Geezer On The Go

The island of Sicily is separated from mainland Italy by the 2-mile wide Strait of Messina. While part of Italy, Sicily is a land with its own distinct identity. Sicilians are noted for a strong independence, peppered with large doses of pride and loyalty to their lands.

We flew directly from Florence to Catania, Sicily’s second largest city. Catania has been christened as a Unesco World Heritage Site due to its old town and baroque piazzas. While rich in history, after Florence, the city felt a bit shabby.

Scenes from around Catania

During our short visit, we wandered the open-air seafood market (which included more than seafood). Clean, busy, friendly and a major source of fresh food for both local restaurants and home cooks.

“Sicilian food is exactly everything I love: the cuttlefish-stained pasta, street meat, inky wines, oily fishes. And for some reason, though I don’t speak Italian, I understand nearly every word in Sicily.” Anthony Bourdain

The Seafood Market

We tripped upon a vender serving fresh squeezed fruit juices. Conde opted for straight orange while I quaffed the “special” with oranges, limes and pomegranates. Wow, was it ever good!

Visiting Mount Etna Wineries

We hired a driver to take us from Catania to the Mt. Etna wine region. The drive was a bit more than 2-hours each way, traveling up and back down on narrow winding roads peppered with cute small towns and lots of vineyards.

Our first destination, Passopisciaro vineyards.

Conde arranged a tour of the winery which concluded with a full tasting of their 2022 wines. They pulled out all the stops during our three hour visit and we left with an appreciation of their wines. (To be fair, Conde knew all about their wines well before we ever arrived. Me, not so much.)

Then, off to a lunch dominated by fresh porcini mushrooms. Always pasta followed by a main dish. Here, both dishes were lathered in porcinis, although I stopped with the pasta and a bite of Conde’s animal protein.

Adequately sated, we popped into Terre Nere vineyards for a brief and very pleasant visit with Debora, the tending proprietress.

I quickly came to appreciate the omnipresent beauty of Mt. Etna, who I have come to call a “she” for her powerful glory and blessings of rich volcanic soils that nurture life.

I dozed in the back seat of the car during the drive back to Catania for a good nights rest before traveling to the Milazzo Port for a hydrofoil ferry ride to the Island of Santa Marina Salina for six nights in paradise.

We’ll see you in Salina!

For All You Geezers on the Go, Keep on Keeping on!