Food, Glorious Food!
Colazione (Breakfast)
The Italian breakfast is filled with sweets (even cannolis!), in season fruits, and an assortment of meat and cheeses complimenting morning cappuccino. If you do not like coffee, hot chocolate or juices are available. All breakfasts on this tour are included and many have outstanding views.
Food Feature - Arancini
Ball or cone shaped; arancina, arancini, arancine, or arancino. Whatever the shape or spelling, this Sicilian street food is delicious. Starting in Palermo we found Sfrigola -> by going out in the four corners for some dinner. These ‘arancine’ were round, we all enjoyed different flavors including prosciutto, pistachio, and bacon. Fun fact: the Oxford English Dictionary added ‘arancini’ in 2019. To understand the intricacies of this word visit these websites: Arancini enters Oxford English Dictionary -> , Arancina or Arancino? That is the Question! ->
As we moved around the island closer to Catania the ‘arancino’ became cone shaped rumored to be influenced by Mt. Etna.
Another memorable location was Rosticceria Da Cristina -> in Taormina, this location served cone and ball shaped ‘arancini’. Jessica was pleasantly surprised with hot dog and french fry pizza.
Food Feature - Gelato
To break up bus trips, we had several stops at cafes where we got gelato. Gelato, what’s not to like, has less butter fat than ice cream, it is very flavorful and just melts in your mouth. Our guide made sure she pointed out several gelato places along our trip. Also gave us some tips, look for natural colors, seasonal flavors, metal tins, and watch out for places where gelato looks like clouds.
If you get to Taormina you need to stop at D’Amore -> .
Monday Night Travel Feature->
The above features a discussion with Rick Steves & Fred Plotkin. We purchased a copy of the book and are looking forward to our next adventure in Italy.
