Our group assembled at Catania airport and boarded the coach, which took up the coast to Aci Castello. A short walk along the promenade admiring the ‘faraglioni dei Ciclopi’, which according to Homer were hurled there by an angry cyclops when it was blinded and tricked by Ulysses. Nowadays it seems to be a popular bathing place – and the sea was rather warm.
At the restaurant of Hotel Faraglioni we enjoyed a delicious lunch, with wines made from the flagship grapes of Sicily: Grillo and Nero d’Avola. A lovely introduction to Sicilian cuisine and hospitality, and we thanked the team (who had opened the restaurant on a Monday four times for Tim!).
An hour or so’s drive south, with a little doze for the very early risers, got us to Siracusa, where we checked into our hotel. A few of us congregated on the rooftop bar before dispersing for an evening meal (or maybe straight to bed).