Granita, summer blooms, Sicilian pottery and a church in Erice:

Eating almond granita in the shaded, side garden at Maria Grammatico’s famed pasticceria in Erice; the taste of many sweet almonds, pure and ground. (I think it has to be one of the best granitas I have eaten.)

A magnolia tree in bloom in Piazza Medici in Polizzi; the glow and shadow of the up lit 12^th century church of San Nicolo just down the slope from Piazza Medici and the soft, early morning light from the terrace of Palazzo Notar Nicchi in Polizzi.

The aqua blue green of the sea at Terrasini, just west of Palermo, bougainvillea in bloom in Taormina on the Ionian Sea, and the ceiling of the Chiesa Matrice, Erice.

The detail of a decorated Sicilian head: a radiant beauty created by Caltagirone potter Besnik Harizi. And to bring another Besnik Sicilian queen, her hair wrapped with a blue turban, back to Polizzi.

And Palermo:

Palazzo Dato on Via Settembre XX; Piazza San Domenico and the beauty of the San Domenico Church; overcast morning light at Palermo's water's edge below Monte Pellegrino and a striking palazzo around the corner from Sicily's Regional Art Gallery just off Via Alloro.

Badda beans, cherries, sunsets and a Greek theatre

The deliciousness of Polizzi’s perfectly shaped, Slow Food endorsed Badda Bean with short pasta at Ristorante Pizzeria Itria, in Polizzi.

A gift of local cherries from an elderly neighbour across the rear Piazza, Piazza Sant’Orsola; at the back of the house.

To see fresh Badda beans for the first time; picked from a mountainside plot, outside Polizzi, off the Scillato Road.

And to watch a fading sun slowly set from Piazza Trinita; Polizzi’s best spot for sunsets over the mountains.

A quiet evening performance at the Greek theatre of Segesta (my first), was simply magical; the golden stone of Cefalu's duomo.

And, to enter the cool of Polizzi’s Chiesa Madre and see the glorious detail of the 15^th century Flemish triptych, restored.

I enjoyed many moments travelling Sicily in 2016 and I look forward to sharing more travel notes and stories in 2017.

Salve,

Suzanne