Tag Archives: Food

Diary of a Slow Traveller – The Food, Siracusa, Sicily

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Sitting at our favourite local coffee shop on a lovely Adelaide Autumn day, my favourite person and I quickly returned to our usual conversation – Sicily and when we can get back there.

There are so many things to talk about when it comes to Sicily but it’s the food that becomes the centre piece of pretty much all of our coffee conversations. Is it the freshness, the fish caught that morning, the local vegetables (seasonal produce only) or  the sweet temptations?

Oranges and Grapes a t the market

Oranges and Grapes a t the market

I guess it depends on what takes your fancy and across our nearly 2 months in Siracusa it all took its turn in delighting us. Staying so close to the Ortigia food market all food thoughts started at this truly special local market, just over the bridge on the island of Ortigia and next to the ancient Temple of Apollo. The choices grapes, pears, carrots, brocolli romanescue, bread, meats, fish and cheeses.

Fresh fish - Ortigia Market

Fresh fish – Ortigia Market

Even on days when we didn’t plan to cook in our apartment,  we still seemed to find things to buy at this delightful local market. Continue reading →

Naples, Italy – Pizza

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We were sitting in our hotel in Venice thinking about the last part of our trip, at that stage still a couple of months away, when I found a  post on pizza in Naples. That sealed our decision to go to Naples!

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We planned to stay 4 nights and stayed 6. It could easily have been more but that’s for another post.

Naples is a big city with attitude and that’s evident as you venture into the domain of the best pizza you’ll ever eat. Continue reading →

“It’s close ed” Modica & Ragusa, Sicily – The Diary of a Slow Traveller

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Modica from Belevedere

Modica from Belevedere

Traveling in off-season has both pluses and minuses. On the one hand, no crowds at any of the sites meaning almost never having to wait to get in and discounts on accommodation, while on the other, you are often faced with a sign saying “Chiusa” (closed in English).

Our visit to Modica and Ragusa gave us a great opportunity to experience both!

Train Station - Siracusa

Train Station – Siracusa

Modica our base for a couple of days is about an hour and half by train from Siracusa. Its a direct line and definitely the best way to get there if you can coincide your travel plans with the off season timetable.

Modica is one of the towns rebuilt after the earthquake of 1693 and consists of two towns – Modica Bassa (lower) and Modica Alta (upper) and a lot of steps between the two!

Taking the advice of our guidebook on Sicily and numerous informative blogs, we stayed in Modica Alta at the delightful Palazzo Failla Hotel which was offering a very good off- season deal. Its a delightful old hotel with a grand entrance staircase and large rooms with recently renovated bathrooms (almost unheard of in Sicily). Attached to the hotel is one of the region’s finest restaurants.

Modica is well known for its great food, not just its chocolate and baroque architecture. However, as we quickly found out most of the restaurants, including the hotel’s, that were on our hit list were, as the Sicilians say so delightfully in English “Is close ed”. The hotel also gave us a list of places to eat, however as we wandered the delightful streets, alleyways and stairs of Modica we were able to see that most were in fact “close ed”. Continue reading →

Diary of a Slow Traveller – 13 December, Santa Lucia Celebration

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We arrived in Siracusa just a few days before the major religious celebration of the city – the Santa Lucia procession. I’d read so much about Santa Lucia a Christian martyr who was killed in the Fourth Century and was genuinely excited that we would be in Siracusa to witness it. As I tweeted, sitting watching the people outside the Cathederal, I did feel the excitement building.

Street vendors

Street vendors

All morning the street vendors had been setting up to sell their wares – sweets, balloons, souvenirs of the festival, toys and mobile phone covers. There were also craft markets and special food stores where we bought some locally produced mandarin marmalade and thyme flavored honey.

Late morning outside the Cathederal

Late morning outside the Cathederal

Our wonderful Airbnb hosts invited us as their guests to join them for lunch Continue reading →

Day One – Sicily

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So after an early start and a last trip down the stairs in our Airbnb apartment in Florence, it was time to head to Syracusa, Sicily. Our taxi arrived a minute or so after we got our luggage downstairs and it was a short trip to a very foggy Florence airport. Our plane left on time.

One last time!

One last time!

After about 40 minutes we were in Rome and then onto Catania. We had been concerned that the recent eruption of Mt Etna might have caused problems in getting to Catania but the eruption had settled down making it a spectacular fly past. Shortly after we were on the ground at Catania airport and greeted by our next Airbnb host, who also provided the transfer to our apartment in Syracuse where will be our based for the next 7 weeks!

The views from the bedrooms and kitchen were amazing as was the weather a very balmy 19C – what a difference from the low teens and below temperatures we had experienced in the previous two weeks. Even better news, it looks like the weather will be like this for another week or so at least.

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Our Airbnb hosts then took us to Ortigia and the street market which was wrapping up for the day. Evenso we were still able to stock up on some fruit and vegetables. Continue reading →