After two months of solid graft (honest we did do some work too!) we find ourselves in 'Mafia' country for the briefest of holidays. Some friends, Lydia and Stefano are going to a wedding there and have invited us along to share the apartment they've rented. We fly from Florence to Catania on the Tuesday morning with Lydia and her mother from Belgium. Southern Europe has suffered a really bad summer, with flooding in many countries including Italy, where many vineyards have been ruined... Today however, it's hot and sunny. We're staying in a small town called Patti, which is about a two-hour drive north west from Catania airport. After dumping our stuff at the apartment we head straight for the beach! No time wasted. Finally we’re on holiday!
In the evening we unpack and settle in. Stefano's brother Luca, friend Andrea and Alberto, who lives here in Patti, have brought pizza, which we share outside on the terrace.
Wednesday and we have 'brunch' at a local cafe. Some of the guys are eating croissants filled with ice-cream!!! Too early in the day for ice cream. However here we are introduced to two of Sicily's other delights. 'Arancini' which are balls of rice stuffed with tomato and mozzerella or peas and ragu sauce, rolled in breadcrumbs and then deep fried... mmmm The other thing that I think we will be having a lot of is Lemon 'Granita' which is kind of like an English slush puppy, but made with real, fresh, Sicilian lemons... very refreshing and out of this world! We have several more, but this is the best one. We drive to a different beach at San Giorgio. The sun is in and out and it even rains, but that doesn't stop us from swimming!
In the evening we have been invited to Aberto's. His mother is cooking up what turns out to be a 10 course meal! We are introduced to pasta 'alla Norma' with aubergines and some super strong local home-made wine.
Thursday and we pay the local clothes outlet a visit for some designer browsing, and then it's on to another beach further round at Capo d'Orlando. The sun is back out today, but it's rather windy. We have decided to hire a car for 3 days, so this evening we head up the hill to Goiosa Marea and find a small restaurant for dinner. At 8 o'clock it's almost empty, but by 9 the place is full! We have some great fish and at a really god price as there are only locals here.
Mt. Etna
Friday and everybody has agreed to make the treck up Mount Etna. Last year there was a major eruption and so at the summit there are fresh Lava deposits everywhere. We descend into a huge crater, fortunately it has closed up!
In the evening we all pile back to Alberto's house for banquet number 2.
Taormina
All the guys have gone off to the wedding in Catania today. We have a car and a date with one of Sicily's most beautiful cities, Taormina. We arrive nice and early and take the shuttle bus at the bottom right up to the city walls, 1,500 feet above the coastline. The views from up here are stunning. We take a gentle stroll through the very elegant, cobbled streets and settle down for a relaxing mid-morning cappuccino and I get my first taste of another local speciality, 'Cannoli', little tubes of fried pastry filled with creamy ricotta cheese and flavoured with lemon rind an candied fruit. mmm On the cafe walls we notice signed photos of the owner with Hugh Grant, Naomi Campbell and other luminaries who have also visited the cafe! Obviously they have good taste too! We take a browse round some of the delightful shops and buy a lovely dark blue Murano glass vase and a burgundy organza curtain. Excellent purchases! At one point I even spot Mick Hucknell with a blonde on his arm, apparently he owns a wine estate on Mt Etna and is a regular in Taormina... one thing I will say is "shorts are too tight to mention!" We stop for lunch at a very fashionable looking restaurant and again the walls are plastered with stars... Sophie Loren, Peter Ustinov etc. and what looks like loads of Mafia bosses! We share a pizza and some pasta with a salad and some strong Corvo wine.
In the afternoon we make our way to the Greek theatre, one of the many remnants of Taormina's glorious past. Unfortunately many of the most well preserved temples are on the south west of the island and Sicily is rather larger than we thought! Again the views from the Theatre are breathtaking! They show operas here in the summer months... this year it’s the turn of La Traviata and Cavelleria Rusticana.
In the evening we drive down to the beach at Giardini Naxos nd we enjoy an aperitivo on the front... As the sun goes down the lights all go on and we get an extra surprise as there is a huge electrical storm and power cut ! Scary...
It's time to drive back to Patti, where we're staying and we find a Pizzeria open for an 11.00 pm dinner to finish off a wonderful day...
Sunday and so our brief affair with Sicily is over...we return the car, pack up our things, say our goodbyes to Alberto and his family and get ready for our return trip. This time we're not taking the plane, but driving back to Florence in a Mercedes A class, (very uncomfortable!) which belongs to the guy who got married! His wife's parents are from Sicily, which is why the wedding was here, but they are going to live in Florence. So while they are off on their honeymoon, we drive the car home! It turns out to be a very long and tiring journey. Once we're over the very short ferry crossing at Messina, the roads up through Calabria to Naples aren't very good... They improve up towards Rome and we arrive in Florence extremely late, exhausted, but happy.
(Original journal entry 1/9/02)
