From the mountains to the sea

Today took us from the hilltop towns of Ragusa (where we stayed overnight) and Modica down to Siracusa on the coast via Marzamemi and the Vendicari nature reserve.

It would have been tempting to sleep-in after our late night (well after midnight!) but I got going about 7 a.m. and went for a walk around town while it was reasonably quiet.

Poor old Ragusa was half knocked out by a terrible earthquake in 1693 that devastated south-east Sicily and the ancient city was rebuilt; this is known as Ragusa Ibla and holds many UNESCO-protected Baroque architectural gems.

This is also Montalbano (the detective of the crime books of that name) territory: in the piazza at the foot of the Duomo, is the little neoclassical Circolo di Conversazione, founded as a social club for the Ragusan gentry, and where Montalbano breaks in on coroner Dottor Pasquano’s card game in the main-series episode "The Scent of the Night". There are even Montalbano tours - a great boon to the local tourism.

A quick breakfast for me and then the group took the bus to the Iblea Gardens which have nice views over the surrounding valley. The Duomo opened its doors conveniently at 10 a.m. just as we completed a nice walk around the surrounding streets. This is really the jewel of the town: the Basilica di San Giorgio, built in 1738; it sits imposingly at the top of some 200 steps and has an impressive neoclassical dome that was added in 1820.

Enroute back to our bus, we had a delicious (cassata siciliana) gelato at Gelati DiVini (meant to be one of the best in Sicily!) - which I was given free (!) for some reason that I think may have been that when I greeted him I asked him "come stai" (how are you?) to which he seemed to react favourably; this capped off a lovely morning in Ragusa which probably deserved more time but I was happy with what we did.

On to Modica we went - only about 10 kms away. The country is dry and there is a great deal of loose rock, often built into dry-stone walls. Much of the original work has mostly fallen into disrepair; old stone farmhouses appear to have been abandoned and there seem to be few functional farms.

Modica, like the other towns in the Val di Noto, was badly damaged in the 1693 earthquake and largely rebuilt in Sicilian Baroque style. It is divided into two parts, "higher" Modica and "lower" Modica, which are connected by numerous flights of steps. Palazzi and houses rise from the bottom of the gorge seemingly stacked one on top of the other.

Modica has a 400-year old tradition of Sicilian chocolate-making. Being part of the Spanish kingdom for so many years meant that Sicily was often one of the first recipients of the new foodstuffs being brought back from South America. Cacao was one of these and today Modica still specialises in making granulous chocolate, often flavoured with chilli pepper, cinnamon or vanilla, that is based on Aztec methods and recipes. Chocolate shops abound and, for the real chocoholic, it is sometimes possible to watch the "chocolatiers" at work which we did at one: Antica Dolceria Bonajuto, the oldest fabbrica that makes chocolate in Sicily; strangely I did not buy any ... amazing for me given my predilection for chocolate!

We visited a couple of magnificent churches towering at the top of seemingly endless flights of stairs. At one of these there was a funeral in progress; at the other, a wedding - and the organist was accompanied by a tenor with a beautiful voice singing Ave Maria. Wonderful!

After Modica we descended towards the coast and as we approached our lunch stop at Marzamemi, there were lots of vineyards and olive groves and market gardens of vegetables grown under plastic hot-houses. The ubiquitous date palms, oleander and prickly pear are everywhere.

Marzamemi is a very pretty fishing village dating back to the time of the Arabs in the 10th century. We had a delicious lunch of swordfish (pescespada) at Cortile Arabo, a restaurant in the most wonderful setting by the turquoise blue sea.

 

 

 

 

It was mid-afternoon and hot at Vendicari nature reserve which is a mixture of lagoons (pantano), sand dunes, rocky coastlines and sandy beaches. It is a nice seaside walk to the old tuna processing plant (tonnara). It is also noted for the thousands of migrating birds that pass a few days here on their way to or from Africa (flamingos, herons, storks, cormorants, ducks, mallards, pintails, terns).

Finally we arrive into Siracusa. At the height of its power, Syracuse was the most important city of Magna Graecia and had an estimated population of 200,000 and according to Cicero, was "the most beautiful [Greek city] of them all".

We have a nice hotel on the waterfront. We unpacked and showered after a welcome granita on the balcony above reception; and then strolled along the promenade by the sea. It is a beautiful old town.

We enjoyed a drink at Caffè Minerva listening to a man playing a nice range of tunes on his piano accordian; this was after walking through the enormous Piazza Duomo which has magnificent buildings and the magnificent Duomo which we just managed to get a "look-see" inside before it closed. A bride and groom were getting photos taken on the steps - he looked like an ‘extra’ out of Ballroom Dancing: all flashing eyes, glistening teeth, thin, black glossy hair, beautifully dressed in his suit.

We wandered until we found Trattoria da Mariano recommended by Plotkin - tucked away in a tiny narrow street, and steep! Ate my food with the plate almost sliding down the street. Food pleasant, not outstanding. I had the farfalle with zucchini flowers (ai fiori di zucca, ciliegino e rucola); I didn't like the look of My Friend's snails in tomato sauce (lumache al pomodoro)!

Unfortunately when I got back to our hotel, I realised I did not have my reading glasses, and guessing they'd fallen out of my bag back at the restaurant, we had to make a hasty retreat back there - a walk I really didn't need, but the glasses were there on the ground. Lucky!