As we approach the one-year anniversary of our 2022 Girls’ Trip to Italy, this week La Dolce Vita Travels will publish a series of posts recapping our trip last October. I do this for several reasons: as a means of transcribing my travel journal, to provide fellow travelers with names of restaurants/hotels for their own travel journals, and to plant seeds of interest for our next trip (and there will be another one).
This is an overall recap of the official itinerary. There were pockets of free time almost daily, and while I share what my sister and I did during these times, the truth is everyone will have a different story. Some were shoppers, some were explores, and some were diners … there was something for everyone.
The series will be three parts—Part I: Naples (Days 1-4), Part II: Sicily (Days 5-11), Part III: Rome (Day 12). Our time in Naples was the most intense; after all, it is an intense city and we packed a lot into our itinerary. This meant we did the heavy touring the first few days of our trip, then enjoyed the slower pace of Sicily on the back end.
Day 9:
Ragusa-Modica (Oct. 13)
Today was all about wine and chocolate. And any day that is
all about wine and chocolate is sure to be a good one.
We started the morning with a walking tour of Ragusa, a city with two souls: the more modern area where we spent the night, and then the ancient, Baroque-style area called Ibla, which is where we were headed this morning. Before we drove into the city of Ragusa Ibla, we stopped at an overlook with sweeping vistas so we could get a sense of this hilltop town. How can every town we visit be as charming (if not more) than the one before? I cannot explain it, but it’s true.
The weather, which looked ominous all morning, held out just until we boarded our bus for Valle Dell’ Alcate, a wine estate where we would have lunch and a wine tasting. The vineyard was remote, but sometimes the most remote, hard-to-get-to places are the best places to visit. So we drove through the countryside, in the rain, over flooded dirt roads, and turned onto a lane lined with date palms brought over by the Arabs that led to a charming farmhouse and cantina. We entered the stone cantina set with tables between wine barrels, and with rain drumming on the ancient roof and pounding the cobblestones outside, we were cocooned inside a centuries old cantina while a thunderstorm raged outside.
At each place setting there were one, two, three, four … FOUR
glasses of wine (one white, three red). We listened as the owners spoke about
their wine. We drank one, two, three, FOUR glasses of wine (SOME people even
had refills) while we ate arancini (rice balls), olives, ciappe di pomodoro
(dried tomatoes), and homemade bread.
After lunch (and tanto, tanto vino) it was time for dessert
… makes perfect sense, right? So we boarded the bus for Modica, yet another
hilltop town but this one known for its chocolate. It is also a designated UNESCO
World Heritage Site.
Here is what you should know about chocolate in Modica: From
1500-1700 Sicily was under Spanish rule during a time when explorers were just
returning from the New World with “exotic foods” such as tomatoes, corn, and
COCOA BEANS. Modica perfected the art of using those cocoa beans. Chocolate
from Modica is different in that it is mainly made with cocoa and sugar (no
added fats) and mixed together in a cold process (so sugar does not dissolve).
The result is the sugar crystals remain whole, making the consistency of the
chocolate grainy and crumbly.
All that to say that when in Modica, you have to try the
chocolate. So far on our trip we have had olive oil and wine tastings; today we
experienced a chocolate tasting at Sabadi. The many varieties of their organic chocolate
were set out on a long table, and we walked around tasting chocolate made with flower
of salt, white pepper, Sicilian orange, lemon or chili. It was hard to select a
favorite. We did a LOT of tasting, and needless to say we all came home with
some chocolate.
Yesterday we purchased olive oil and salt, today it was
chocolate. We need food to go with our leather handbags.
Afterwards we visited Modica’s Duomo of San Giorgio, a
masterpiece in Baroque architecture which sits at the top of a majestic
250-step, 19th-century staircase. All those stairs helped offset the
chocolate. Maybe. (Incidentally, the patron saint of Ragusa and Modica is St.
George. Yes, the very same St. George who did you-know-what to the dragon.)
Our last night in Ragusa we were on our own for dinner, so a
group of us wandered the streets until we found a pizzeria where we did a taste
test: Sicilian pizza or Neapolitan pizza? It was unanimous. The pizza in Naples
was the winner.
That night my dreams involved wine and chocolate. Sweet dreams.
Day 10: Taormina-Giardini
Naxos-Ortigia/Syracuse (Oct. 14)
In the morning we waved arrivederci to beautiful Ragusa and boarded
our bus for Taormina/Giardini Naxos, stopping enroute to spend the day on the
island of Ortigia.
Along the way we stopped at an Autogrill, which is always
cause for excitement. An Autogrill is the Italian version of a rest stop, and
they have nothing to do with Big Gulps and Twinkies. Instead, at an Autogrill
you can dine on grilled panini, or roasted chicken; you can sidle up to the bar
and order a cappuccino or a macchiato; you can buy a gelato or a granita. You
can purchase souvenirs. An Autogrill is elegance on the autostrada. We love Autogrills!
When we arrived in Syracuse to explore the island of Ortigia
(the old town center of Syracuse), we were geographically closer to Greece than
to Rome. Ponder that a moment. Also, I mentioned earlier how the Sicilian
cities of Agrigento and Syracuse, along with Athens, made up the three biggest
cities in ancient Greece. Well, Syracuse was the principal Greek city (even
bigger than Athens). Cicero called it “the greatest Greek city and the most
beautiful of all.”
After a quick walking tour, we were on our own. There is a
certain freedom in exploring an island because, after all, you cannot get lost.
And if you should happen to feel lost in Syracuse, just walk along the lungomare
(the walking path around the island) and you will come full circle. We could
have spent several days in Syracuse.
At lunchtime my sister and I tried a traditional Sicilian
street food called a coppo, a paper cone filled with fried seafood, vegetables,
or potatoes. We chose the coppo with vegetables. When the waiter brought
our order I said, “There is no way I’m going to be able to eat all this.”
Fifteen minutes later I was tipping the cone to get to every last morsel. It
was that good.
We arrived in Giardini Naxos (Taormina) where we will spend
our last three nights at Hotel Regina Naxos, a beautiful hotel on the shores of
the Mediterranean Sea. The group met for dinner in the hotel dining room where
we had eggplant ravioli with cherry tomatoes cream and caciocavallo cheese,
pork fillet wrapped in bacon, seasoned vegetables, and dessert.
(Btw, if you notice I am not in the dinner photos. A crisis was slowly building with our itinerary, so I was in and out of the dining room to confer with Jane as we made a flurry of phone calls. But more on this tomorrow...)
It was a full day, and we were ready for bed. Tomorrow … the
Godfather Tour. We’ll make sure to take the cannoli.
