Summer holidays 2016: Agrigento-Modica-Scicli-Sampieri-Lecce-Benevento-Taormina

Time for holidays! Sicily and two weddings in south Italy were waiting for us :-)

20th of August:
We flew from Oslo to Sicily where we spent some eight days enjoying sun, relaxing at the beach, meeting friends, eating well with family or out in some nice restaurant.

29th of August:
We left by car to head off to southern Italy for the two weddings of two of Marco's friends in Lecce and Benevento. However we took a little detour to pass by the province of Ragusa in the very south/south-west part of Sicily. Two couples that were travelling in Norway on the tours that Marco had been accompanying as tour guide in June this year had invited him to their place should he pass by their area one day. And well, this occasion we already had this summer on our way to the two weddings. So before driving to Lecce we stopped for two nights near the towns of Modica and Scicli where both families had welcomed us at their summer houses in the country side.
The first night we were guests of Cettina and Pietro - welcoming us not only with a nice lunch of pasta, parmigiana and typical local dessert,  but also with a pool to relax and cool down from the heat.

In the late afternoon the couple took us for some sightseeing to Modica. Its architecture has been recognized as providing outstanding testimony of Baroque art in Europe and was therefore listed, along with other towns in this "Val di Noto" area, as UNESCO Heritage Site.

Baroque church of San Pietro

"Cioccolato di Modica" - besides the architecture another thing Modica is famous for: chocolate.

Cathedral of San Giorgio

Evening stroll through the streets of Modica.

And at last, buying some Modica chocolate at the "Antica Dolceria Bonajuto", the oldest chocolate factory in Sicily.

Dinner with typical Sicilian arancine and cannoli.

30th of August:
The next morning Pietro took us to discover the town of Scicli. Those of you who know the "Commissario Montalbano" probably know that this is the principal film location where the TV series with him are filmed, representing the fictive town of Vigata.
Scicli, likewise located in the "Val di Noto", is also UNESCO World Heritage Site for well representing the Sicilian Baroque style architecture.

Baroque church of San Bartolomeo

Scicli city hall - which hosts also the rooms used in the "Montalbano" TV series as the commissario's office.

Musical instruments as decoration at the "Chiesa di San Michele Arcangelo".

Around lunch lime we left the house of Cettina and Pietro who drove us over to their friends Maria and Giuseppe, the other couple that had invited us to stay with them.

On the premises of their summer house close by the beach town Sampieri, they had constructed a second house. A huge, cosy 3-bedroom apartment with large living room, very spacious kitchen and bathroom that they rent out (among others on AirBnb - check/click here for "Villa in Collina a Sampieri") was going to be our home for the next night - swimming pool included of course :-)

From their house one has view on the old furnace ruin right by the water side and famous under the name "mannera" as film location for numerous "Montalbano" scenes.

Today's plan was to drop our luggage at Maria's and Giuseppe's place, then go to the beach to sunbath, relax and - in prospect of a huge dinner planned for the evening - have just a very little snack there for lunch. However, when Cettina and Pietro had dropped us at Maria's and Giuseppe's place, Maria was already waiting for us: she had spent the whole morning in the kitchen to be able to serve us home made fresh ravioli for lunch. Sooooo good - and still I had to fight to eventually finish the extra big "guest portion" that we were served...not knowing that after that Maria served even a second dish, a plate full of sausages, potatoes and salad (of course guest portion again)! My God, I was already sooooo full from the ravioli, I really couldn't fit the second course - which was likewise delicious (I took ONE bite).

While we went to the beach then after lunch, Maria went back to the kitchen to start her food preparations for the evening. In the occasion of Marco (their tour guide from the summer) being over for a visit, the whole group that was travelling together in Norway had decided to meet again and to catch up. The deal was everyone would bring along something for a big dinner buffet. Maria's contribution: "scacce" - a Sicilian specialty, typical of the province of Ragusa. It is a type of stuffed flat bread made with a very thin rectangular layer of dough, folded on itself three or four times.

When returning from the beach, those "scacce" were just coming out of the oven. And as if we hadn't eaten enough yet (and wouldn't do so in the evening) we couldn't get around to try the freshly baked, oven warm local specialty - which Maria had prepared even in three variations of filling combining tomato, cheese, spinach, ricotta, onion...

I have no clue how we managed to still eat something from that vast (and yummy) buffet that evening.

I just remember sitting at the table and despite having plate and fork full of food guests were approaching us proudly presenting, praising (and trying to serve us) their various food contributions that we absolutely shouldn't miss - which is by the way the contrary to the sense of a buffet where people approach the food and not the food the guests :-)
My argument "I still have to fit in my dresses for the upcoming two weddings" for not trying out more food was turned down by a lady being a tailor offering gently to fix this problem if necessary. And "sorry, I'm really full" simply wasn't valid.
Anyway... a part from all the delicious food, we had spent a very nice day and evening. After the party we still sat together with Maria and Giuseppe talking until after midnight on their veranda. I think it was around 1:30 a.m. when Marco and I said good night.

31st of August:
After breakfast (yes, we managed to eat again, but in Italy breakfast is anyway just a coffee and two biscuits) it was time for us to leave and head towards the southern mainland of Italy. But we weren't allowed to leave before Maria didn't give us still two things: first a huge picnic bag filled with neatly packed pieces of her "scaccia", a box of juice, water bottles, cups and all we needed for a long drive. The second thing was a gift for us: a lace doily she made (that is crocheted, washed and ironed) herself still in the night and after having cleaned the entire kitchen after the party.

Though, honestly, not quite sure what I should do with a lace doily (it's actually a pretty nice and "decent" one, but just not really my style of decoration), I highly appreciate her effort and all the affection and hospitality she and also her husband showed to us. The stay at their place was really really wonderful! And the same is valid also for Cettina and Pietro. A big thank you and grazie mille to all of them for their great hospitality and the time dedicated to showing us around! Thanks to them we discovered a beautiful area in Sicily well worth a visit.

10:00 a.m. - we hit the road again. Destination: Lecce (in Puglia), so from Sampieri, via Syracuse, Catania and Taormina along the Sicilian east coast to Messina. With a ferry we crossed the straight of Messina and set over to the mainland, to Reggio Calabria. From there five and a half hours later we arrived in Lecce.

We checked in at the hotel where we also met Pietro (Marco's friend and the groom to be) and some friends. Together with Pietro's family we enjoyed an "aperitivo" after which Marco and his friends went for a drink into town. I actually stayed at the hotel and went to bed as I had quite a heavy cold :-(

1st of September:
Pietro and Maria wedding day!

With friends: Riccardo and Daniela.

Wedding ceremony at the Chiesa San Matteo.

AUGURI, Pietro & Maria :-)

Wedding party at the Castello Monaci, a 45 minutes drive away from Lecce. STUNNING location!

After a pretty huge "aperitivo" (buffet of starters) outside in the garden of the castle we were led inside for the main dinner. Unfortunately Marco didn't bring his camera inside for the dinner/party (but left it in the car). So below just a few pictures taken with his phone.

Dessert time by the pool. Sooooo many delicious sweet treats (all sorts of pastries, cakes, ice creams, fruits... and last but not least the huge wedding cake), but I was just so full that I only picked a bit of fruits.

The party was long, especially because the dinner finished far after midnight (with dancing sessions in between the various courses - very typical in that area), desserts were served only by 1 a.m. plus chatting with some friends, having some digestive drinks and the time to drive back to the hotel. So we weren't in bed before 4 a.m. in the morning. Nothing bad about that if we didn't have to drive to another wedding the next day.

2nd of September:
After a short night, we left Lecce pretty early to head for Benevento in Campania, some 50 km northeast of Naples, to attend the wedding of another friend of Marco: of Francesco (Ciccio) with his girlfriend Ida.
It took us about four hours we reached the agriturismo that Ciccio had booked for us right next to the venue where in the evening the wedding party would take place.

We first took a quick shower and got dressed with outfit for wedding number two :-) Then we drove to the Chiesa S. Sofia in Benevento where the wedding ceremony took place in the late afternoon. Unfortunately we don't have any pictures of this special event as Marco had forgotten his camera battery at the agriturismo :-(
After the ceremony in church we stopped with some friends at a nearby bar to enjoy a refreshing drink before returning to the agriturismo. The wedding dinner and party was held at the "Borgo degli Angeli" which was located right beside our accommodation, just a 2 minutes walk away. Very convenient, because you could enjoy a drink without still having to think about driving after the party and when tiredness creeps over your bed wasn't far :-)

Also that evening began with "starters" outside - a serving of so many various foods and snacks and wines that was easily passing as actual dinner. Thus no surprise our astonishment the moment we were invited to move to the main building for the main dinner.

Fireworks and champagne for the newly weds. AUGURI, Ciccio & Ida :-)

Four hours (and again some dancing in between the various courses) later we were back outside for the dessert.

Just one of the many buffet tables where the dessert was served. What a pity that so much food wasn't even eaten as it was just too much after all that was already served before.

I think also that evening it didn't become earlier than 2 a.m. for us. If we hadn't had Pietro's and Maria's wedding party just the evening before we might have resisted longer.

3rd of September:
Usually early check-out times and a seven hours drive ahead made us get up relatively early also on that morning. After breakfast and saying good bye to the married couple we left Benevento and hit the road back to Sicily. As all the way back to Marco's home in Agrigento would have meant a 9-10 hours drive, we had decided to make a stopover in Taormina for a night. We had been there already in 2007 and liked it a lot. We actually happened to book the same hotel again (which we noted the moment we arrived) - with the same nice view from the rooms.

In the evening we took the funicular from Taormina Marina (down at the waterfront where our hotel was located) up to the old town located on top on a mountain and had a little stroll through town. Damn, it was so crowded with people and so touristic. Can't remember it like that from 2007. What a pity, because it's such a beautiful place.

Afterwards we tried to find again the same pizzeria where we had eaten already nine years ago as its pizza was left in both our memories as one of the best pizzas we had ever eaten. But no-one of us could remember neither the name nor the street of this pizzeria. We had just given up the search for it when we suddenly stood in front of it in some tiny side street. We had again a very good pizza, a couple of glasses of wine and a nice evening. And this time I won't forget the name (also because I write it down here on my blog now): "Ristorante Pizzeria SHELTER" (not really an Italian name for an Italian restaurant) in Via Fratelli Bandiera.

4th of September:
After breakfast we went back up to Taormina's city centre for a visit of the amphitheatre where we had attended a beautiful ballet back in 2007. This time we wanted to see it in day time. And that day (first Sunday each month) all museums had free entrance - perfect :-)
I needed to get myself a hat to protect my head from the burning sun!

In the back, covered by the clouds in the middle of the picture, one can see the vague silhouettes of the (still active) vulcano Etna.

For lunch we were once more lucky with the place we picked: "Ristorante Pizzeria Taormina" (in Vico Teofane Carameo - just writing it down again not to forget also this one). In the evening probably an overcrowded place and maybe even with scarse service, but for lunch it was perfect. The view was amazing, the service good and the food delicious!

I had opted for one of my favourite dishes, typical for Sicily: fresh pasta with swordfish and pistachio pesto. Sooo gooood!

Two hours later we sat again in the car, now on the way back to Agrigento.

5th of September:
Last day at the beach for this summer. It was beginning of September and a Monday, the reason why we had "our" beach exclusively for ourselves. We were really the ONLY people there. A clear sign that holidays were over and people had started working/going to school again.

And as if the fact being all alone at this beach wasn't already rare enough, we became witnesses of an even more unlike event: a circular halo around the sun.

6th of September:

Bye bye Sicily! Our holidays are over and we had to fly back to Oslo. Work was calling the next day.

This was two weeks filled with fantastic weather, wonderful new places we discovered, nice people we met (new and already known once like friends), beautiful weddings we attended, and soooo much really delicious food we had (maybe a bit too much, though). Summed up: this was very nice holidays!

A big thank you to amore mio for all his beautiful pictures! Nearly all pictures used in this blog are by Marco Carbone.