Today is our day to explore the extreme southern portion of Sicily. We retraced our steps with the smaller vans to pick up our larger touring van on the mainland where we began a “road trip” to several small towns in this part of Sicily. These are not particularly tourist towns so we will get to experience the “real” Sicily life.

Our first stop was in Noto, a town with a current population of 24,000, dates back to 283 BC. Like most Sicilian towns it has been occupied by the Greeks, the Romans and the Arabs before the Normans arrived in 1091. In 2002 the town and its 1776 Sicilian Baroque cathedral were named as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Our visit included a short walking tour through the city and some free time to explore on our own.

Back on the bus, our next stop was Ragusa, a hilltop (300 meter high) city of 73,288 people with a similar occupation history as was Noto. The Ragusa area was the location for the landing of Allied forces (Operation Husky) during the WWII invasion of Italy. Again a short walking tour of Ragusa-Ibla (the old town-which is always the most interesting part) followed by free time. But first we were taken to a private palace overlooking the main square, owned by the same family for over 200 years. We were met by the grandson of the owners who gave us a personal tour and then offered us Prosecco and snacks before we departed. He graciously answered our questions about the family and life living in such a magnificent home in this day and age. As is common with buildings of this size and age the costs to operate and maintain them requires the owners to open it to groups such as ourselves. It was a great opportunity to see how the “rich” people lived back then.

After the palace tour we were given time to explore further and/or have lunch on our own. We were looking for something light and in the shade as it was getting hot. We happened on a small panini/pizza shop with big umbrellas and a nice breeze so we stopped there for a bite to eat. We ordered what we thought would be on the light side as there was a group dinner scheduled for this evening. I had been craving a green salad, Yvonne wanted her Panini, Gerry wanted a hamburger and Sue simply wanted a small pizza. What arrived at our table brought laugher and groans as the dishes were simply HUGE! We could have fed a family of 4 or more with what we had on our plates. The food was very good but needless to say, we hardly put a dent into what was served. It was our laugh of the day. Spoiler alert: We found that most of the meals we had in Sicily involved very large portions and seldom were we able to clean our plate. The Sicilians must be large eaters!

The last stop was more of a photo stop overlooking the quaint town of Modica.  Modica is another hill town (296 meters high) with a population of  54,456. It dates back to around 1,000 BC. Its claim to fame are its chocolates, which are sold all over Sicily. We stopped for pictures and our driver brought out a bottle of a Marsala wine for us to share. We did not visit the town that made it famous but at least we got a taste of their well known product.

It was then back to Siracusa for some rest before meeting for a dinner at a local restaurant called “Peperosa Tratorria” where Yvonne and Sue won the prize with their selection of their main course-a deboned chicken leg stuffed with ricotta cheese and spinach with a side of potatoes that were similar to potato skins.

Steps for the day: 6,739- a rest day!