Fertile Sicily

We've driven Sicily from Palermo to Syracusa so far. We've been surprised by how green and lush the island is. There are crops planted in every conceivable place, and in great quantities: olives, vines, lemons, almonds, pistachios,.... Sicilians consider their products to be the best, and so far we cannot argue this. Gilles' favourite wine grape, Nero d'Avola, is native to Sicily and relatively hard to find in Canada and most are not familiar with it. But in Sicily, it is considered King. If you ask for red wine, you get Nero d'Avola or Nero d'Avola. Gilles is in heaven! They are serious about their nuts also. There are two town that are famous for their nuts...it has somewhat of a cult-like status here. Noto has almonds, and Bronte has pistachios. We have eaten this in every possible dish, from gelato to cornetto spread to seafood pasta dishes. We bought types of nuts from the market today and they are like no other we have tasted! The seafood here is amazing! We have never seen it so fresh. It's displayed in the restaurant's entrance on ice and most is still squirming. And how will we return to a life without arancinis? These balls of fried rice, the size of an orange, stuffed with ragu, prosciutto and cheese or spinach and cheese are to die for!
The culture in Sicily is very different than that of mainland Italy. The people we have met here are incredibly friendly, perhaps because they have no rush in life. It has been an interesting experience driving. Picture roads with no rules, traffic lights that do not work, and polizia that can't be bothered to pursue anything. The horn is a communication tool that we have not totally grasped yet. We checked on our vehicle this morning to ensure that it was safe to find that we were blocked in by three cars! It's a good thing we had no plans of leaving.
We're staying on Syracusa's little island called Ortygia. Unfortunately, it is raining today so our views are limited. Tomorrow we head for the resort town of Taormina with some side trips to Godfather scene locations and Mt Etna. The volcano has been active recently, so we may not be able to approach it very closely. Hopefully the weather turns, as we're looking forward to another beach day. We spent the afternoon at a beautiful sandy beach near Agrigento last Thursday. We were the only ones who entered the water, and pretty much the only ones on the beach. I guess what Canadians and Italians consider hot weather are two different things!