Savoring Sicily



Me and Mom at the Valley of the Temples, Agrigento

It may be an over-used word, but "WOW"  is now how I describe my recent visit to Sicily.

During trips to Italy over the last 6 years my mom and I never ventured off mainland Italy, I take that back, I was in Capri for about 8 hours in 2009.  On previous trips to Italy and upon each of our returns we began hearing more and more about Sicily.  Maybe it was only because we were now becoming acutely aware of this fascinating island, but it seemed to us, there wasn’t a travel or food-focused magazine we subscribed to that did not dedicate some space to articles about Sicily at one time or another.

My mom was absolutely astounded by Sicily, she says she really didn’t know what to expect and was just “blown-away” by everything and loved it all.  I had a fairly good idea we were going to enjoy our time in Sicily based on the articles and Italy-centric blogs I read and follow, but I never expected to love it as much as I do.

When I saw a price discount offered on the Rick Steves Tour website for his Sicily tour departure dates in February, this intrigued me and I mentioned it to my mom, who is my intrepid travel partner.  I know, February may not be the best time of year to visit Sicily, but, the tour departing on Feb. 28^th (well, it was practically March!), had a big discount and then we could add our Rick Steves tour alum discount on top of that, and we had over $1000 each in savings.  How could we say, “No”?  So we didn’t, and booked the tour.

I know people say the best way to see Sicily is to rent a car and I understand where they are coming from, but I know myself well enough to know that if I rented a car and had to deal with driving in a new environment, finding parking and making sure we got to where we wanted to go, I would not have an enjoyable vacation.  To reduce my stress level, we had “Uncle Rick” do the driving.  However, after being a bus passenger in Sicily I can say, that I could probably handle driving in Sicily, on the autostrada, however driving in the major cities, would be completely off-limits for me, heck, crossing the street in Palermo is challenging enough!

Typically when mom and I have traveled on other Rick Steves tours we like to arrive in the departure city a day or two prior to the tour beginning and this trip was no exception.  We were very glad we spent two nights in Palermo before the start of the tour and one night in Palermo after the tour ended.

This tour is advertised as a ten day tour, but in reality it is eight days, because the first “day” with the group does not start until 4pm and the last “day” ends at breakfast, which we have come to find, really means the tour ends the night before with a farewell dinner.

The weather was hit and miss in late February/early March.  We had some days of intermittent rain with the sun peeking out.  Some days were gloriously sunny.  Some days the temps dipped low (remember now, we’re going on 20+ years in South Carolina, so our idea of chilly temperatures is relative to where we live) and we needed to wear layers, but we came prepared and we took the varying weather in stride.  One benefit we found to traveling at this time of year was the lack of crowds.  In some places that was great (Palermo), in others like Cefalu, there was little to do on a rainy, chilly Sunday (of all days!) in early March, but more on that later.

Our flights from Savannah, Georgia to Palermo were smooth with no glitches.  We flew Delta from Savannah to Atlanta to Rome and AlItalia from Rome to Palermo.  It’s a long travel day and the 2-ish hour layover in Rome did nothing to help our tired bodies.  We poured ourselves into the AlItalia plane seats, had a glass of blood orange juice and one hour later woke up in Palermo!

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

We arrived in Palermo at about 11:30am and were very happy to see the smiling face of Don Saro holding a card with my name on it.  I found Don via Trip Advisor when I was looking for a guided walking tour of Palermo that would focus on the markets.  His company is called Personal Guide Sicily and I think he must be updating his website, because when I looked at it to include a link, the site has a new look and only one page was available for viewing.  For reference, here is his website, but please note, it may not be working properly.  http://www.personalguidesicily.com/

When I browsed his website in January I noticed he not only offered tours but also airport transfers.  Yes, we could have taken a bus from the airport into Palermo and then walked to our hotel, but arranging a car or taxi upon our arrival after a trans-Atlantic flight is our norm.  We find the cost is worth the convenience for us.  Don was a great first Sicilian encounter.  He whisked us from the Palermo airport to our hotel in the center of the city with much care and a lot of commentary, which we enjoyed, but probably would have liked even more had we not been in a travel-induced haze.  Good thing we were going to spend the whole next day with him!

We arrived at the Hotel Ambasciatori Palermo on Via Roma, just a few blocks from the main train station, it really was a very good and central location, and we could easily walk to all the sites we wanted to see from there.  The staff was friendly and the room was clean and larger than we had expected and for €55 per night, the price was definitely right!  Breakfast was included in the room rate and Wi-Fi was free and the signal was strong.  Breakfast was served on the top floor and there is a lovely roof top terrace with a nice view of Palermo and the surroundings.  Here is the hotel website:  http://www.ambasciatorihotelpalermo.com/web/index.php 

Rooftop Terrace View of Palermo

When the front desk clerk said our room was ready, we just about hugged him.  We took the old-timey elevator to the 5^th floor and made our way to the room and just about collapsed on the beds for a nice little nap.

By 7pm we were rested and ready for our first Sicilian aperitivo.  During my pre-trip research I ran across an enoteca that appeared to be not too far from our hotel and thanks to Google maps I had directions in hand and we set off for Cana Enoteca located at Via Allorro, 105.  What a charming place. 

Aperitivo at Cana Enoteca, Palermo

Stepping through the door, we walked into a very warm and welcoming room.  Only one other table was occupied, so we settled into a corner table and the owner/server could not have been nicer.  Between our limited Italian and his limited English we managed to order a wonderfully delicious Grillo white wine and a mixed meat and cheese plate that was more than satisfying. In fact, we enjoyed the wine so much, we each had a second glass.  The cost for this little pre-dinner “meal” was €28 .  Although we did not have a full meal here, the other table was enjoying what looked and smelled like a delectable couscous main dish.  We had wanted to return here on our last night after the tour ended and before our early morning flight, but it was closed for a private party, just another reason for us to return to Palermo!  Here is the enoteca’s website:  http://canaenoteca.it/it/home/

Prior to arriving in Palermo I had made a reservation for our first night dinner at a place called Ferro di Cavallo at Via Venezia, 20.  At least I thought I had made a reservation on the trattoria’s website, but never getting back a confirmation, we still went hoping there would be a table.  When we approached the front door I began to have my doubts, all the outside tables were full and the inside looked to be at full capacity too.  Lucky for us, there was one table open at the back of the restaurant.

Mom and I LOVED this place!  Thanks to a blog article by Judy Witts Francini (the Divina Cucina, http://www.divinacucina-blog.com/ ) I found this truly Sicilian trattoria.  We were greeted with a friendly smile and shown to our table. A paper table cloth was set atop the table which had the menu printed on it.  All very straight forward and very Sicilian.  The noise level was high, but I’m pretty sure we were the only ones not speaking Italian.

Our Italian language skills must be getting better or the staff was just being kind, but we managed to order in Italian and have the correct food brought to our table!  We started with a dish of caponata and a dish of eggplant involtini, yes, both mom and I are big fans of eggplant.  Both were delicious, but we agreed the involtini had the slight lead over the caponata.  Mom had the pasta alla sarde with fennel (pasta with sardines and fennel), it may not sound appealing, but it definitely took the prize between our two pasta dishes, it was wonderful.  I had the pasta with swordfish and eggplant (see, I told you!), which was tasty, but not “knock my socks off/out of this world” delicious.  We had a bottle of water and a liter of the house white wine, which was drinkable and for €4 who could complain.  We ended the meal with one cannolo, 2 espresso and 2 limoncello.  The total cost was €35, a really great deal.



Pasta alla Sarde

A funny thing happened during this meal, which made our arrival in Sicily even more special.  Seated next to us was a lone diner, definitely a regular, by the conversations between him and the staff.  He smiled and spoke to us, but we could really only understand maybe every 4^th or 5^th word.  There was a lot of smiling and head nodding going on between us and him.  Then he said goodbye and got up to leave/pay his bill and then a few minutes later, he came back and said our liter of wine was on him.  What a nice gesture and a great way for us to say “Hello” to Palermo.  We hadn’t been on the ground for even 24 hours yet and were loving Sicily!

Thursday, February 27, 2014

What a day!  We met Don Saro in our hotel lobby at 9:30am for our tour of Palermo and we finished the day at 7pm!  Talk about getting our monies worth!

We did a walking tour of the old city center of Palermo.  We visited several churches, and of course my lack of notes during this trip is now starting to catch up with me as I begin to write this trip report.  Please bear with me because I know I will not remember the name of every church.

Quattro Canti

We started with a walk to the Quattro Canti, or in English, the Four Corners.  This is where Corso Vittorio Emanuele and Via Maqueda meet.  It’s a busy intersection that is surrounded by curvilinear facades which depict the four seasons.  The Baroque buildings were beautiful.  You can read a little more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quattro_Canti

We visited the Church of San Giuseppe dei Teatini very near the Quattro Canti.  This is a Baroque church and although the exterior is fairly plain, the interior and the dome are lovely.  This Wikipedia page give more details:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Giuseppe_dei_Teatini

Upon exiting the Church of Giuseppe dei Teatini we were right across the street from Palermo City Hall.  Don wanted to take us in, but due to a demonstration at the door and a gaggle of Carabinieri with guns and paddy wagons, we decided to simple gaze at the notorious fountain in front of city hall in the Piazza Pretoria.

Fontana Pretoria

This fountain, called Fontana Pretoria, has quite a history.  The fountain is full of nude nymphs, and other aquatic creatures and was originally designed for a Tuscan villa but was brought to Palermo in 1573 in a bid to outshine a fountain that was in the town of Messina.  The fountain’s location not only outside city hall, but across the street from the Church of San Giuseppe dei Teatini proved to be more than many Sicilian church-goers could swallow and it was dubbed the Fountain of Shame.



Alter at La Martorana

The next stop was at the Church of Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio, also known as La Martorana.  The mosaics in this church are spectacular and only the first of many beautiful mosaic adorned churches we would see in Palermo.  The history of this church is interesting.  In 1433 the church became part of the Benedictine order of nuns founded by Eloisa Martorana.  This order of nuns was also known for making marzipan, which they made in the form of various fruits. The convent no longer exists, but frutta di Martorana are still one of Palermo's most famous food items.  To read more about this church click here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martorana 

The next church before we ventured to the Ballaro market was the Church of Gesu.  As we stepped inside Don pointed out the interior columns looked like someone had just swirled whipped cream and the sculpture work truly did look light and creamy, we thought it a great analogy.  To read more about this church check out this Wikipedia page:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Gesu_(Palermo)



The Ballaro was market, was all that we expected an outdoor Palermo market to be, loud, crowded and fun!  One of the benefits of having Don by our side guiding us through the market, was that, this was his local market, so he knew many, if not all (it seemed) of the vendors.  We wound our way through the stalls “oohing and aahing” at all the beautiful produce and fish.  When we came upon a stand selling hot out of the fryer, panelle and croquettas.  Panelle is a flat chickpea fritter that is a tasty Sicilian Street food.  The croquettas were of the potato variety and with a squeeze of lemon over the top of both made a great mid-morning market snack.



Mom tastes sea urchin with Don Saro

As we meandered through the market we came across several men huddle around a table scraping something from a very spikey looking shell.  I was thrilled to see my very first sea urchin.  Don expertly guided us through the way to slurp the briny, red, sea urchin from the spikey shell.  It was like tasting the sea right there in the middle of the Ballaro market.  Mom was reluctant at first to try, so I dove right in and once I tasted it, I knew she would love it.  I think I’m safe to say mom really enjoyed her first taste of sea urchin too!  The food portion of the tour ended with a stop at a local bakery known for their cannoli and boy were they good.  The shell was crisp and the filling creamy, just the way it should be! 

We really did have the weather on our side, because as we got into Don’s car for the drive to Monreale, it started to rain.  We were happy the rain held off all morning for the outdoor part of the tour.

Monreale Cathedral

When we arrived in Monreale, Don dropped us off at the Duomo, and went to park the car. While he did that, mom and I found a bar and popped in for a coffee.  Don joined us shortly and we had a rather nice chat.  He’s a very interesting fellow.  Born and raised in Palermo and then went to live and work in London for 12 years.  Now he’s been back in Palermo for the last 3 years and making a go of the tour business.  I’d say, he’s doing a pretty good job!

We spent some time in the beautiful Cathedral of Monreale.  I really don’t think my words could do justice to how stunning the mosaics are here.  My neck hurt from looking up and I think my chin had “rug-burn” from my jaw dropping in the splendor that surrounds this place.   You can read more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monreale

The rain was starting to get steadier but we still had two more stops on Don’s “grand tour”.  Next up for us was the Shrine of Saint Rosalie on Montepellegrino.  St. Rosalie is the patron saint of Palermo, and as with many saints, she has an interesting story.  It’s believed that she saved Palermo from the black plague.  Her shrine is on a hilltop overlooking Palermo and is built into the side of a rock formation.  It has to be one of the most interesting shrine locations I’ve ever been in.

Shrine of St. Rosalia

As we left Montepellegrino the sun was setting and it was getting wetter outside.  Our last stop was the beachside town of Mondello.  I almost said to Don, “Let’s skip it”, since it was dark and rainy and in the off-season, how much could be really see?  But I didn’t, mostly because we were enjoying his company so much.  I was right, there wasn’t much for us to see in Mondello on a late February evening, Don even stopped to see if a place was open that served a certain kind of sandwich, but they were closed.  So we headed back to the center of Palermo and to our hotel.  Don dropped us off at about 7pm, which gave us just enough time for a glass of wine before our 8:30pm dinner reservation.

We completely enjoyed our day with Don and would highly recommend his services.  He is not limited to tours of Palermo and the surrounding areas, he arranges tours throughout the entire island of Sicily.

I had booked dinner for this night prior to leaving home at a place called L’Ottava Nota, located at Via Butera, 55.  It was about a 15 minute walk for us from the hotel.  Here is their website: http://www.ristoranteottavanota.it/en/

My thinking behind booking here, is that it would be a completely different experience than Ferro di Cavallo from the night before, and it was.  Maybe mom and I are just more “trattoria than ristorante” types.  LOL!

L’Ottava Nota, in my opinion, is definitely striving for the Michelin Star “feel”.  The interior was sleek and modern, we could have been walking into a restaurant in New York City.  The staff was very friendly and welcoming.  The food was good, but maybe I was expecting more, it kind of fell flat for both me and mom, or maybe I just made the wrong selections.

Scrambled egg, porcini & octopus starter

For starters I had the scrambled egg, porcini and octopus and mom had the lobster “tart” with mostardo, broccoli and olives, and mom definitely had the better of the two.  For main dishes I had pasta with sea urchin and broccoli and mom had the red onion risotto with gorgonzola, mom “won” here again.  I ordered the almond and chocolate nougat for dessert and it was creamy but wasn’t satisfying for me.  With two limoncello the total cost was €98.

By the time the end of the night rolled around we were full and tired, which in our case, makes for very good sleeping conditions!

Friday, February 28, 2014

We had the morning and the early part of the afternoon to ourselves today before meeting the other tour group members for the “official” start of our Rick Steves tour.  We planned a visit to the Palazzo dei  Normanni , also known as the Il Palazzo Reale and we were very happy we made the effort to see this complex, since it was not to be included in the group tour.   Here is the link to their website:   http://www.fondazionefedericosecondo.it/

Palatine Chapel

It was about a 20 minute walk from the hotel.   The tourist entrance is on Piazza Indipendenzia.  This complex includes the Palatine Chapel and Royal Apartments.  If you are interested in seeing the apartments, which I highly recommend, make sure you check the opening times.  When we were there, the apartments were closed on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays and the Palatine Chapel is closed on Sundays.  With a little patience I was able to figure out the open hours for both places and Friday morning would be our only “time slot” when we could see both.

We walked up to the ticket booth there were maybe 2 people in front of us, but a school group had just entered as we made our ticket purchase.  We made our way to the entrance of the Palatine Chapel and there was a rather lengthy line of students waiting to see the chapel and we fell in behind them.  The chapel is stunning, to put it mildly.  Again, we saw more mosaics, but when the detailed artwork is this good, we never get tired of looking at it.  The chapel is not large and with all the student groups moving through we did not spend a lot of time, but just enough to enjoy and appreciate what we were seeing.



Enjoying lunch at Osteria dei Vespri

After the Palatine Chapel visit, we made our way up a flight of stairs and were stopped in our tracks with another line of people.  The entry into the Royal Apartments was monitored and there were 2 large student groups in front of us.  We waited about 15 minutes before we gained access, but it was worth the wait.  The first room we visited was the chamber of the Sicilian Parliament.  The reason the Royal Apartments are closed several days a week is because the Sicilian Parliament uses this facility for meetings.  It was very interesting for us to view this chamber, along with the beautiful Royal Apartments.  Here’s a Wikipedia link which tells more about the Palazzo dei Normanni:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palazzo_dei_Normanni  

Prior to leaving the hotel in the morning, I had asked the front desk clerk to make a lunch reservation for us at Osteria dei Vespri, located at Piazza Croce dei Vespri, 6.  This osteria was recommended to me by Judy Francini of Divina Cucina and I knew she would not steer us wrong!  During “high” season this is a fine dining establishment, but in the winter months, they offer more of a rustic menu, still high quality food, but with more limited options.  Here is their website:  http://www.osteriadeivespri.it/?lang=en  

We stepped into a cute and rustic wood-beamed dining room with red and white checked tablecloths and were warmly greeted and seated.   Osteria dei Vespri provided one of our favorite meals of this trip!  We chose from the €20 lunch menu.  For that price we each had an antipasti, pasta, dessert and a quartino of house wine (white or red). 

For starters I had a plate of mixed cured meats with boconcino (fried dough pillows) and mom had the veal tongue.  Yes, mom was slightly more adventurous then I this time!  For our pasta dishes I had the bucattini alla sarde, which was delicious and perfectly cooked.  Mom had the spaghetti with artichokes and sun dried tomatoes and proclaimed in “pasta perfection”.  For dessert mom had a chocolate and pear crostata that was the ideal combination of flavors and I had the apple crostata with vanilla cream, which I dare say, could be the best apple “pie” I’ve ever had!  With 2 coffees to end our lunch the total cost was €44.  We were completely happy and satisfied and would go back to Osteria dei Vespri in a heartbeat.

Soon we realized our leisurely lunch needed to end and we needed to be back at the hotel’s rooftop terrace to meet our soon to be travel-mates.

Back at the hotel we made our way to the roof terrace and met a very nice group of 23 other travelers keen on exploring Sicily.  We met our main guide, Donald (not Don Saro, who we hired for our previous private tour), a Scotsman, who has been living in Italy for 20+ years and been working with Rick Steves for many years.  Our assistant guide, Aldo, is Italian, and was raised on the Amalfi coast, but his dad is Sicilian and now Aldo makes his home just outside Taormina.  So we had a good mix of experience on this tour.

After introductions and tour basics, we were soon off for an orientation walk of the area around the hotel and then to dinner.  Now, I know, mom and I are just a “wee-bit” food focused and we hoped the group meals on the tour would be better than average.  I have to say they ranged from excellent to below average.  I know that on tours such as this every meal won’t be extraordinary, so that’s why I try to do my “homework” before the trip and make the meals during the tour that are “on our own” more memorable.

The first night group dinner was at a restaurant located behind the Teatro Massimo (opera house).  Clearly this place made their money in banquet style events.  While we were there, several large parties celebrating graduations were having meals.  It felt a little chaotic and although the food was nicely presented and fairly tasty and heavy in the seafood category (which is great for us since we love seafood) but it really did remind me and mom of family style banquet food.  We were glad our lunch at Osteria dei Vespri was more the type of meal and place that suits us.

Saturday, March 1, 2014

Cloister at Monreale

Today we would be leaving Palermo, but not before going to Monreale with a local Rick Steves guide.  The guide was Jackie and although mom and I had been to the cathedral in Monreale with Don Saro, it was nice to see it again and get another point of view.  Jackie is extremely well-versed in Sicilian history and had a wealth of information to share.  We still couldn’t get enough of the stunning mosaics.  We also visited the cloister adjacent to the cathedral, which we hadn’t done with Don Saro.  I’m glad we made this visit, the cloister was lovely and when we emerged, the sun was finally shining!

We climbed back onto the tour bus for the ride back down into Palermo where we visited La Martorana church, it was a repeat for us, but Jackie had interesting history to share.  The final church stop for the day was the Cathedral of Palermo.  I have to say, I preferred the exterior of this church to the interior, with one exception.  There is an alter covered in silver, which is rather striking.  Here is more information on the Palermo Cathedral:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palermo_Cathedral  

Palermo Cathedral

We also walked through the Capo market with Jackie.  Maybe it was the time of day we were there, but I wasn’t as enamored with the Capo market as I was with the Ballaro market.  It was nearing lunch time and we ended our morning with local guide Jackie near the Teatro Massimo.  At this point we had some free time before moving onto Cefalu.  We had two choices; we could enter the Teatro Massimo and do a tour or go to lunch.  We chose lunch since we would have one last day in Palermo after the tour ended to see the Teatro Massimo and we didn’t want to feel rushed trying to squeeze in a tour and find lunch somewhere.

For the life of me, I can’t remember the name of the place we went to for lunch, but it was at the recommendation of our guide, Donald.  It was a café/bar type place not far from the Teatro Massimo.  One side had display cases of savory items and the other had sweet pastries & coffee.  Mom and I choose to order 2 of the largest arancini we had ever seen.  We were pretty pleased with ourselves for remembering to place our order and pay first at the cashier and then take our receipt to the man behind the counter who then warmed our arancini, which were quite literally the size of our fists.  They were ok, but not the best we ever tasted.  If you are unfamiliar with what arancini are, they are fried rice balls typically filled with meat sauce and cheese and sometimes peas, but we’ve eaten a raddichio and gorgonzola variety in Rome that was out of this world good (but I’m digressing here!).

Cefalu

After lunch we met back up with the group and boarded the bus for the drive to Cefalu.  Just before arriving in this seaside town, we made a “view”stop, I have to say from afar the town which hugs the sea and La Roca, a huge rock formation, is picture post card perfect.

Our hotel in Cefalu was in the old town area and since the streets there are narrow, the bus would not fit, so off we go with our bags in tow for a 10 minute walk to the hotel.  The old town is charming with the narrow and winding streets, we just wished the Hotel La Giara at Via Veterani, 40 was as charming.  I have to say, this was our least favorite hotel.  I know, we were there in the “off season” but this place just felt dark and slightly neglected to us.  I understand now, that the only guests staying during this time of year were RS tours, and the place closed down on the days when no tours were there, but still, it just felt like maybe it had seen better days.  Here is a link to their website:  http://www.hotel-lagiara.it/  

Shortly after arriving we met the group in the lobby for a brief orientation walk around the town.  Having done my pre-trip research I knew there was an enoteca not far from the hotel which I was interested in checking out.  Lucky for us, the orientation walk ended on the same street where Enoteca Rossorubino was located (Via Carlo Ortolani di Borbonaro, 16).

Alessandro at Enoteca Rossorubino

This is a wine shop that also has tables for aperitivo, how could we not like this place!  I came across it when reading about wine bars in Cefalu on Trip Advisor.  There weren’t many reviews, but the ones there were good and it seemed appealing.  Here’s a link to the Trip Advisor review page:  http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g194726-d3378664-Reviews-Enoteca_Rossorubino-Cefalu_Province_of_Palermo_Sicily.html

After the orientation walk we were joined by 2 other tour members for a couple glasses of wine at Enoteca Rossorubino.  The owner, Alessandro, could not have been more friendly and hospitable.  We each had a glass (that ultimately turned into 2) of wine and Alessandro placed a nice array of apperitivo “nibbles” on the table for us, chips, olives and little pizzas.  As we started to come to the end of our first glass of wine I asked Alessandro if he could recommend one of the restaurants I had on my Cefalu restaurant list (there were 4).  He asked if we liked seafood and when we said yes, he did not hesitate to say Ti Vitti is the place he would go.  He offered to call them for us and make a reservation for later that evening and we took him up on the offer and he called in a reservation for 4 and we ordered another round of wine.

Porchetta, artichoke & porcini tortino

Shortly before 8:30pm we made our way to Ti Vitti located at Via Umberto I, 34.  What a welcoming atmosphere.  It was not crowded, there were maybe 4 other tables (remember, this is the off season) but we were greeted very warmly and shown to a table.  There was a chalkboard menu and the staff helped us decipher the items listed.  Mom and I decided to have exactly the same things, which we don’t do very often.  We both thought the starter of porchetta, artichoke & porcini “tortino” sounded to good to pass up (it was delicious!) and the grilled local fish, which I think was called ayello, was mild and had a lovely flavor and with a squirt of lemon over it, it was lip-smacking good.  With a side of asparagus to share we rounded out a perfect meal.  With a bottle of water and a bottle of wine (we shared with one of our tour-mates) and 2 digestivos, our cost was €73.  Here is the website for Ti Vitti, and we think it is definitely a good choice for seafood lovers:  http://www.ristorantetivitti.com/EN/DoveSiamo.aspx  

Sunday, March 2, 2014

As you may have guessed from our opinion of the Hotel La Giara, Cefalu was not faring well in our “favorite place” category.  Waking up to torrents of rain was not helping the situation any.  This hotel did not have an on-site breakfast room, but we could have the tour included breakfast at the café/bar in the Piazza del Duomo in the center of town.  The rain had momentarily stopped as we made our way to breakfast. 

The breakfast on offer was a typical spread we had at other places, pastry, cheeses, ham, yogurt and coffee, it wasn’t spectacular and it wasn’t terrible.  But the waitress who handle the room was a pro, she was friendly and working her “tail off”.  We lingered at breakfast because there wasn’t much for us to do on this soggy day.

Cefalu Cathedral

When we finished with breakfast we meandered over to the cathedral, which was about 20 paces away.  It was mildly interesting with nice mosaics, but the construction materials piled up inside the church kind of took away some of the charm.  We were the only ones inside, and assumed from the looks of things, that there must be some restoration work being done.  Here is more about the cathedral:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cefal%C3%B9_Cathedral  

Upon exiting the cathedral we took a leisurely stroll around town and peered into shop windows.  Being a Sunday, many places were closed.  Several of the other tour members decided to take a walk up to the top of La Roca for the view.   Mom encouraged me to join them, but I really didn’t want to hoof-it up there, even for a great view, since dark clouds were rolling in and it looked like more rain was looming.  Plus I did not relish the thought of being cold & wet on top of La Roca, so mom and I walked back to the Piazza del Duomo, found  a dry spot at the café were we had breakfast and ordered hot chocolate from our friendly waitress from breakfast.  This actually turned out to be a pretty good choice, because it was carnevale time in Italy and we were treated to a great impromptu parade of sorts, of families with their children dressed in costumes. Some of those little ones were too cute; one lady bug costume really won our hearts!

Mom and I in Cefalu

We wandered back to the hotel for a little bit and later in the afternoon found a wine bar to have a glass of wine. Our favorite Enoteca Rossorubino was not yet open, but the place we found had nice wine and really great tuna and tomato brushcetta, and we were out of the rain!

In the early evening we were to meet the group for a cooking lesson and dinner at Al Porticciolo on Via Ortolani di Bordonaro, 66.  Here is the restaurant’s website:  http://www.alporticcioloristorante.com/  

We pretty much had the restaurant to ourselves when we arrived and they had a little apperitivo set up for us.  The chef came out to instruct us on how to prepare the meal we would be eating.  There was a pasta alla norma dish (pasta with tomato and eggplant), pork involtini and cassata (cake) for dessert.  Let’s just say, I’m sure it is difficult to wrangle a group of 20+ people for a cooking class in the middle of a restaurant dining room but it wasn’t the most organized cooking lesson I’ve ever taken. To be honest, this was our least favorite group meal.

When all the food was prepared by us, the culinary staff returned to the kitchen to cook everything.  I hate to say this, but the tomato sauce tasted as if it came from a can, not the homemade that we were shown as being made (I get it, for that many people maybe they needed help making things “go all the way around”), the pork involtini was terribly undercooked and the cassata was cloyingly sweet.  The meal was over by about 8pm and mom and I were ready for another glass of wine and fortunately for us Enoteca Rossorubino was just down the street, so we said our “good nights” to the group and beat a straight line to see our new found friend Alessandro.  He welcomed us back with open arms and poured a “new to us” white wine, we sat back, and enjoyed perusing the stocked wine shelves and were happy to find a Sicilian wine we wanted to purchase to bring back home.   After a couple of glasses of wine we were ready to get a good night of sleep to be bright eyed and bushy tailed for our adventure to Mt. Etna and a winery tour the next day.

Monday, March 3, 2014

They left me in charge of the hotel in Cefalu!

Today we were ready to get the hell out of leave the Hotel La Giara and make our way to Mt. Etna.  Before arriving at the top of this volcano we drove on a well maintained and practically deserted autostrada to the Catania airport.  Not because there was a flight to catch, but because one tour member was not feeling well and she requested to go straight to the hotel in Taormina.  Our bus took this detour so that she and the assistant guide could take a taxi to Taormina and check into the hotel while the rest of us continued on with the day’s itinerary.  My suspicion, based on observations, is  she was more hung-over than “sick”, but this is another “compromise” of a group tour, although I have to say in all the other 7 Rick Steves tours I’ve taken, something like this never happened, there is a first time for everything though!

Mt. Etna

This detour put us slightly behind schedule by almost one hour and unfortunately in that hour the clouds had moved in at the top of Mt. Etna.  Did we get to see this marvelous site?  Yes, of course, but I can’t help think if we had been there just a little bit earlier it would have been slightly less cloud covered.  It was fascinating to be on the bus as we wound our way around the twisting road to the top of Mt. Etna and see houses that had been buried in lava, with just a roof or chimney peeking out of the earth.  At the top, we carefully disembarked the bus and had time for a quick bite to eat (another colossal arancini) and for those of us brave enough a walk around a dormant crater.  It was pretty slippery up there with lots of snow and ice, so maneuvering up to the rim of the crater was not for the faint of heart.

The next activity on the daily itinerary was one that mom and I were really excited about, a visit to a winery and a wine tasting with a light lunch.   We had no idea of the name of the winery, it wasn’t listed in the tour details, so I did no prior research and didn’t know what to expect.  We were very pleasantly surprised when we stepped off the bus and into the Benanti Winery in Viagrande, near Catania.  Here is the winery website:  http://www.vinicolabenanti.it/en/home/

Benanti Winery Vineyard

This winery is a Benanti family operation, originally begun by the family patriarch and now managed by his twin sons (who are pretty easy on the eyes if I say so myself).  On a covered patio area next to the tasting room and at the base of the vineyard, we were welcomed with a spread of juices (love the fresh blood orange juice!) and an array of snacks including all kinds of delicious hummus and eggplant bruschetta.  One of the twins spent time telling us about the history of the winery and then we were off tramping up a small hill to the vineyard.  It was really a lovely setting and the sun was shining and there was a slight breeze, it felt like we were in a dream.  Some of the vines at this particular vineyard (the family has several vineyards in the area) were more than 100 years old.  It was all really interesting.

Soon enough it was time to leave the vineyard and head to the tasting room.  The room was set up with several round tables that would seat about 8 people each.  On the tables were a delicious selection of meats, cheeses, bread, olives, and raw vegetables, this was looking to be like the kind of “lunch” mom and I like.  Over the next hour or so, we tasted 3 Benanti wines, 1 white and 2 reds.  The patriarch of the family was also in attendance and he came in and spoke eloquently and lovingly about his passion for starting this winery. 

Usually mom and I tend to prefer white wines, but we really fell for the last red we tasted and once the tasting was finished we quickly decided to purchase 2 bottles of our favorite red.   On a side note, later that evening when I posted some photos of the winery and tasting on Instagram, a sommelier friend in Rome told me this winery is very well respected for producing excellent Etna wines and she also indicated the father was quite the charmer, I had to whole-heartedly agree with her about this!  Mom and I felt this winery visit and tasting was one of our favorite tour moments.

Our  group poured ourselves back onto the bus for the ride to Taormina where we would be staying at the Hotel Continental, located at Via Dionisio I,  2/A.  Here is the hotel website:  http://www.continentaltaormina.com/en/



Lava flowing from Mt.Etna

The location was terrific, just a short walk out the back of the hotel and we were on the main street of Taormina, but I’ve got to say, when first entering the hotel, it felt like we were transported back to the 1970’s.  Other than feeling like the place needed a serious “make-over” it was fine, and the best feature was a large terrace off the lobby that had stunning views of Mt. Etna.  As we arrived just before nightfall, we stood on this terrace and could see lava flows up on Mt. Etna.  Wow!  What a site!

Shortly after arriving, our guide gave us a quick orientation walk of the town and pointed out a few restaurants.  Being a Monday, several were closed, but he had a business card of a place which the Benanti Winery brothers recommended and said would definitely be open on Monday.  When the group was “set free” after the short walk I approached our guide and asked for the name and location of the Benanti recommended restaurant.  I was thinking, if a winery is recommending a place, how bad would it really be, right?  Don told us the name and pointed us in the general direction.  After walking around where we were directed I was just about to give up, we could not find this place, when we turn around and there is Don our guide.  He didn’t say it, but I think he realized he gave us the wrong direction; we should have been at the town gate on the opposite end of the main street, not the one we were at.

After we righted our direction, it still took a little sleuth work to find Osteria Rosso diVino at Vico Spuches, 8 but it was really worth our hard work finding this place!  Here is their website:  http://www.osteriarossodivino.com/

Chickpea & Mussel Soup

Gnocchi with shrimp in saffron sauce

We knew the moment we walked up to the front door we were going to like this place.  The restaurant is run by two lovely young sisters, who really know their food & wine.  Their English is excellent, and they still indulged us by putting up with my ordering in Italian.  This place offers mainly seafood, and it is prepared deliciously.  For starters mom had the chickpea & mussels soup and I had the gnocchi with shrimp in saffron sauce.  Both dishes were full of flavor and they tasted like comfort in a bowl.

Saberfish

For our main dishes we both selected the same thing, on the chalkboard menu it said spatola.  This was explained to us as a local fish, we later found out it was called saberfish in English.  The presentation was stunning.  The fish was served coiled with a raisin and pinoli nut stuffing and the fish’s shiny silver skin exposed.   Our server selected an excellent Etna white wine to go with the meal.  We ended this delectable meal with 2 espressos and 2 amaros.  We’ve had amaro before, but this (and I failed to get the name) had a wonderfully orange/herby taste.  It was a perfect ending.  This was our most expensive meal in Sicily at €112, but it was worth every Euro.

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

As far as tour activity this day was pretty low-key.  Our group met a local guide in the morning for a walking tour of the center of Taormina.  The center of town is not an enormous place, and we meandered down the main street while the guide, whose name I have forgotten, but she was another gem, gave us a talk on the history of the town.  There are some really lovely views and a few interesting churches.  The main purpose of this tour though was the visit to the Ancient Greek Theater. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_theatre_of_Taormina )

Greek Theater in Taormina

This theater is another stunning Sicilian site.  The fact this structure is as well preserved as it is, is incredible, but then when you factor in the view from this site, it’s even more dazzling.  I think we were fortunate to see it when we did, because a few weeks later, the stage for a concert series was to be installed, and although the view would still be there, the ability to scramble all around the theater would be limited.

By about noon our group tour ended and we had the rest of the day on our own until a group pizza making session and dinner at a local restaurant.  It was at this point mom and I made a bee-line for some of the specialty food shops we had seen and made a few purchases, chocolate from Modica, blood orange jam, and a few other Sicilian items we aren’t able to easily find at home.

Granita!

One thing I really wanted to have in Sicily was granita.  Now, I know this is usually a frosty delight consumed in the height of summer when temperatures soar in Sicily, but I love this type of stuff (I’m a huge fan of the granita di caffe con panna at Tazza d’Oro in Rome) and I really wanted to try some while in Sicily.  I managed to ferret out a place called Bar Bam, which reportedly, is supposed to have some of the best granita around.  After the Greek theater, and a bit of shopping, mom and moseyed over to Bar Bam and sat down for cups of almond and coffee granite.  I loved it!  The coffee was good, but the almond was “out of this world good” and so creamy and of course the whipped cream on top was “to die for”.  The only way this could have been better is if the sun was shining and the temperature was 30 degrees hotter!

After our frosty little snack mom and I continued with a little bit of “retail therapy” and I found a nice tablecloth and matching napkins, which made a great souvenir and didn’t take up much space in my suitcase.

Aperitivo Taormina Style

When aperitivo time rolled around we left the hotel in search of a café/bar.  We found the perfect place right outside one of the town gates on the corner of Corso Umberto and Viale Arcageta, just across the street from the post office.  We weren’t expecting much, but the white wine here was very drinkable and they were generous with their pours, we’ll have 2 thank you!

Another thing we were not expecting was the carnevale parade we unknowingly had a “front and center” seat for.  The town gate that was a few feet away was the ending point of the carnevale parade and all the floats and costumed kids (and some adults) exited through the gate and continued to parade right by us.  We had front row seats for the best passeggiata we had ever seen!

Later that evening we met up with our group for a pizza making lesson at Villa Zuccaro, not far from our hotel.  The young pizzaiolo, did a nice job of demonstrating his pizza making prowess and we ultimately got to taste 4, or maybe it was 5 different types of pizza.  They were good, but not the best we’d ever had (yes, I’m looking at you Gabrielle Bonci of Pizzarium fame in Rome!)

Mom and I enjoyed our time in Taormina and would not hesitate to return to explore more of the area.  Next we would be moving onto Siracusa, to the island Ortigia, and one of our favorite days of the trip!

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Catania Cathedral

We left Taormina and headed towards Catania where we visited the museum of the 1943 landings in Sicily.  Mom and I found this museum mildly interesting since it was presented from the Italian point of view, but we weren’t particularly fascinated by this museum.  On the tour itinerary this was to be the only stop in Catania but fortunately we were running slightly ahead of schedule and at the suggestions of Aldo, our assistant guide we found enough time to go into the center of Catania.  We had just enough time to get a “whiff” of the fish market and a very quick visit to the cathedral.  The Piazza del Duomo was lovely and the cathedral itself, was quite nice inside. Before we knew it, we were headed back to the bus for the ride to our lunch destination.

We were having lunch at an artichoke farm, not far outside Catania, owned by a baronessa.  The baronessa was delightful.  The farm is rustic and the welcome she gave us could not have been friendlier.  As we disembarked the bus we were directed around the barn to an area that had been set up with a table full of pre-lunch snacks.  Believe me when I say, this spread could have easily served as our lunch.  There were at least 3 different types of rustic tortes, some vegetable, and some cheese. There were bowls of olives, cheese cubes and raw vegetables and of course to wash it all down, there was wine that was made at the farm, there must have been vineyards nearby too!

Pumpkin risotto and lemon fettuccini

Mixed grill

We were then escorted into another area of the barn where round tables of 8 were set up for our lunch.  The pasta course consisted of two dishes, a lemon fettuccini and a pumpkin and speck risotto.  I honestly cannot say which I liked better, they were both some of the most delicious pasta I had ever tasted.  Even mom commented at how perfectly cooked the risotto was, which is not always easy to do.  The next course was a huge platter filled with veal meatballs, sausage, rosemary roasted potatoes and artichokes.  It was all so tasty, but my two favorites were the veal meatballs and the artichokes.  Those artichokes were so tender and full of flavor, I still dream about them!  Dessert, or what we thought was dessert, was the reddest, freshest strawberries I had ever seen.

orange marmalade crostata

Just when mom and I thought we could not eat another bite, the baronessa announced coffee and something sweet would be served back around the barn where we had started with the pre-lunch “snacks”. Oh My! Now on the table was not only delicious cups of espresso, but the most scrumptious orange marmalade crostata I had ever eaten.  At first mom and I declined the offer, but another tour member, said it was really just too good to pass up and he was right.  To feel a little less guilty, mom and I shared one piece between the two of us.

What a way to spend the afternoon!  Actually, I think it was a perfect way to spend an afternoon in Sicily!  We were basking in food coma and enjoyed the view of the farm and surrounding area.  Although we have seen artichoke plenty of times in Italian markets, this was the first time seeing them in fields being grown.  Row after row of beautiful green plants with exquisite purple-y artichokes…maybe Sicily truly is heaven!

The baronessa’s farm was not too far from Siracusa and in a short time we were arriving at what would be our favorite hotel of the trip.  We stayed at the Domus Mariae Hotel on the island of Ortigia in the city of Siracusa at Via Vittorio Veneto, 76.  This hotel happens to be run by the Urseline order of nuns, and it was common to see the sisters serving in the breakfast room or at the front desk.  Here is the hotel website:   http://www.domusmariaebenessere.com/en/

Our room was spacious (with a capital S), the twin beds were huge, and the bathroom immaculately clean.  For us, it was just the most comfortable 2 nights of our trip.

Domus Mariae Hotel in Ortigia

As is usually the case when we arrive in a new city on the tour, our guide gave us an orientation walk and a preview of the next day’s activities.  Originally the tour was to visit the Neapolis Archaeological Park, but the park was closed.  It wasn’t just closed for one day, I believe it was due to some type of renovation or restoration work going on and would be closed for a long length of time.

The alternative was to visit the catacombs.  We have nothing against catacombs and we have seen them in other cities but sometimes climbing up and down stairs is difficult for mom and I thought we were ready for some real time on our own.  So, when our guide finished the orientation tour, I let him know we would not be joining the group the next morning to visit the catacombs, but would meet them at 6pm for the puppet theater.  With that bit of business taken care of, mom and I high-tailed it to a wine bar we had seen during our walk.

We walked in Taverna Giudecca at Via della Giudecca, 7 to another warm welcome.  We grab a table and saw some other of our tour-mates were there too and gave them a little wave “hello”.  The owner came over to take our order and (again) with my limited Italian we communicated to him we would like 2 glasses of a dry white wine.  He quickly poured us a taste which we liked and we were off to great start.  Soon he started bringing over plates of snacks, since after all, it was aperitivo time!  Since we had such a large lunch mom and I had decided before sitting down, that we would just enjoy a few glasses of wine and some nibbles, but this man just kept bringing us more and more delicious food!  When he realized we tend to enjoy with “gusto”, he brought out 2 jars of what I call a savory tomato jam.  Each jam was a bit different and he gave us a little taste of each, as our eyes rolled back into our heads with pure delight, I asked if he sold these. Thank God he said yes.  So we continue on with our aperitivo “on steroids” evening and have a couple more glasses of wine before buying 2 jars of the savory tomato jam and shuffling off back to the hotel to fall into the most luxurious beds we’ve slept in since leaving home.

 

Thursday, March 6, 2014

I think I can safety speak for mom when I say this was her (and mine too!) favorite day of the trip.  Since we were not doing the group activity in the morning we slept-in a little bit and got to the hotel breakfast room after our group had left.  This had its advantages and disadvantages.  The advantage was the room was not packed with a bunch of people trying to eat quickly and leave.  The disadvantage was the buffet was really “picked-over”.  We managed to have a nice breakfast but I will warn you, if you like cappuccino with your breakfast you may not want to have it here. What we got was more a cup of hot milk, then coffee, but that was a minor inconvenience.

Ortigia Market

After breakfast we went for a little exploration and found ourselves at the market in Ortigia.  The first stall we came across had the most beautiful display of cheeses we’ve seen.  There was scamorza (smoked cheese) shaped like little pigs.  It may sound hokey, but they were too cute and so we purchased one and the friendly vendor was nice enough to kryo-vac it for easy travel.  Not two feet away was another cheese vendor, I bet you can see where this is going.  Here we found a pecorino with chili peppers, yup, that went into our bag too.  The displays of prepared foods, sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil, caponata, and vegetable salads, all looked so tempting.  If we only had more time and were staying in an apartment, I could only imagine the meals mom could “whip up” here!  It was in this market where we finally saw saberfish in its pre-cooked form.  It truly does look like a saber.

The market was located in what I would describe as the more modern part of Ortigia and we took our time ogling the products on offer and then ambled up what seemed to be a main street filled with shops until we got to the older part of town with its tangle of narrow winding streets.

Mom happy in Ortigia

We spent time peeking in windows and wandered over to an art shop we had spied the night before.  This shop sold pictures painted on papyrus paper. I’m sure most were replicas, but they also had framed original prints hanging on the wall. My intention was to buy a small-ish replica. There was quite a large selection and I was having trouble deciding on which one I wanted, when I kept looking up at one particular framed picture that caught my eye.

Mom agreed it was lovely, so I asked the shopkeeper the price for the picture unframed.  She was such a nice lady and took the time to take the frame down and take the picture out.  I initially thought maybe there were other copies in the back and the one on the wall could stay, but no, I go and pick an original.  The shopkeeper even gave me a discount!  I purchased a few other things and we happily headed back to the hotel to drop the purchases back in our room.

While back at the hotel, we asked the front desk receptionist to make a dinner reservation for us at Le Vin de L'assassin Bistrot.  This place was a recommendation from our tour guide.  He had been here a few weeks before and said it was owned by 2 Sicilian brothers who had lived and trained in France and came home to Siracusa and opened this bistrot.  They do a French twist on Sicilian food and it sounded like a place mom and I would enjoy!

We spent our afternoon visiting the Cathedral in Ortigia, which we loved.  The exterior of this church is lovely; I think I would never tire of looking at it.  We also stopped into the church of Santa Lucia, on the same piazza as the cathedral, to see a Caravaggio painting.

 It was coming up to lunch time but mom and I weren’t starving, so we walked around the cathedral to the Piazza Minerva and had a seat outside at Antico Caffe Minerva.  Hard to believe, but we had never had a cafe affogato, which is usually a scoop of vanilla gelato topped with a shot of hot espresso.  When we ordered the server asked what kind of gelato we would like and given the choice, we selected chocolate.  The next thing we knew, 2 huge “sundae” glasses filled with chocolate gelato, espresso and whipped cream were placed in front of each of us!  Oh My!  I was in heaven.  Mom, who isn’t as big a fan of sweets as I am, wasn’t as thrilled, but did concede it was enormous!  Since we had no place special to be, after we finished our lunch time “treat” mom ordered a coffee….yes, “I’ll have a coffee after my coffee” became our joke. 

Our first affogato

There was a bit of miscommunication and instead of just bringing the one coffee mom ordered the bar man brought over 2, one for mom and one for me.  No worries, it was the best cafe americano I had in a long time.  We chalked it up to when the server (who spoke English and understood our order) told the barman to make the coffee, he (the barman) seeing 2 of us sitting there, assumed we each wanted a cup. Thinking about it made sense to us, why would 2 people sitting together not each have something, right?  At least that’s the story we are sticking to.

After our very caffeinated lunch we took another stroll around Ortigia and promptly got lost.  Well, it was really more disoriented than lost.  How lost can you get on an island, when we hit water, just turn right or left and eventually we’d come across our hotel!  But, since we “zigged” instead of “zagged” we stumbled into a wonderful ceramics shop that we never would have found otherwise.

The name of the shop is DoLu and here is the website:  http://www.doluceramiche.biz/  The woman who is the artist was incredibly sweet.  Mom and I had just stopped in front of her small shop window to admire the ceramics on display, we weren’t planning on going in, but when the woman saw us outside she opened the door and invited us in.  The front showroom was small and narrow and her workshop was behind it.  This really was an artisanal operation.  Her designs were absolutely lovely, much different than the typical ceramic shops we had been seeing up until then.

Mom and I browsed a bit and when mom laid her eyes on a stunning coffee serving set it was love at first sight.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen mom make a purchase decision for something like this so quickly.  I continued to look around and glad I did, because I spied a limoncello serving set, 6 little cups and a tray.  I thought, “How perfect is that”.  So we asked about shipping and before we could blink an eye, the shop owner/designer/artist was on the phone to the shipping company asking how much it would be.  At €60  to ship both back home, we didn’t hesitate, we purchased the coffee serving set for mom and the limoncello serving set for me and had them shipped home since we didn’t want to lug them back to Palermo and then home in our carry-on bags.

Puppet Theater in Ortigia

Just before 6pm we met up with our group to see a puppet theater performance.  We enjoyed it more than I thought we would.  The premise of the story (it was in Italian) was the age-old “damsel in distress”.  It was really quite fun to watch and the puppeteers did an excellent job.  Since our group was the only audience for this performance we got to have a question and answer session with the puppeteers which was interesting.  This particular puppet theater is a family run business.

When we finished the puppet performance it was around 7pm, and our dinner reservation was for 9pm.  This would be the perfect opportunity to have aperitivo at a place I had seen during our walk around town, call A'Putiab located at Via Roma, 8. What originally drew my attention to this place was the funky interior, all big chunky wooden tables with mismatched chairs and big, home-sewn looking cushions.

Aperitivo in Ortigia

 

It felt like a family run establishment the moment we walked in .  Some tables were having just glasses of wine, others were having meals and again, we were greeted with a warm and friendly. "Buona Sera".  They must have a lot of French speaking customers here, because we found ourselves with a French language menu, we had to giggle, hey, we can figure out wine in any language!  I was thrilled to see a Benanti Winery white wine on the list, one we did not have at the tasting earlier in the week.  We thought it was a "sign" and odered 2 glasses and it was delicious.  We also ordered the small meat and cheese plate and for €4, it was one of the best deals around.  When we decide to order a second glass of wine each, the proprietress placed the whole bottle on our table, hey, who are we to complain!  The nice thing was that instead of charging us by the glass, she charged us for the whole bottle and at €14 it was another good deal in our opinion.

Another great Sicilian white wine!

Shortly before 9pm we paid the bill at A'Putia and made our way to Le Vin De L'assassin Bistrot at Via Roma, 115.  The place was packed!  Usually a good sign in our book.  I had to laugh because there were 2 large tables (parties of 6) at the front of the restaurant filled with our fellow tour-mates.  I guess they started to listen to our guide's recommendations.  They waved hello to us as we walked by and made a comment about mom and I keeping the same meal hours as Italians...hey, we say, "When in Rome", right? 

One of the brothers/owners greeted and seated us and his English was perfect.  Interestingly, we were seated next to French couple, hmmmm…we really had a French thing going on in Ortigia. (Ha-Ha).   This was another terrific meal.  Mom and I shared our starters of the eggplant and pepper dish and the spring rolls stuffed with goat cheese and herbs.  Both were good, but the spring rolls with goat cheese was the clear “winning” dish.  We both had the same main dish since the owner recommended this and it was scallops with prosciutto and a side dish of basil rice.  What a great combination, and the scallops were cooked to perfection.  We had a Donna Fugata white wine the owner selected for us and it was a great match for the scallops.  We ended the meal with two espressos and two amaro.  All this for €74.

Scallop with prosciutto

We were sad to be leaving Ortigia, but happy we had such a great time in this lovely city.  I know there is more to Siracusa then just the island of Ortigia, but this was the ideal way for mom and I to spend this day, it was definitely our kind of travel day.

Friday, March 7, 2014

If my memory serves me correct, this day seemed to be the one we spent the most time on the bus, but even saying that, it wasn’t more than maybe 3 hours or so.  We left Siracusa and headed in-land to the town of Caltagirone (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caltagirone ).

Caltagirone is known for ceramics production and our first stop was at a ceramics workshop to take a tour and see how ceramics are made.  It was interesting to watch how the process works, going from a block of clay to a painted and finished plate or bowl.  The ceramics workshop, although not huge, was much larger than the studio mom and I stumbled across in Ortigia and although all the products on display in Caltragirone where nice, we were very happy we made our ceramics purchases prior to this stop.

We had some free time in this town and got to see the stairway that is decorated with lovely ceramic tiles.  We also popped into a few shops to browse as we slowly made our way back to the bus at the bottom of town.  Our next stop was at the Villa Romana del Casale, here is the site’s website:  http://www.villaromanadelcasale.it/en/

Mosaic at Villa Romana del Casale

Astonishing is the word that comes to my mind when describing the mosaics at this villa.  I was not expecting the villa complex to be so extensive and I could hardly wrap my brain around how well preserved many of the mosaics were.  Mom and I have been fortunate to see many places with mosaics but the sheer volume and excellent condition of these were incredible.

When we were done viewing the mosaics at the Villa Romana del Casale, we hopped back on the bus for the ride to Agrigento.  We arrived at the Colleverde Park Hotel just before sunset and were escorted by the hotel manager out to the hotel terrace which had a sweeping view of the Valley of the Temples.  It was a little taste of what we would be seeing the next day.  Here is the hotel website:  http://www.colleverdehotel.it/ 

Shortly after settling into our room, mom and I wandered down to the lobby bar for a glass of wine.  Had the temperature been a little warmer, the outdoor terrace would have been the perfect spot, but the lobby area was pleasant and we were ready for a little vino.  As we sat enjoying our wine we were joined by other tour members and then we were off to a group dinner at Trattoria Caico located at Via Nettuno, 35 in Agrigento.

I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed this meal.  It was definitely seafood-focused and the portions were abundant.  There was a lot of happy conversation going on and mom and were introduced to a new (to us) dessert wine called passito.  We will certainly seek out this in future travels.  After dinner the group piled into two minivans and were whisked back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep before exploring temples the next day.

Saturday, March 8, 2014

This was our last full day with the tour group and it was another jaw-dropping day.  I don’t think I have ever seen anything like the Valley of the Temples.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agrigento

Valley of the Temples in Agrigento

I am running out of words to describe what I have seen in Sicily.  Are “stunning, amazing, and incredible” good enough to use?  I’m not sure, but that is how I felt.  The temples are (in my less than well-informed opinion) unbelievably well preserved.  It probably helped that we had a lovely sunny day and very few other visitors during the time we were there.  The local guide, Michele, was a fount of information and passionate about what he spoke on.

Me and the Sicilia Cart Cinquecento!

We spent time wandering about and before we knew it, the time had come to move on.  We took a lunch break at a local truck stop and had a very tasty pasta lunch, but the big treat at this stop was the vintage Fiat CinqueCento painted to look like a Sicilian cart.  What a great photo op for me, who is obsessed with those cute little Fiat CinqueCentos!

Our next stop was at Segesta to see another well preserved temple and another Greek theater with a beautiful view.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segesta


Temple at Segesta

 

Me and Mom at the Theater in Segesta

As the sun began to set we made our way back to Palermo and the Hotel Ambasciatori.  Just when I thought we couldn’t get a bigger room, we now had a room with a bedroom area, a foyer area and the largest bathroom I have ever had in Europe.

Our farewell dinner was scheduled to be at the hotel.  They had recently gotten permits to serve as a full restaurant, not just a breakfast room, so our dinner would be in the rooftop terrace/breakfast room.  Mom and I wandered up to the roof about 30 minutes before dinner and sat down for a glass of wine as other group members began to wander in.

The conversations were flowing around all the tables, and I wish I could say this was one of the best meals of the trip, but it was not very good at all.  We disliked it so much, neither mom nor I can even remember what the menu was.  We did not let this get us down, since we had many great memories of this trip and met some wonderful people.  After saying our goodbyes, since many tour members had very early flights the next day, we made our way down to our room to get some shut-eye. We were looking forward to our last day in Palermo, which would be in our “style”.

 

Sunday, March 9, 2014

We had only one thing on our agenda today, and that was to visit and tour the Teatro Massimo.  Here is the opera house’s website:  http://www.teatromassimo.it/index_en.php

Teatro Massimo

The Teatro Massimo is the opera house in Palermo and it is the third largest opera house in Europe.  They offer tours in English and after a little sleep-in mom and I took the short walk there from the hotel.  On a Sunday morning, the streets were blissfully quiet in Palermo and if my memory is correct, part of Via Roma was closed to vehicular traffic.

Presidential Box

When we entered the opera house we inquired about purchasing tickets.  The young women that helped us, was a cute as a button and her English was excellent.  She began to guide us toward the ticket window, when she stopped us and said to mom, “I’m sorry to have to ask you this, but would you tell me your age?”  Mom did and when we arrived at the ticket window the woman we were with told the ticket seller that mom would pay the reduced rate, mom’s first senior citizen discount in Europe!

We had about a 10 minute wait before the tour started and we were joined by a French speaking couple and two Asian gentlemen.  We were happy to see the same young women who helped us with the tickets would be the tour guide.

It is not a long tour, maybe 30 minutes, give or take, but it was nice to be able to stand in the orchestra section of the theater and see the stage and the seating areas.  Next we moved upstairs and got to see the theater from the presidential box.  Hearing the history of the theater and seeing some of the original chandeliers was a great way to spend the morning.

Cool Refreshments at Touring Cafe

Upon leaving the Teatro Massimo we realized the temperatures were warming up!  We meandered down the traffic-free street for a bit, and realized we were thirsty just as we came upon the Touring Café at Via Roma, 252.  I had read about this place being notorious for having arancini the size of your head, ok, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but they were at least the size of my fist.  We weren’t particularly hungry, but we did want something to drink.

At this point in the trip I was coming down with a cold (which followed me home and lasted 10 days) so, the fresh squeezed orange juice at the Touring Café was calling my name and mom had an iced cappuccino. Both drinks cooled us off and were refreshing.

Prior to leaving the hotel in the morning I had asked the front desk receptionist to make a lunch reservation for us.  Being a Sunday, most of the restaurants I had on my list were closed, so I flipped open the Lonely Planet guide book we had and went on pure faith by picking Trattoria Primavera.

This was a great decision.  Trattoria Primavera is located at Piazza Bologni, 4, which is just off the Corso Vittorio Emanuele.  We got there right at our 1pm reservation time and received a warm greeting.  The staff was going to seat us inside, but the sun was shining and they had several tables outside under umbrellas, so we asked if we could sit outside.  Without missing a beat, the young man picked up a set table from inside the restaurant and walked it outside and placed it in a perfect shady spot under the umbrella.

Sunday lunch is definitely a big deal.  As we sat down, the tables inside and out began to fill up, some with parties of 2 or 4 but many with parties of 6 or more, it seemed to us, this was family meal day!

Caponata at Trattoria Primavera

As mom and I sat there, a young couple with their toddler sat at the opposite end of the outside area.  The young man looked so familiar to me, and then it hit me, it was one of the Benanti brothers from the winery tour!  And within a few minutes, a distinguished older gentleman walks by and mom says to me, “Why does he look so familiar to me, who would I know in Palermo?”  I said, “Well, I think it is Mr. Benanti because it sure looks like his son at that table over there”.  We didn’t disturb their meal, but we each thought….hmmmm, this restaurant shouldn’t too bad, if the winery family is going here, and we were right with that assumption!

We had a very leisurely lunch, the sunshiny day, was the perfect backdrop for such an “event”.  For our starter we had a dish of caponata, I really enjoyed this version, mom thought it was just a little on the sweet side for her.  For main dishes mom had the grilled swordfish and I had the Saberfish involtini.  Finally, for once, I had the “winning” dish of the meal.  Mom’s swordfish was grilled to perfect and beautifully moist and tender but the Saberfish involtini was so flavorful, I didn’t want the meal to end, it was so good.  We had 2 side dishes of grilled vegetables and a tomato and olive salad.  The side dishes were ok, but the fish dishes were the stars of the meal.  With a bottle of water, a half-liter of house white wine and 2 amaro for our disgesitvo we had  very delicious lunch for €53.

Saberfish Involtini

We sauntered back to the hotel to start the packing process.  We were smart this trip and brought with us 2 folding duffle bags, because we knew we would want to buy wine while in Sicily.  Yes, we have purchased suitcases on other trips, because we do tend to like bringing back wine and I was not going to have to go running around Palermo looking for another suitcase.  Let me just say you should see the collection of sad little suitcases we have from around the world!

Once our bags were packed and ready for our very early morning departure, we decided we needed one or two last glasses of wine in Palermo.  Our intention was to go back to Cana Enoteca, but when we got there it was closed for a special function (they are usually open on Sunday evenings), so we walked back over to the Touring Café since they were open and had a couple glasses of wine before calling it an early night.

Monday, March 10, 2014

We were in the lobby and the driver we arranged through Don Saro was there right on time at 4:30am to whisk us to the Palermo airport.  Our Alitalia flight was scheduled to depart at 6:30am and when I saw the huge line at the check-in desk I was glad we arrived early.  Even better, I spied the much shorter line for Sky Priority members and we got in that line with only 2 people in front of us.  Sometimes having gold status on Delta does help.  By the time we checked our bags, got our boarding passes, made our way through security and found our way to the departure gate it was only about 30 minutes before boarding.

I’m happy to say all our flights were on time and our connections were smooth, and after essentially traveling for 24 hours, we were glad to lay our heads down on our own pillows.