Day 4 was the official promotion to visit Sicily, courtesy of Cefalu. There is a local Italian bakery in New Jersey, that use to have a picture of Cefalu, ironically around the corner from my grandmother’s home who is my connection to all of this. I asked her if she was from the town, she answered no, but that it was her favorite place to visit when she goes to Sicily. I now see why, after all I experienced today, but took for granted when I was here in 1997. The whole day was epic.

To begin the day we packed and prepared to check out since we would head to Taormina eventually at some point, but since it was the last day with family, we wanted to just let it happen as it did. To begin Monica had contacted a cousin of hers, because she found out at the last moment she had family here. Unfortunately the family was in Rome, but her cousin mentioned that the people we were going to buy special Sicilian ceramics from were probably relatives. Sure enough they were the exact people he was talking about. My cousin Sergio had initially recommended this place, unknowing they would turn out to be related.

The gentleman in the photo is cousins with one of Monica’s cousins, he and his wife are the ceramics company that Sergio recommended in front of their shop with a couple of their employees. Sergio and myself to the far right.

Monica was able to purchase the custom set of dishes she has wanted for, a fraction of the price she would pay in the states, from here we went to meet Alessio and Domenica to walk to the top of the rock where the old fort and city were at the top.

The hike was a little challenging at times, but much needed. We had a phenomenal time with many great views, and pictures and as usual a great guided tour by Sergio, Cefalu’s best guide. Alessio and Domenica are natural romantics, only making it right that they would be my featured picture, which promotes the romantic beauty of Cefalu and Sicily very well, far better than the movie “Cinema Paradisio.”

After our hike we walked around the town a little bit more and grabbed a fresh squeeze orange/lemon juice and a granita (a Sicilian ice similar to Italian Ice in the states). We had to get back to the house where Angelo was preparing yet another great meal for us. He was in Ventimiglia all morning at their harvest property, where he makes olive oil and other great items like fresh picked lemons. This town is where my grandmother’s family is originally from, we unfortunately did not have the time to make it here this time.

Angelo had a freshly butchered lamb he was preparing. It seems everyone trades their goods with each other in the area. A friend of his prepared the lamb, and then gave it to Angelo whole to cook for us. We had all types of styles from different liver plates to slices of meat. Of course we had more freshly made cheese, ricotta and formaggio salato. Our original goal was to leave by 3, but it ended up being closer to 6 with all the good conversation, brought to us by Google Translate. Monica’s Italian gets better everyday she uses it, but I speak none. It was nice to have the app to have a basic dialogue with Angelo and thank him for everything he and his family has done for us with their hospitality. It was also beautiful to express how grateful I was to renew the connection and affection my grandmother had to Maria Pia, Angelo and their family (his wife Maria, was our direct cousin who passed away several years ago).

We finished with a family photo, which included Giuseppe, the star of the show and reason for our visit due to his 103rd birthday March 11. We proceeded to Taormina which was a relaxing drive through the mountains, with a couple of challenging points due to my fear of heights. All was well and we arrived safely and joyfully. We had one of the best check in’s ever at the Hotel Belvedere upon our arrival. The view looked amazing in the evening, and she recommended a great restaurant, Rosmarino which just reopened that day for the season, a block away. We thoroughly enjoyed some more traditional Sicilian dishes. We had Sicilian Carbonara which included raw seared tuna, and a gnocchi with shrimp that was very light and flavorful. In addition we had baba and Taormina Tiramisu (I just coined that term). For more photo’s of the day click here

From left to right
Alessio (Daniela’s son), Daniele (her husband), Daniela (my cousin), baby Gabriele, Sergio (cousin), Giuseppe, Ina (Angelo’s girlfriend and Maria’s best friend from childhood, a blessed story), Domenica and Alessio (cousin), Monica and myself.

Day 4 Visit Sicily! It's a small world (Unofficial Promo)