Adventures with Julia

First I want to make a correction. All the time I have been calling the villa “Il Borgo” thinking that was the name of the villa, but I just learned that Borgo is not the name. It merely references a place. So the name of our villa is Commenda di San Calogero. This explains why everyone was having a hard time finding the place. Thank goodness that problem is solved.

Monday, September 25, 2023

Today was the food tasting tour in Catania.  Another event arranged by Terry.  Almost everyone got themselves to the elephant sculpture in the middle of the main piazza at 10am.  

There we met the walking food guide, Peppe.  He spoke English well and was loud and clear to hear.  We wandered through the fish market and arrived at a café that served us the most traditional, Sicilian food item called arancini.  It consists of a ball of rice and breadcrumbs filled with cheese and ham and deep fried.  It was delicious.  Then we cruised through other streets and tasted other foods that did not capture my taste buds.  We stopped for different drinks along the way too.  The most interesting was a mix of sparkling water, lemon juice and salt.  Supposedly it is an energy drink.  I drank it, but would not ask for it again.  

Along the walk Peppe took us to an ancient underground river and spring which were fascinating to see.  He finished the tour at a café that served us a variety of ice creams and coffee drinks.  I tried to get the drink we had had with Silvia a few days before, but it was only a partial approximation.  While at one café, I noticed it was very close to the Osmundo hotel we had stayed in a few nights before.   I wanted people to see how unusual it was, so I invited a few ladies and got in to see the public rooms.  They enjoyed the art as much as we had. Once we were finished with Peppe, we drove back to the villa to enjoy the pool and visit the rest of the day.  In addition to sunshine, the sky blessed us with several sprinkles of rain drops. No one was bothered by the rain.  Most everyone stayed at the villa for dinner. It is hard to keep track of who was doing what, but everyone seems to be having a good time.    

Tuesday, September 26, 2023

Our fisrt day with no planned activities and everyone had an idea how to spend their day.  For me it was about the jigsaw puzzle I had brought from home.  It is a map of Italy indicating all the wine growing regions.  I set it up in the poolside dining area and put in the edges.  Soon others came around and started adding pieces.  My hope was to engage people in a collective activity and it seemed to work.  The steam room was on and hot.  The pool was delightful.  A small group went to Agrigento and another to Villa Romana for sightseeing.  Some went to nearby Brucoli for dinner.  Others stayed at the villa with Mark and me.   Here are a few images taken by others.

Wednesday, September 27, 2023

Today was Cannoli making day in Taormina, another activity Terry McAteer had arranged. High on a hillside overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, Taormina was a lovely place to see and visit and even more special having an activity to share.  The drive was 1.5 hours north of the villa and everyone went on the adventure, although a few did not engage in cannoli making.

We set off at 8:30 to be in time for our 10:30 date at Porto Messina Restaurant.    The restaurant was ready for our large group of 21 and we were each assigned a station in front of a small pile of flour, a half cup of wine, a quarter cup of sugar, an egg, a quarter cup of butter, a dash of cocoa powder and a pinch of cinnamon.   We mixed it all together and kneaded it until it was firm.  Then we rolled the blob into a thin flat shape we then cut into rings with round or square cutters.   Then we rolled the rings around split metal tubes and sealed the dough rings with egg white.   Some of us never quite got the hang of the process, but we all had fun making a mess any why.  The rings that were decent looking, went into boiling oil and came out fried.  Immediately after the dough was cooked, we removed the split rings from under the cooked dough by twisting them.  If all went well, the cannoli came out whole and was ready to be stuffed.  Once we had made the filling of ricotta or lemon curd, we stuffed as many as we could and then ate them, almost as fast as we stuffed them.  Much fun was had by all.  

After cleaning up as best as possible, Catherine and Martin White and Mark and I went on a guided tour of the city.

The town was packed with tourists, many of whom were from ships parked in the bay at the bottom of the town.  After wandering past many upscale shops and interesting facades and churches, we reached the 3^rdcentury BC Greek-Roman Amphitheater on the same level as mid-town.  It affords a super view of town and the sea in the distance.  Then we stopped at the Hotel Metropole in the middle of town and had a pizza and beer.   

We drove back to the villa and relaxed a while.  Then the 4 of us changed and went back to Catania for a Michelin Star dinner a place called Sapio.  The table was big enough for 8 and we had a hard time talking to each other across the expanse.  We laughed about the ridiculously oversized table and agreed to order a very nice 7-course meal that did not leave me overstuffed.  Mark, however, said he was more than full.

Thursday, September 28, 2023

This was our day to drive to Ragusa, walk the town per Rick Steve’s book, get a tour of a private home in the downtown and walk to another Michelin star restaurant.  This one was reputed to have 2 stars.  

As everyone was booked for the lunch, we all carpooled and enjoyed the scenic drive to Ragusa.  Parking was a bit of an issue for some, but eventually we all got parked and met up in the town.  The beginning was a lovely garden at the bottom of the rather steep hillside town.  After walking around the garden, we slowly walked up hill passing more shops, and trinket stores. 

 Midtown, we reached the private home we were scheduled to tour and met the owner.  Once we were all assembled, he walked us up a large central staircase into the formal rooms of the palatial home.  We were invited to inspect the ball room, drawing room, dining room and an office space.  We saw paintings and photographs of his relatives going back 5 generations, a ball gown worn by a great grandmother, several Venetian glass chandeliers, several generations of furniture.  His parents still live in the half of the house he did not show us.  His ancestors had been aristocrats, and public figures in the community.  It was an interesting tour that lasted about 45 minutes.   Then he pushed us out the door as he had an Italian group coming right behind us. I suspected this was his way of paying for the maintenance of the property, but it looked quite neglected

Exactly at that moment Scott Kellerman appeared with his luggage in tow.  He was expected, but it was still a surprise to actually see him.   

We all continued up hill to the cathedral, which was lovely to see and visit and then, at 2pm, we converge on Ciccio Sultan Duomo, the Michelin 2-Star restaurant Terry had booked us into for a 3-course lunch. We took up the entire placed sitting in overly padded, all white chairs in 2 all white rooms.  The wine flowed freely, and everyone became quite jovial.  It was a delightful afternoon with wonderful, delicious food.

After departing the restaurant everyone ambled downhill to their cars and drove back to the villa with a stop along the way in the little town of Modica, famous for its chocolate, especially the factory called Antica Dulceria Bonajuto  

 The factory was located on a side street off the main street of town. Eventually everyone found the place and we all bought bars of different flavors to take home and indulged in a cold; very dark chocolate drink topped with heavy whipped cream.  If we were not stuffed already, the drink finished us off.  By the time we got back to the villa, the sky was dark, and we were all pooped.