Summer Story – Sicily

Hello Friends, I don’t know about you but I love summer more than Olaf and this summer has been FULL of such warmth and wonder. The world opened up again and I’ve been excited and grateful to get out and about experiencing new places and revisiting others that have a piece of my heart. I’ve got a lot of special photos to share but have wanted to sit on them as they ruminate around mind and fill my soul with inspiration. I’m going to start to share them throughout the Autumn  giving them the space and attention they deserve.

Let’s start with Sicily, a country full of gentle grandeur, warm tones, natural textures and happy happy days.

When we could travel and our children were younger we visited France and Mallorca a few times, all good trips but this year we wanted to explore somewhere fairly close but also new. After an evening of checking August EasyJet prices, Sicily came in the most affordable, which made the decision an simple one! I didn’t do much research before we went, my husband found a great farmhouse hotel close to Catania Airport which had a pool, beach and served pizza from 10am. I didn’t have many expectations about exploring the island so didn’t do much/any research before we left. However, once we found our feet we did manage to get out and about quite a bit.

Our closest town was actually the city of Catania, we visited one evening and was pleasantly surprised with how photogenic it was. The main street gave a framed view of Mount Etna and there was a grittiness about it that had me intrigued. We didn’t get a chance to go back but I would another time. Our favourite place had to to be most picturesque town of Ortigia, it’s definitely on the list of ‘places to go back to when the children grow up’. We arrived about 6pm just after a rainfall, so the streets were quiet and perfect for exploring. With little ones in tow who’d prefer to be swimming, adventure time was limited but we managed a stroll and dinner on the street running up to the Duomo which was really good. About 20 minutes from our hotel was the town of Brucoli, we visited a few times for dinner. It’s a really pretty place that wakes up as the sun goes down, perfect for people watching. The final town we visited was Acireale, another pretty place with amazing views of the sea. Head to Via Romeo, cross over the bridge and follow the path down towards the sea. We didn’t make the whole way down because of little legs but enjoyed the beautiful views all the same.

I had no expectations prior to our holiday about how Sicily would be, travel with children isn’t always the easiest or most fun but this holiday was. We kept our days simple by the pool or on the beach and then took advantage of the mediterranean lifestyle to explore as the night fell. As a family we spend a lot of time in two separate spheres, my husbands hours are incredibly long and intense meaning  he’s away from us most of the week and my days are long and intense as I have my children under my responsibility full time. Uninterrupted time without pressure and deadlines feels like the biggest luxury and I’m so grateful Sicily gave us back what we needed as a family. I would definitely return, I feel there is still so much more waiting for us.