We stayed in Bari for one night before flying to Catania, Sicily. The airport was a short drive away and the quick hour flight made the first leg of travel day super easy. On arrival in Sicily we went straight to the Hertz car rental stand, having booked online we though it would be somewhat quick……..
Top Tip:
After a good hour and a bit you could try your luck by heading straight to the car rental stand outside, a cheeky move but worth a shot to miss the huge line and confused people!
We finally got our great rental car and drove to Castiglione de Sicilia stopping to gather a few supplies on the way. Our Air B&B is an old palmento (a place where you press grapes for wine), the perfect spot to enjoy the region for the next couple of days. The owner Giuseppe spends the harvest making dine which is delicious!
Our charming palmento is managed by a lovely lady who runs an Air B&B 700m up the farm road. She cooked an incredible dinner with her husband and we sampled local wine and produce through a four-course dinner and finished with a homemade limonchello! We also had the pleasure of meeting Luna whilst dining.
Top Tip:
Always follow the directions from your Air b&b host. They know the roads far better than google maps so you can aviod the ridiculously narrow roads.
Thursday
The Alcantra Gorge is a beautiful spot. We enjoyed the morning swimming reading and had a picnic for lunch. There is plenty of parking and adventure options if you are feeling up for a challenge. Our choice to arrive around 10am was perfect! Getting there before the rush and the heat of the day means you can get a good spot. The water is very fresh and cooling, just what you need it the boiling Italian sun.
On the way back we were intrigued by a small village perched up on the hills. Motto Camastra is a very very old village with only 300 people living. We learnt from the shop owner that half of the village relocated to Australia after the Second World War. Everything really does close from 1:30-5 so it was a little ghost town.
Our host had booked a wine tasting at Firriato in the afternoon. The volcanic soil here provides a fantastic foundation for wine creating a variety of flavours. Firriato has many vineyards across Sicily and Hugo who was our wine tour guide gave us generous samples of six wines with in-depth knowledge about the grapes and processes. Wow! Each wine was delicious and we left the vineyard with a few bottles to enjoy.
This whole area hosts little villages on the hills and volcanos. Dinner in Castiglione de Sicilia was the ideal spot to watch the sunset over the region. It was a very historic area and we did feel slightly watched by the locals as we wandered through the village. We sweated our way up to what we believed to be an old Greek ruin before dining at Vitis. There was no menu, as each night varies depending on available produce. A very very solid 9/10 for the pasta and pizza! Top Tip: always ask for wine prices! Our waitress was clever in promoting the very expensive wines.
Friday
Emma and Jeremy had kindly booked a tour of Mt Etna. We left early for out tour starting at 10am. Salvo was our guide from ‘Go Etna’ and we met him at a petrol station before packing into the Jeep for the day. We toured the North-East side. The other side of Etna is populated with tourists so we were happy we chose the quieter explore. Salvo took us to caves, crater walks and stunning vistas as he educated us on volcanoes and plantation. It was really interesting the see the changes in vegetation as he journeyed up Etna as the landscape changes significantly due to the volcanic ash. We arrived back to the car at 3pm and enjoyed a very relaxing afternoon at our palmento.
The success of the first night meant we were eager to enjoy dinner again with Marioletta. There were others dining with us and we loved eating outside. Dinner was just as delicious with more zucchini, flan, pesto pasta and meatballs. As tradition we sipped on limoncello and grappa with another visit from the beautiful Luna.
Staying at Air B&B’s is definitely the way to go, especially when your host offers to cook dinner and provide plenty of great activity options to see the best of the region.
100 Days of Travel 