Ambrosia Stitches

As I mentioned in my previous post, my parents and little brother came to visit last week.  It was a good opportunity for us to have a really good look around the island on which we live. Until now, we have actually done very little exploring so we relished the chance to explore a little and appreciate how diverse Sicily is.

 

As we live in it’s foothills, it made sense to start with Mount Etna.  The recent rainy weather meant plenty of snow on it’s peak.  This particularly pleased my brother who was able to go sledging.  Goodness me, it was cold up there! Winds so strong that you couldn’t quite breathe meant that our walk on Crateri Silvestri was very brief.

We spent a few days in the Ragusa area.  The peace and tranquility made a refreshing change from the slightly frenetic pace of Catania. The region actually reminded us of the west of Ireland – this may have been partly because the event rain meant everything was very green.  The picture above was taken in the village of Punta Secca which is also known as the fictional town of Vigata in the Montalbano TV series.

Yeah, we had to take an obligatory photo of us outside Montalbano’s house!

We were not favoured with fantastic weather (that pretty much arrived the day my family left), but it did make for some dramatic sea views.

We dodged the raindrops to visit Modica.  This town appears to cling to the side of a mountain making for dramatic views.  Definitely one to come back and visit in the sun shines.

One thing thing you don’t need good weather to appreciate in Modica is it’s famous chocolate.  We bought a range of flavours, in the interests of research, you understand. Chocolate from Modica is considerably different to the varieties we buy in the UK. It is harder and doesn’t melt in the mouth in the same way.  Once we got used to the difference, we actually appreciated the stronger flavour.  Our favourite was the salt chocolate – as evidenced by the fact there was none left when I came to take this picture.

We finally caught a break and were able to take a walk on the beach in the sunshine.  The picture above was take at Lido di Noto.  All was peaceful and quiet with preparations for the busy summer season just starting.

On the way home, we stopped off to pick lemons and then visit Ortygia which is a little island linked by a bridge to the ancient city of Syracuse. We love to just wander around the narrow streets and look in the pretty shops and bars.

 

After returning home, we drove in the opposite direction along the coast to the beautiful city of Taormina.  Yep, once again, the weather was a bit of a fail, but it was nice tone able to to take it all in without the crowds.

Yesterday I was feeling a little tearful after a very hurried goodbye to my parents. Heightened security meant we couldn’t enter the terminal with them so we had to say goodbye outside and, before we knew it, they had disappeared inside to check in.  Goodbyes are never nice, but we have our airport goodbye routine worked out by now, so to have it messed about with was a bit of a shock.  Having arrived home earlier than expected, I consoled myself with the roll of coloured pencils that my parents bought for me. Aren’t they gorgeous?  I sketched out lots of new designs in the beautiful artist’s journal Mr Stitches bought for me. I actually took no projects with me on our road trip. After my sketching session yesterday, it is time to get creative!

Back soon.