A Summer in Sicily

Well, I’ve recently returned from a trip to Sicily, and what a relaxing trip that was.

With an appetite for arancini, gelato, and limonata finally satiated, I’m now getting round to working through the images I took whilst I was there.

We flew into Catania, picked up a little Fiat 500 which was going to be our trusty steed for the next 10 days and made our way down south to Siracusa. Here we stayed in the old town of Ortigia where we lost ourselves in the bustling flea markets and narrow whitewash streets running from sea to sea.

The next day we travelled to Ragusa for a few nights and for some real R&R. This was probably my favourite destination of the whole trip. Situated on top of a hilltop, Ragusa’s old town (Ibla) has a lovely charm to it and what felt like a much slower pace to the rest of Sicily. Here we took the time to admire the Baroque-style architecture, explore the winding back streets, and indulge in some of the best food that I’ve ever eaten. Period.

Our next destination was just outside of Agrigento and it may have been down to the fact that I enjoyed Ragusa so much, but I just felt there wasn’t much to be inspired by here. Our Fiat was also telling us we had a tyre puncture with over an hour left to drive which may have also played a role in my slightly melancholic mood on arrival. Don’t get me wrong, the Valley of the Temples was fun to walk around and we were blessed with another gorgeous Sicilian sunset which illuminated the ruins in a beautiful golden light, but other than that, I wasn’t too upset about leaving the next morning.

The final destination of our trip was Taormina where we set up base for the next few days. We had plans to visit Mt. Etna and the Aeolian islands but decided that it was too hot to do anything other than bask in the sun and swim in the sea. Taormina is a beautiful cliffside town with an infrastructure similar to Ragusa but the energy of Ortigia. We stayed in a hotel half way down the cliff between the old town at the top and the sea below. In hindsight, I wish we stayed in the old town as it would have meant we didn’t have to keep walking up and down hundreds of stairs to do anything, but at least it meant we earned that gelato.

It feels like we only just scratched the surface of what Sicily has to offer and I would love to return again. You easily spend a month or two there and still have more to discover. We took this trip to get away from work, read a few books, and eat some great food & drink so despite being there for 10 days, I didn’t actually take that many images (than I would usually would) but here’s a few of my favourite.

I hope you enjoy and if you’re thinking of planning a trip, feel free to get in touch for some recommendations.

Liam