ANDIAMO SICILY Itinerary BOOK NOW SEPT 2019

Transcription

1 ANDIAMO SICILY ʻ19 Itinerary BOOK NOW SEPT 2019 SICILY 2019

2 BUONGIORNO! As you may know, my family comes from Sicily. Kerryn and I have recently arrived back and frankly can t wait to get over again to the beautiful island of my ancestors, Isola Bella. You should come with us. After a lot of research, and some personal experiences, we have put together an itinerary that will showcase the best that Sicily has to offer. You will get a taste of what Sicily is all about including gorgeous beaches, live volcanoes, ancient Greek cities, spectacular seafood and amazing wines SEPT 2019 The tour starts in Siracusa and includes all accommodation for 7 nights, one night in Siracusa with a cooking class by Alessia and 6 nights at the villa with cooking classes conducted by Sam. We will also tour Mount Etna, Taormina and Siracusa and dine at a local restaurant. All meals and drinks/alcohol are included. Once you arrive at the villa, you won t have to worry about a thing. We ll look after you. Beauty therapist, Venera, is an added feature to our tour. She was very popular on last year s tour providing facials, massages, reflexology, manicures and pedicures. THE PRICE PER PERSON IS $3, I have attached all relevant information for your perusal. If you have any questions or wish to book a spot, please give me a call! CIAO SAM FAZIO

3 Day One FRIDAY 20TH SEPTEMBER The experience starts in the spectacular UNESCO island of Ortiga in Siracusa. Siracusa was the most important city of Magna Graecia. It defeated the mighty Athens in 413 and was home to many a great Greek, including the inimitable Archimedes. In Siracusa you will be experiencing the flavours of Sicily during a cooking class with Alessia. The cooking class will begin at the Ortigia fresh food market. Here we will buy all the fresh produce that we will prepare, cook and then eat all together in Alessia s very own kitchen. After all that walking, cooking and eating you will have free time in the late afternoon to relax, do some shopping or just sit in the magnificent piazza and enjoy a late afternoon Aperol Spritz. The evening is yours to explore some more, find one of the many little restaurants serving stunning local food. Accommodation has been reserved for you at Palazzo Gilistro, right in the heart of Ortigia.

4 Day Two SATURDAY 21ST SEPTEMBER Saturday morning will see us rising early for breakfast and the Fazio team will ensure you are fed and appropriately caffeinated before being collected by our driver to visit Gambino Winery, one of Mount Etna s most famous wineries where you will go on a tour, followed by a traditional Sicilian lunch and wine tasting of course. The fertile volcanic soils in this region support extensive agriculture, with vineyards and orchards spread across the lower slopes. Etna has become one of Italy s most exciting wine regions. Its volcanic soil and distinctive climate create wines with intense minerality and effusive flavours. Ambitious winemakers from outside the area have joined local residents in recent years, drawn by the potential of Etna s fertile slopes. After lunch our group will then be driven to the spectacular Case Di Tindari villa, where you will check in and settle into your accommodation for the next six nights. You will have time to explore the villa grounds, relax and freshen up before welcome drinks and a traditional Sicilian dinner will be prepared for you by the Fazio Team, which will take place on the terrace overlooking the Ionian Sea, featuring delicious local wines.

5 Day Three SUNDAY 22ND SEPTEMBER In order to acclimatise to the Sicilian way of life, a late breakfast will be served by the Fazio team. After breakfast is free time. This is a good opportunity to explore the town of Tindari and the local cathedral of the Madonna di Tindari. The Fazio team will serve lunch upon your return featuring traditional Sicilian dishes such as; homemade pasta with squid ink, stuffed eggplant and whitebait fritters. You can then spend the afternoon enjoying the picturesque views from the balcony with a book in hand, swimming in the infinity pool, soaking up the Mediterranean sun or by enjoying a favourite Italian pastime, opening the windows, letting the warm Sicilian breeze in and having a Siesta. Sunday night is pizza night, where we will be making pizza from scratch. Sam who knows a thing or two about making pizza will show you how to step by step, using the 200 year old wood fired oven; Sam is convinced that this oven has a soul.

6 Day Four MONDAY 23RD SEPTEMBER Monday is beach day, the nearby town of Mongiove boasts a stunning beach with views out to the Eolian Islands, and our team will take you on the short drive down to Mongiove. Lunch will be at the beachside restaurant hosted by our friend Fausto. For those guests wishing to stay at the villa Sam will cook lunch for you. In the evening, the Fazio team will welcome you to the terrace for Gin and Tonics before our cooking class during which you will learn to cook some of Sam s favourite dishes from the cookbook including; stuffed calamari, involtini of swordfish and risotto.

7 Day Five TUESDAY 24TH SEPTEMBER On Tuesday, we will be spending the day in the beautiful seaside town of Taormina. Spectacularly perched on the side of a mountain, Taormina is Sicily s most popular summer destination, a chic resort town beloved of holidaying high-rollers and visiting celebs. And while the main street is lined with high-end designer shops, the town remains an achingly beautiful spot with gorgeous medieval churches, a stunning Greek theatre and sweeping views over the Gulf of Naxos and Mt Etna. We will be travelling by boat to Isola Bella and enjoying the spectacular views of the coastline along the way. A cable car takes us to up to the top of the town, where a guided walking tour has been arranged that includes the ancient Greek theatre. Lunch will be served at Granduca, which has arguably the best views in Taormina. Day Six WEDNESDAY 25TH SEPTEMBER Today is a free day! After all the activity from the trip to Taormina and all that shopping must have left you ready for a pool day or a trip to the beach, there s many beautiful beaches that the team can get you to. Also another opportunity if you haven t already is to book in with our resident beauty therapist for that last facial or massage before heading off on Friday. Wednesday night is gnocchi night and this will be our final cooking class of the experience!

8 Day Seven THURSDAY 26TH SEPTEMBER As Thursday will be our last full day at the villa, it is the perfect opportunity to take a final swim in the Ionian Sea, laze by the pool or just hang out with Sam while he prepares lunch. (Of course you may wish to get an early start on packing). Thursday night will be our final night in Tindari and what better way to end our fantastic Sicilian adventure than to frock up and dine out at one of the very many fantastic local restaurants. Day Eight FRIDAY 27TH SEPTEMBER Friday concludes our Sicilian Experience with breakfast being served by the Fazio team out on the terrace followed by any final packing, if needed.

9 SAM FAZIO Chef, Author, Tour Director and Restaurateur I was born on 26 January, 1960 in the Melbourne beachside suburb of Brighton. I am the first born of five to immigrant parents from Sicily, Italy. Although a qualified chef, I was first taught to cook by my mother, Angela. My father, Angelo, grew up on a vineyard in Sicily and fished in the summer not only for food but to supplement the very meagre income from the vineyard. My mum was the daughter of a fish merchant who sourced fish from the local fisherman, right off the beaches. They then whisked the fresh fish into the Sicilian countryside on the back of Vespa s. Food has always been a big part of my family. Dad had an amazing ability to grow an array of vegetables from his back garden and fish for local fish, like calamari, snapper, flathead and garfish. Mum almost limitless recipes taught to her by her mother, meant my siblings and I grew up surrounded by beautiful produce lovingly cooked by their mum. I am married to Kerryn and we have 3 grown up children; 2 sons and a daughter. EARLY FOOD MEMORIES I remember, as though it was only yesterday, waking up on a Sunday morning and thinking Oh no... got to get up for school (I never liked studying much). Then came the glorious euphoria of realising that it was Sunday. I would pull up the blankets and enjoy the warmth, knowing that I could stay in bed for as long as I liked, or until dad got us up (because he believed lying in bed all day was a waste of a day). What is that aroma?, mum frying off polpetti (meatballs) for Sunday lunch, Dad s favourite and his most requested Sunday lunch. Spaghetti with fresh tomatoes, basil and polpetti, delicious. Now the dilemma set in, do I stay put and enjoy my warm bed or get up and hopefully steal a couple of polpetti before everyone else had the same idea.

10 SAM FAZIO Chef, Author, Tour Director and Restaurateur After several minutes and attempts to get back to sleep, the intoxicating aroma of still more meatballs frying in the pan before going into the tomato sauce was too much and I would get up only to find the rest of the household, four siblings and Dad, already nestled comfortably in Mum s little kitchen, happily munching half-cooked polpetti with stale bread from the day before. Mum, of course, would pretend to get angry, I would steal a glance at Dad and see that he was happy and content that his clan was up and eating. I think these are my most loved memories of not just food and its aromas but of family and a sense of belonging, a common thought - Get up before they run out! No chance of course, Mum being the wily Sicilian wife and mother, anticipated this stampede into her kitchen and always had extra. In fact, if we didn t urge her to cook faster I m sure she would have been disappointed. Of course there was always plenty. A sense of abundance and a generous hand was and still is what our family is all about. In fact, to this day, when trying out a new chef if I see a mean hand, a lack of generosity, I know he or she is unsuitable. I am looking for that generous hand, the love of food and that desire to totally satisfy the people you are feeding. There is no room in my kitchen for mean-spirited people. In the Sicilian language, and it is a language not a dialect, there is a term Mala Figura (Loss of Face). There is absolutely nothing worse in Sicilian culture than running out of food. It is much better to have heaps left over, even if it takes days to eat the leftovers. Insufficient amount of food is unthinkable! The values of Italian life and culture encompass not only food, but also love of family and friends. Sicilians are wary and suspicious at first, but once friends are made they are loyal to them and make them part of their family. In Italian culture the connections between friends, family and extended family often become blurred, a friend becomes family and a cousin becomes your best friend

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