Located about 11 kilometres north of Catania, it is the perfect little commune to visit during the ottobrata – the local festivity that occurs every October here in Sicily, celebrating the fruits of the land: frutti di terra. The first encounter went wrong already 🙂 Approaching the booth with fruit, I have noticed quince – one…
If something is worth visiting in life, it is the Aeolian islands. Becasue it makes you think about winter in the south. It makes you think about simplicity of life. And it makes you realise how not to treat the tourists: just some bags of potatoes that need to be shipped from one island to…
I haven’t had a chance to spent a bit more time discovering this city. But just a glimpse and it made me think to re-visit and make it’s due. When the time will come, I promise to update with more photos. But for now, enjoy the story 🙂 Several civilizations settled in Milazzo and left…
I didn’t expect much from this harbour city, to be honest. I knew they have a great beer – Messina cristali di sale: a great Sicilian beer brewed since 1923 and one of the most loved Italian beers. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy.…
Senlis is a city in the northern French department of Oise, Hautes de France. Cute, medieval and charming. It offered us great peek into history: The monarchs of the early French dynasties lived in Senlis, attracted by the proximity of the Chantilly forest. Senlis is situated on the river Nonette. Senlis was known in early Roman imperial times as Augustomagus. During the 3rd century, a seven-meter…
The Château de Chantilly is one of the finest jewels in the crown of France’s cultural heritage. It is the work of a man with an extraordinary destiny: Henri d’Orléans, Duke of Aumale, son of the last King of France, Louis-Philippe. This historic French château located in the town of Chantilly, Oise, about 50 kilometres north of Paris. The site…
The Scala dei Turchi is a rocky cliff on the coast of Realmonte, near Porto Empedocle. It has become a tourist attraction, partly due to its mention series of detective stories about Commissario Montalbano. The cliffs lie between two sandy beaches and are a limestone rock formation in the shape of a staircase, hence the name. The latter part…
Picture this episode: we parked on a roundabout. Some local approached us (my brother and me) – we thought because we should have not park in a roundabout, but then again they all did, so… in fact the guy just wanted to ask if we have cigarettes. Ok Sicily, episode n. At the roundabout is…
Enna or as the Sicilians would say Castrugiuvanni; is a city located roughly at the center of Sicily, towering above the surrounding countryside. It has earned the nicknames belvedere (panoramic viewpoint) and ombelico (“navel”) of Sicily. At 931m above sea level, Enna is the highest Italian provincial capital. To arrive there is not a piece of cake. Passing the two viaducts Morello and…
From its dramatic natural surroundings to its historic churches, Sicily has something to offer every traveler. The island of Sicily is a unique part of Italy. Its craggy mountains, wild vegetation, and omnipresent sea have fired the imagination of poets, wayfarers, and visitors alike. Though it is one of 20 Italian regions, its history under…
Aci Castello and the other Acis around are destinations not to be missed in Sicily, especially for lovers of Greek myths and literature. It is here that the poets Virgil and Ovid gave birth to the myth of Galatea and Aci and their love story. In the second half of 1100 the town was destroyed…
This is city is one of my favourite places in Sicily. Let me show you its magic! Taormina has been a tourist destination since the 19th century. Its beaches on the Ionian sea, including that of Isola Bella, are accessible via an aerial tramway built in 1992, and via highways from Messina in the north and Catania in the south. In 2017 Taormina…
An Ionian seaside town, Avola is a mix of old and new. The town focuses heavily on the sea, with its history as a tuna fishing port. Today, the remains […]
An Ionian seaside town, Avola is a mix of old and new. The town focuses heavily on the sea, with its history as a tuna fishing port. Today, the remains of the Vecchia Tonnara at the wharf are a stone backdrop to the sandy beaches.
Avola dates back to a pre-Greek people called the Sicani. The Greek colony here was established in the 8th century BC, then the Romans arrived in 227 BC.
Modern Avola retains some characteristic corners and hopping palm-lined piazzas. Restaurants, cafes, and pastry shops provide regional treats, and there is no lack of shops and services. I ended up here on a sunny afternoon, in the winter time. The city was dead – not even a restaurant to be open.
My phone battery died on my way so I was driving following the sign from the motorway to the city center. My plan was to sit somewhere to eat and charge the phone, get into the history of the city, and observe and connect my missing dots about Sicily. Except that there was no bar open, I mean almost not open. A few of them were closing because it was the afternoon time, some of them couldn’t charge my phone and some of them didn’t have small Sicilian bites – I was super hungry. I skipped my lunch that day counting on the fact I will eat in Avola, somewhere nice, with a view of the sea. Nothing of that happened.
Instead, I entered some small random lottery bar – typical Italian. Salvatore was happy to have me. I have sat on a bar chair and ordered espresso and prosecco, explaining to him in what kind of situation I found myself. I felt sheltered. Then the local men started to arrive in a typical Italian style. They come, one by one, most of the times they know each other. They great each other, have a quick coffee, chit chat using hand gestures and loud voice expressions. They buy a lottery ticket and then they leave. I was observing, trying to understand this hard core sicilian dialect. I can say I pushed my boundaries for that day. However, Salvatore was keeping an eye on me, understanding that I do not always feel comfortable. Especially without the phone to hide behind it.
The town’s name is famous because of the wine dubbed after it – Nero d’Avola, a hearty red variety exported around the world. Many people think this wine belongs to pinot noir. In fact, Nero d’Avola is made in two very different styles. The first is fragrant and crunchy, light to medium bodied, almost like Pinot Noir – except that it is not.
I couldn’t miss the Antico Borgo, the old town, with its charming streets and stone buildings. It is the typical sicilian baroque style but it did the charm for the day.
Cathedral of Saint Nicola
The Teatro Comunale is a point of pride for the people, an opulent opera house bedecked with boxes and lined with velvet, its construction signaled a rise in the city’s prosperity and cultural status.
The VecchioMercato is where the daily fresh market was held, in a beautiful colonnaded cloister of what had been a Benedictine monastery.
But of course, much of the lure of Avola is the sea and the wide beaches. The Ionian coast here is transparent and the long sandy expanses are great for kids. Along the waterfront is a long pier that juts out into the sea, a preferred spot for a romantic stroll. Discover attractions in Avola 🙂