First and foremost, we greatly thank Francesca for being a such wonderful host. She was always helpful and friendly as well as available in case we needed something. She even took care of our late arrival and supplied us with food for breakfast. It was really a pleasure to having met her.
Concerning her apartment, there’s just one word: marvelous! The apartment was nicely cleaned and furnished in style. With its generous living/dining room it was easy to relax after longer trips and you immediately felt at home. The bathroom and the bedroom do not fall short in comparison and provide a luxurious amount of space as well. The same is true for the kitchen, which is equipped with everything you need (and more) to cook large meals, even for some friends when they come over. It’s also worth mentioning that the apartment features a nice little balcony in case you want to have coffee or a beer/glass of wine outside. The true gem of the apartment is, however, the roof terrace on the upper level. There’s enormous room for having a party and/or BBQ - a nice view on Taormina inclusive. As the rest of the apartment it is also nicely furnished and such a pleasure staying there. It was really unfortunate that we haven’t had more opportunities to really make use of it.
For us, the apartment was almost perfectly placed between “downtown” Naxos and Taormina. Either city center is reached within a few minutes by car. Or if you want to use public transport, bus stops and the main station are within 5 minutes walking distance. The bus will also take you to Isola bella within no time. In the apartment’s immediate vicinity there’s also a mom-and-pop grocery store as well as a bakery, so you can supply yourself quickly without using any type of transport. They only thing that’s a bit further away, but also within walking distance are _sandy_ beaches. Yet the apartment lies almost at the shore, where you can find nice shingle beaches. If you are up for a promenade along the shore, you can do that all along Giardini’s beautiful lungomare and enter one of the many restaurants for dinner or a drink.
To sum it up, we had an awesome time in Francesca’s place and highly recommend it to anyone who’s interested in visiting this part of Sicily.