trilogy were shot. Our guide did an excellent job of describing the scenes, the camera angles used and any changes made to the area since the movies were shot.

Again, churches and plazas were the main items. This town has a much better roadway and probably more room so it has become a favourite for local visitors. We had our pizza lunch in one of the cafes. We did not order anything. They just kept bringing different pizza. First cheese and mushrooms, then 4 cheese, then pizza with pistachios, vegetarian, pizza and fresh tomatoes.

They kept bring the pizzas until we had enough! Unlike Canada, pizza in this part of Italy has a whole variety of things on them. Then it was a walk around town. We saw the castle but did not climb to that position. Finally back down to the coast and a drive to Naxos which is the seafront area of the town of Taiomina where our hotel is located. Eruptions from Mt Etna in the distant past has made it to this area. All the rock in the water were lava flow rocks. It is where the Greeks first established their settlement in this area. Tomorrow many from the our group are taking an optional tour to Mt Etna.

Finally a night shot with the cell phone.