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.)

  Fishing boats, a port and coloured houses After spending a night, sleeping before the temple of Segesta last summer, we headed to the seaside village of Castellammare del Golfo, about 20 kilometres from Segesta and an hour or so west of Palermo.

Castellammare, a fishing port filled with colourful boats, houses nestled, restaurants, a historic centre with paved streets, sandy beaches and lovely public gardens, sits beneath hills on the Tyrrhenian Sea, with an old, sea facing Saracen castle.