White Almond Sicily

“To have seen Italy without having seen Sicily is to not have seen Italy at all, for in Sicily lies the key to everything” … Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Italian Journey, 1787 Sicily is located in the middle of the Mediterranean and she has so much to offer to visitors - traditions, ancient history, great temperatures, beautiful beaches, good food and her own Volcano all to create an exciting experience. Greek Theatre, Taormina & Mount Etna For me my favourite time in Sicily is Spring.  Spring arrives early starting with the Almond blossoms, Easter is a huge celebration with many traditional festivals and processions. Spring is a perfect time if you want to visit glamorous Taormina with its beautiful Greek Theatre and join the evening passeggiata with the beautiful people, walk amongst temples at mystical Agrigento or discover the romantic island of Ortigia. It is when the orange and lemon trees bloom and my fruit juicer goes into overtime with an abundance of citr...

Now we need to get you to our part of Sicily. This year we have more UK flights inbound than ever (yipee!!!), we recommend flying into Catania for easy accessibility to Taormina and surrounding areas. We have listed below the current flights we have at time of posting. London Gatwick - AirOne, British Airways, easyjet, Thomson, Norweigan London Luton - easyjet Birmingham -Thomson Manchester - easyjet, Thomson Dublin - Aer Lingus Last year a new airport opened at Comiso which is ideally situated for the south eastern towns of Noto, Ragusa and Modica (ideal for any Inspector Montalbano fans). On arrival at Catania or Comiso airports we can arrange private transfer to your hotel or villa, we use a trusted transport company with an executive fleet of vehicles which can accommodate any party size with English speaking drivers. We can recommend hotels in Taormina and Giardini Naxos to suit your needs, from luxury to boutique hotels, from family friendly ...

Imagine a place full of traditions, ancient history, myths and legends … lying on beaches surrounded by breath taking scenery and crystal clear waters, a place full of culinary delights with a mild and sunny climate for at least nine months of the year, a place with its own smoking volcano. Imagine Sicily. On our first trip to Sicily I was overwhelmed by the hospitality of the island and the Sicilians. Even after having our Sicilian home for seven years we are still good friends with the owners of the hotel we first stayed in, we are always welcome to pop in for breakfast and I have to say the breakfast at Hotel Villa Sirina is an amazing start to the day. As soon as I booked our first trip, me being a book geek, I ordered two books “The Rough Guide to Sicily” and “A House in Sicily” by Daphne Phelps. Since then I have read every book written about Sicily and anyone who has visited our Sicilian home are astounded by the amount I possess. My mission was to learn every...

As a child one of my favourite memories was family Christmases with my Grandmother and in particular the sweet table lovingly laid out with doilies, the usual mixture of Quality Street, Turkish Delight, Orange and Lemon Slices and Newberry Jelly Fruits all surrounded by a homemade Christmas Cake …. But I was always obsessed by the sugared almonds. “Just suck the sweet until the sugar dissolves and then you will reach the exotic almond”. I took many dance classes as a child until I was 16 years old, including character dancing which is a form of folk dance. My favourite dance was The Hungarian Branch dance which involved dancing with the branches of almonds trees with white almond blossom, of course growing up in London real almond tree's would be hard to find so my dance teacher found artificial branches. And there it began …. The White Almond. So years later at 18 years old I was invited to my first Greek wedding and at the end of the day I was given by the Bride and Groom ...