Mucha comida in Sicily (....and becoming accustomed to magnums of wine as the norm)
Joel and Amy greeted us at Catania airport armed with aranchini and cannoli - delicious - and we were off to explore the South West of Sicily for just over a week! Highlights...
TAORMINA - A very posh and pretty beachside town, we sampled much pasta, aranchini and had our first breakfast granita and brioche (its true what they say...you are either a lemon or almond person!). We also had a brush with Aussie fame... seeing Hamish twice in town. The water was gorgeous, Amy got a lush massage and Chris got a little too adventurous in the water and got stung by a jellyfish.
MT ETNA - Setting out on an epic hike up the fine volcanic sands. Safe to say Chris and Joel could have ran up the damn thing...Amy and I though - super solid effort! The views were quite surreal and the terrain very unique.
Stopping in at a recommended agriturismo restaurant....we sat down (no menus or any explanation of how things worked) and the wine and food begun to flow continuously for hours , all amazing, wine from the estate itself and for such an affordable price.
POSTCARD PERFECT COVE IN AVOLA - We spent 3 nights in a big house in Avola, that happened to be a 5 minute walk from one of the most picturesque stunning beach coves I may have ever seen (think naturally occurring perfectly placed large slabs of rock, there as if they were sun loungers slowly leading you into the water...think crystal bright blue water contrasted against cliffs and the dry earth...just one local family present, a sincere peace and feeling that we had found an oasis.
NOTO FOOD - (1) Trip to Cafe Sicilia, featured on Chef’s Table...the cannoli, granita and brioche were quite something; (2) Finding ‘aranchini planet’ - where Joel and Amy raved about the horse aranchini; and (3) Dinner at a family run restaurant on the outskirts of town - between the 4 of us ordering a massive starter plate, 2 pizzas, 4 pastas, and litres of wine!!
Drinking magnums of wine on our rooftop deck and then wandering down to the (very) local restaurant only to find it was karaoke night - we again ordered way too much food and had way too much fun.
CLIFF DIVING AT LAGHETTI CAVAGRANDE - We did one of the best hikes we have ever done... a very hot and steep walk down into a gorge, including having to climb a fence to access the walk and all. The reward at the bottom were huge natural fresh water cold pools. Chris, Joel and Amy loved jumping off the cliffs - a fab day!
WATCHING THE SUNSET AT SCALA DEI TURCHI - naturally occuring limestone and white marl cliffs by the sea that have formed what look like stairs. We sat high up on the smooth rock surface facing out toward the west to watch an amazing sunset.
RICOTTA DEGUSTATION - we went to a small farm agriturismo in Ragusa for dinner, the dairy farm specialised in making ricotta. We were treated to local wine and 8+ courses of mind blowing food that heroed ricotta. The most impressive was the fresh ricotta that had been made just 10 minutes before we ate it (warm, rich, texture).
SCALA ILLUMINATA - each year in Caltagirone the 142 stairs leading up to Santa Maria del Monte get lit up with 100’s, if not 1000’s of coloured lanterns to create an awe inspiring pattern. Thousands of people congregate in the square to celebrate the lighting of the lanterns - It was awesome to observe.
