Benvenuti Sicilia

The ferry from Malta to Sicily is a dream. Fast, easy, no customs. We lucked out on a 700 passenger boat with just 10 people. Glorious crossing on a sparkling day.

Our driver, Giovanni, met us with great flourish and typical Sicilian warmth. As dusk was setting we were driven on a new Autostrada that was completed last month. Huge improvement from 30 years ago. We drove past olive and almond orchards into the town of Noto by nightfall. We backed into what looked like an alley, but turned out to be the courtyard of Nicolacci Palace. Our hotel, Seven Rooms Villadorata, is one wing of the palace.

There may be seven rooms, but we were given 11 keys! Gaetano at the desk was wonderful at explaining, but it was almost a Saturday Night Live skit. The outer room door, the inner room door, the front door fob, the courtyard door, the garage entrance door, the key to the safe….. Maybe tomorrow it will make more sense. Right now, a good meal and a bed are all I’m looking for.

We made a dinner reservation at Manna in the courtyard of the hotel, and had a magnificent meal. And the wine…. I don’t even like wine, but we had a local white (Ciuri, terrazze dell’Etna) and local red (Nero D’Avola from Palermo) that were out of this world. Followed by a beet spuma with pecorino, an artichoke salad with a lemon oil dressing, lentil soup with marinated ricotta, veal loin and sea bream with capers for the price of lunch for 3 at the Ritz in Amelia.

And thus day 4 of the sojourn ends. Picture us under perfectly pressed sheets, chandelier above, and the scent of orange blossoms wafting in from the terrace. Buona Notte.