Sicily
Greetings!
Located at the crossroads of the Mediterranean, half of the ancient civilized world conquered Sicily, leaving a rich and varied culture behind. I've just returned from this island located off the toe of Italy's boot where people call themselves Sicilian first, and then Italian!
We began in Palermo with a walking tour on our arrival day. Our rooms weren't ready and the day was perfect so we arranged to meet our guide earlier than planned and get oriented to the city. We visited the Quattro Canti, (the 'four corners' and the center of the city), Piazza Bellini, pictured above, and ate street food and the most delicious cannoli's from the Santa Caterina monastery.
Our hotel in Palermo, Palazzo Natoli, was friendly, charming and in a perfect location with a little balcony over the busy pedestrian street. Breakfast was delivered to our room on our first morning!
We headed east from Palermo to the charming seaside town of Cefalu and wandered through the narrow streets, watched the waves and climbed the steps to the cathedral.
Day three we visited Planeta Winery which was fun and informative. We tasted a lot of wine and ate delicious Sicilian street food that was paired with each bottle.
Our journey around Sicily continued with a night in Ragusa and a visit to some of the neighbouring towns of Scicli, Modica and Noto. A catastrophic earthquake in 1692 flattened most of these towns and they were later rebuilt in the Baroque style, with Noto described as the 'jewel in the crown of Sicilian Baroque.'
The town of Ragusa has a lower town (Ragusa Ibla) and an upper town (Ragusa Superiore) There are 248 steps from the lower to the upper, our charming hotel, Locando Don Serafino, was in the lower town - the view at sunset was worth the climb!
From Ragusa, we moved on to Ortigia, a little island connected to Siracusa. We loved Ortigia. We had been having large, late lunches with wine tastings and street food and had not yet had our fill of pizza or pasta. We remedied that problem in Ortigia!
Our last day included a cable car ride up Mount Etna. We were so high up we could touch the clouds!
Our final two nights were spent in a beautiful hotel on a wine estate on the southern slope of Mount Etna that used the tagline Etna in a glass.
The property faces the sea and the sunrise creates magical lighting everywhere.
Our private, customized tour provided a great way to see so much of Sicily...
off the beaten path.
Contact me if you are curious about a trip to Sicily, or anywhere!
Ciao, Heather
