Walk and Talk in Taormina:Learn Sicilian Words and Hand Gestures. - With Tasting

About this tour

Pick up Sicilian slang, regional phrases, and the animated hand gestures that punctuate everyday conversation across Sicily during a 2 hour 15 minute walk through Taormina's streets. Your local guide traces how Greek, Roman, and Arab influences shaped the dialect, then you put your new vocabulary to work ordering arancini and a drink at a traditional rosticceria. Finish with a tasting of Sicily's most iconic street snack.

Highlights

• Learn colloquial Sicilian words and expressions from a native speaker
• Understand how conquering cultures shaped the regional dialect
• Master the hand gestures that accompany Sicilian conversation
• Order food and drink in Sicilian at a working rosticceria
• Taste arancini fresh from a local favourite spot
• Wander Taormina's historic streets between lessons

What to expect

Your guide will walk you through Taormina while teaching the Sicilian language layer by layer—starting with the words and phrases that make up roughly half of everyday speech. You'll learn how Italian and Sicilian diverge, and why: centuries of different rulers left their mark on vocabulary and accent. A big chunk of the tour covers hand gestures, which carry real meaning in Sicily and aren't optional extras. After the walking section, you'll head to a rosticceria and actually use what you've learnt, ordering arancini and either a coffee or beer. The session ends with tasting the arancini properly.

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