Some recollections strolling Villa Comunale, Taormina’s public gardens, late this June: summer neared; skies were clear and blue; vibrant bougainvillea cascaded; avenues were cool and shaded; goldfish swam, and people wandered.

Once the garden of the Englishwoman Florence Trevelyan, created in the late 19th century, Taormina’s Villa Comunale has intricate, storeyed follies or 'beehives' as Florence Trevelyan called them (Raleigh Trevelyan, The Companion Guide to Sicily) of stone and brick, a little time worn and infused with sheer magic.

Heading to Caltagirone this summer my travelling companion and I stopped in the small town of Piedimonte Etneo on the lower slopes of Mt Etna, bought some local cherries and later that afternoon checked into a small B&B in Caltagirone for a night.

The balcony of the room sat on the edge of the town's splendid staircase, La Scalazza which is made up of 142 majolica tiled steps, and leads to the church of Santa Maria del Monte. And the view from the windows of our ‘room on the steps’ overlooked the tiles of Caltagirone’s roofs and majolica Baroque belltowers.