Tea Time Travels

As I sit in our flat on this cloudy day, I think back to when we traveled to sunny Sicily last spring with two of our best friends. Oh, what I would give to be eating muscles while listening to the sweet sounds of the sea again!

We arrived in Sicily on Saturday, and based ourselves out of Palermo on the west coast of the Italian island. The first day we checked into our Airbnb and explored the local area admiring the architecture and scoping out local eateries.

We stayed in an amazing area very central to everything- we were right down the block from the Palermo cathedral and were greeted by the impressive 12th century church every time we left our apartment.

That evening we went on a walking Sicilian street food tour. We tried foods We tried different delicious types of arancini (fried balls of rice with various different filling) Sfincione (similar to foccacia, covered with a tomato sauce and anchovies), and various fried veggies. The only thing that was a ‘miss’ for me was Pani câ meusa, which translates to ‘bread with spleen’.

You can never forget desert! Our group split a couple of cannolis and cones of gelato.

That night we explored Sicily by night and went to a unique cocktail bar. They had a medicinal themed menu, which was presented to you in a tablet container. Each cocktail had the name of a different medicine and was presented in a fun cocktail glass.

The next day we explored the narrow Sicilian streets and explored various food markets. There was lots of different fruits, olives, spices, and seafood that all looked incredible. We looked into a few different churches and appreciated the architecture of the city’s buildings before heading to a rooftop bar for the sunset.

After a gorgeous sunset we continued wandering through the city. We were surprised at how much night life Palermo had. There were large groups of friends crowded throughout nearly every street- laughing, drinking, and enjoying the weekend.

The next day we decided to explore our next door neighbour- the Palermo cathedral. This stunning cathedral was built in 1184 over the base of a Muslim mosque. The area it was built on was very sacred- Phoenicians, Romans, Byzantines, and Arabs had previously built their own places of worship there.

Inside the cathedral were various chapels, crypt, and a treasury. We were also able to go up on the roof which offered incredible views of the city.

After visiting the beautiful cathedral we wanted to rent scooters to visit a coastal town. One thing we learned was not to trust Google Maps opening hours in this city, everywhere was still closed by noon!

We decided to take a taxi to Monte Pellegrino and visited a 17th century church that had been built into a cave. There were no photos allowed but it was truly beautiful and unique. The Santuario di Santa Rosalia was surrounded by breathtaking nature and embodied peace and serenity.

We then took a hike around the area to explore the views further. We ended up at a stunning overlook that gave incredible views of the town of Mondello.

We made our way down to the town’s main street and had one of the best meals of the trip. This colorful local seaside restaurant had incredible homemade pasta with fresh and flavorful shellfish.

We made our way to the water and watched the sky turn pinks and purples as the sun set on another beautiful day in paradise, reflecting on what a great trip it had been.

Our last stop in Mondello was a local winery we stumbled into that offered an amazing wine tasting menu. Our waiter so knowledgeable and kind, and he put together some wine and food pairings which were exquisite. The food pairings were very delicate and unique, and we discovered some new types of wine.

I have to add that each night we were there we ended the night with a pizza…. When in Italy!

It was another incredible trip with even more incredible friends. Ciao Sicily!