I visited Sicily in May and I would highly recommend it as a holiday destination for every type of person, no matter what your interests are. From vibrant, bustling cities, heaving with breathtaking architecture to quiet hilltop villages there really is something for every type of traveler. The only essential is that you hire a car (my boyfriend and I visited four years ago and made that vital mistake, we learned this time around!).
The food is really amazing and quite distinctive from the food on mainland Italy. There are cannoli cafes on every corner, selling the freshest possible stuffed biscuit tubes, finished with generous sprinklings of pistachio nuts, which are grown on the fertile land around Mount Etna. There are also countless numbers of street food kiosks selling pizza slices by the slab (try the potato and rosemary if you get the opportunity) and freshly made arancini- deliciously dense balls made from cooked rice, stuffed with ragu sauce or cheese and vegetables, covered in breadcrumbs and deep fried (It’s probably safe to say that you don’t go to Sicily to lose weight!).
We met interesting people and saw tremendous architecture from Greek and Roman times through to the Baroque however the part that really stuck out to me throughout the holiday was the sheer amount of breathtaking scenery that we were constantly surrounded by. Whether looking out to the sea or inwards to the mountains there are jaw droppingly scenic scenes at every turn. Here are three of my favourites.
Isola Bella is a tiny island, joined to the shore by a part submerged spit. The only way to access it is by rolling up your trousers and wading through which is part of the experience. The island was private until 1990 and a villa still exists which you can visit. I took this shot on the downhill walk from Taormina and thankfully managed to capture the breathtaking beauty of the deep blue sea.
Isola Bella, Taormina
We stayed just up the street from the Teatro el Greco in Taormina and visiting the ancient amphitheatre was a personal highlight of the trip. The amphitheatre has Greek origins and was rebuilt by the Romans so the architecture is very impressive. My favourite part of the structure however was the broken wall which nudged the man made structure with a nice reminder of the nature surrounding it. Looking onto the Sicilian hills between bricks assembled by human hands over two thousand years ago was a memorable experience
Teatro el Greco, Taormina
On our second last night we hiked to Castelmola, a little village situated 900 metres above sea level near Taormina. While the walk was more difficult than we had anticipated we found an exceptional, authentic small restaurant where we sat at a rickety table and ate the freshest bruschetta served to us by a man who acted as the waiter and the chef. After our meal just as we were about to say goodbye to Castelmola we caught the most spectacular view of Etna (which had been obscured from our view for most of our trip by a thick layer of cloud).
Mount Etna from Castelmola
