Sicily

After a long hiatus from using our passport, we were finally back on a red eye flight to Europe. I was half expecting some disaster last minute, still not willing to book any high budget non-refundable trip just yet, but a classic, self driving euro trip was perfect for the occassion.

We landed in Catania, after a bit of a rental car hiccup got into our vehicle and hit the road. Although not as dicey as the single lane roads of Scotland or Almafi coast, drivers in Sicily don't hold back, and the roads aren't in the best of shape. I've mellowed out as a driver so was routinely getting passed by others going 40km over the speed limit on blind turns. There is certtainly a sense of freedom from hitting the road in a new destination. Rolling hills with the distant volcano and the green Mediterrian make for a very pleasent welcome to the island.

Our first stop was Agregento. We stayed at a hotel right near the temples. Had a decent meal at the hotel, managed a decent sleep and had a pleasent morning strolling among the ruins and a nearby garden full of ripe oranges. We then checked out and visit Scala dei Turchi, a pretty sea cliff. Next stop was Licata. An authentic city off the tradinional tourist trail. We had lunch in our hotel as the room wasn't ready yet, relaxed to get over some jet lag and watch the rain come down before heading out to dinner at la Madia, the purpose of our visit to Licata. We had a wonderful meal there, the chef seems quite imaginative with talent on full displace in some of his dishes that were contemporary but still embued a sense of tradition and place very well. A ramboutous couple of children joined us in the dining room, in what seems to be a theme with our itlaian dining but we were far less preturbed this trip. If you have young children and you're unsure if they are ready for a long michelin style meal --take them to Italy.

The following day we had a very scenic drive through the hills to Caltagirone. We walked up the steps and visited an obligatory ceramics shop which didn't feel as toursity as you would expect. After a failed attempt at spontinaiety at Gulfi vineyard we stopped in Modica. We had lunch at casual establishment Accursio Radici which was quite good. We headed up to the Duomo di San Giorgio with the beautiful flowers out front, then the Antica Dolceria Bonajuto chocolate shop, a piece of which i just ate while writing this. Excenllent chocholate, very distinct, crumbliny texture. Finally we drove a short ways o our hotel in Ragusa Alba. Dinner that night was at Duomo Ciccio Sultano. This was a more classic dining experience with a very well polished team, but the food was also excellent and authentic. To make up for missing out on my wine tasting I opted for a local wine pairing, 8 full glasses later i was happy our hotel was only a few blocks away.

The next morning walked around Ragusa, streets were quiet, the baroque architechure impreses as your make your way down the narrow paths. We checked out and drove to Noto. A couple of the heavy hitter gelao shops were closed,but we still manged to find an excellent cassata ganita con brioche and canoli. We then headed off for Syracuse, with a quick tour of the greek theatre on our way to Ortigia. Had a very nice few pasta dishes at Scuola Alimentare. I got up early to watch the sunrise on the sea, with the waves pounding the embanked shore. A morning with more pastries and gelato after a bit of a disapointing hotel breakfast (Hotel Gutkowski) along with strolling around the old town, market and visiting a few shops.

After checking out we drove to Taormina, after some misadventures in the town we found the gate and checked into Timeo (set your GPS to Timeo parking not the actual hotel, not much planning on my part). After a lot of on the go travel, we relaxed in a lovely classic hotel and enjoyed the views. Had a fun time with their gin class, a nice casual experience in Tischi Toshi and excellent meal at the hotel along with La Capinera. Breakfasts were super; hopefully one day I will again get to experience a croissant freshly filed with pistacio cream plus gelato con brioche. Views out to the volcano on our last morning were gorgeous. The town itself was the more touristy of our trip and I can't imaging spending much time there if it wasn't for the hotel experience. We took a short drive over to the volcano to taste wines at Tenuta delle terre nere. A very thourghal tour and tasting, one of the early producers to really nail down the unique terroir of the etna region.

We had a short flight to Frankfurt, picked up another rental car and hit the road again heading to Drier to dine at Waldhotel Sonnora. This place had been on the radar since our last visit to Mosel valley but was closed during our stay. It was a masterclass in classic french cuisene. Not trying to be over the top contempoary, was a nice contrast to the regional cuisine we had over the previous week. I thought it was certainly worth the trip if one has a stopover planned in FRA. Finally we had to get up early drive back to the airport and board our flight home.

The journey back was a rough wake up call to the rigours of jet lag, maybe we were out of practice, or getting older but both questioned short transatlantic trips in the as we painfully tried to transition back to work mode. That aside, Sicily was a wonderful desintation, great up and coming wine thats still afordable, excellent food, probably the desert capital of Italy and beautiful architecure. I don't think i could handle the heat in the peak season but coming in the fall worked out really well ..