Mt. Etna Wine Tasting

Mt. Etna through the clouds

Sad to leave Ortigia, but excited to head on to Taormina our last stop of the tour.  Of course, there is lunch, and wine tasting at a winery on Mt. Etna, Tenuta de Fessina.  Driving up Mt. Etna, we can barely see the summit of the mountain through the clouds.  The summit is covered in snow, and our guide tells us that they were skiing up there till last week. 

Old vines

Our guide, one of the partners in the winery

Fermentation in a cave

After the tour, we headed upstairs for our lunch in a beautiful room overlooking the vineyards. 

I got a sneak peek at the food, when I happened upon our chef in his kitchen

Arrancini

Caponata

Chick pea soup with crispy pancetta and olive oil

risotto with nettles

Roasted potato with lemon meatballs

And..........cannoli!

Our chef takes a bow

Wines for the lunch

We rolled back onto the bus, and headed to Savoca the village that was featured in the Godfather movies. 

A long climb up the hill to get a coffee at the place Francis Ford Coppola would have his afternoon aperitivo

Finally, we are off to Taormina, the last stop on this tour.  Taormina is at the top of the hill, although many people stop here on cruise ships, they never seem to get to the top, and miss out of the beautiful ancient Greek and Roman amphitheater.  Our hotel for the next two days is the amazing Hotel Villa Belvedere.  It is located next to the public gardens, but its gardens are spectacular, with bouganvilla and wisteria in bloom. 

This is the deck off our room, and the view of the bay of Naxos

Tomorrow we will climb even further up the hill to discover the amphitheater.  Ciao for now.