Most Inspirational Moment
Too many to mention, but street food in Palermo markets, lunch in Piazza Armerina, and all the incidentals associated with visits to local producers (meeting water buffalo herd, cookery lesson near Trapani). Visits to cultural sites were a good contrast: it was interesting to see how they had developed and changed since we visited over 15 years ago.
The fact that, despite its being the first tour for over 2 years, it all seemed to run smoothly.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Rosario was really enthusiastic about the history and culture of his home island, and ready to transmit this in his good English; he also has a good sense of humour, which may have been tested at times. He managed to deal with the varying requirements of the group, and was always ready with recommendations of ways to spend any spare time, or places to eat.
Our driver, Maurizio, was excellent, both at negotiating some of the roads and dealing with slight changes to the route, in particular being led through Piazza Armerina by a police car, rather than having to wait for an hour while the Giro di Sicilia passed through.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Don't expect a restful holiday! Apart from at the beginning and end, with 2 nights each in Palermo and Catania, we stayed somewhere different every night; that provides a challenge for sensible packing.
if you're going in early April as we did, you may need some warmer clothes to deal with the time in Ragusa, Noto and Mt. Etna: while the UK was having a heatwave, we were all scrabbling for extra layers to cope with the cold winds!
Suggestions
It would have been good to visit Siracusa (as in the original itinerary) and possibly Taormina, which would mean a longer tour - and perhaps slightly more relaxed.
if you make the trip longer, would it be possible to arrange a trip from Palermo to Cefalu? It was the original French capital of Sicily, and has the first cathedral, which is like a mini-Monreale.
