Traveling Sicily Like an Insider

By Kim Schneider

We’re standing in the shade of some craggy olive trees near the village of Balastrate as wine and olive oil maker Francesco Farina spouts a creative list of fun facts.

You pick olives while they’re green (not black) so they have higher antioxidants and aromas of artichoke and tomato.

You grind them into a paste, then spin that on a centrifuge to extract the oil. And then you taste in the true Sicilian way—like a close friend, in the family living room.

And when you’re living like a Sicilian, we learn, that you don’t just drizzle some of the world’s best olive oil over your pasta.

You soak your sandwich bread in it, and leisurely so you can stretch out the time for food and fellowship.

Scenscilly

At Scenscilly (a combination of Sicily and senses), wine and oil tastings last “It depends on how many stories my grandfather wants to tell,” Farina says with a grin. And you hope that’s a lot when you’re invited to gather around the colorful tablecloth set family-style with heaping bowls of olives, cheeses, and ever-flowing wine as he demonstrates how to make the region’s

trademark sandwich: the pane cunzatu.

You’ll leave (as we did) with a few bottles of oil to later replicate the tasty combo of wood-fired bread, aromatic oil, anchovies, fresh pecorino, oregano, tomatoes, and salt. But the best part? You also leave to to hugs and with new island friends—just as our trip organizers have intended.

Sicilian Adventures

Sicilian Adventures, a two-person operation headed by a couple with island roots, launched the all-inclusive vacation experience we’re on to host guests in groups of four and up over 10-day stretches of fun.

Groups stay in the multi-room villa where every room has a private bathroom.

Throughout the week, hosts Cynthia Hunter and her husband Dale (who goes by Hunter) serve memorable breakfasts like pistachio crème French toast and pour cocktails on the two rooftop patios overlooking the sea.

There’s a beach (where we found plenty of sea glass and practiced morning yoga) across the street.

And by day, the couple piles the whole crew family-style into their vehicle for trips to famous markets, ancient ruins, storied cathedrals, best-of-Europe beaches and dinners that tend to encompass most everything on a given menu.

It’s all done in a way that’s part adventure, part vacation so there’s room for what Cynthia calls Sicily’s slow life ethic. If guests seem extra tired after a day of hikes to cliffside overlooks or ancient ruins, she’ll offer an itinerary swap with a welcome statement like “Tomorrow, the beach?”

Oil Tasting and Sandwich Making

Those friends of the couple become yours too is made obvious the night after the oil-tasting and sandwich-making demo. Francesco and his girlfriend join our party at John Pizza in the town of Alcamo Marine, a seaside town within walking distance of our villa.

Hunter is the night’s scheduled entertainment and a true celebrity here. The retired pastor is on a second career of performing like an old-school crooner and is successful enough at it that he’s recognized everywhere we go. One gas station attendant pointed and exclaimed, “The Voice!”

His popularity spilled over onto us that night as not just the winemaker but also a young soccer player on tour and a 96-year-old woman after whom our villa was named joined our group.  We all dance together to the Twist, to some Italian pop songs, even to James Taylor’s “You’ve Got a Friend,” and then share pizzas, carbonara, and Sicilian wine. By the time we head back to the village, our trip parents have heated the hot tub and have it ready for a soak under the Sicilian moon.

“It’s like you enter temporarily into a family,” notes Michael Beckel of Colorado, who is among our group’s three couples and one solo traveler and is on his honeymoon with bride Patrizia. “You get involved in their lives as they do in yours. There’s professionalism but not a lot of distance. I think it’s amazing.”

Another Layer of Depth

The journey of Cynthia and Hunter and the stories of guests who’ve come before add another layer of depth to the adventure. Cynthia’s late husband was Sicilian, and with their kids, they spent summers in his family home in Scopello.

In her initial grief, she found it too painful to return, until a few girlfriends insisted they show them her Italian villa.

She surprised herself, she says, by finding joy in sharing her special place, and the company was born.

There’s a special magic to trips made by those seeking their Sicilian roots.

We all tear up at the tale of an older man who came to find a gravestone of a relative during a torrential downpour. It was raining so hard that they gave up trying to make out the names on gravestones, but as the man headed back to his car, his umbrella turned inside out and went tumbling across the cemetery.

It landed, Cynthia tells us, by the gravestone of the ancestor.

If Sicily is a big house with many rooms, a way it’s often described, you might consider the palatial Palermo to be the living room. That’s if yours was made of the butter yellow buildings and narrow courtyards that bring Paris to mind but add the layers of history found in few other spots in the world.

The way Sicily was ruled at various times by Greeks, Romans, Normans, Arabs, the French, the Spanish, and even the Swiss adds to the melting pot of both architecture and cuisine.

Most guests stop at UNESCO heritage sites like the gold-decked Palazzo dei Normanni. It’s the oldest residence in Europe and home to the famous Palatine Chapel built in 1140 and featuring shimmering mosaics. You can taste history at the equally famous Mercado del Capo.

The market is a feast for the eyes (and stomach) with its fresh-squeezed pomegranate juices, arrays of fish (some fried and on a stick), potato croquettes, prickly pears, pistachios, oranges, and so much more.

The location is near the capital of Sicily, Palermo, and the villa is named Alcamo Marina.

San Vito lo Capo is your “pool,” only instead of pool boys, you’ll find massage therapists who wander and offer affordable massages to be enjoyed on your lounge chair to the backdrop of the turquoise bay edged by mountains. And if you had your home temple (and you were the goddess of beauty), it would be Segesta, a Greek temple dedicated to Aphrodite.

You’ll live history at an archeological museum and dig reached by boat through salt flats, live legends in cathedrals where water is said to heal, and just get zen as you float on your boat trip in a grotto with a glass of great wine in hand.

Your dining room is the entire island because you’ll want to graze continually on the gelato, the fresh pasta topped often with pistachios, the fried risotto balls, and fresh pastries.

And the best pairing here seems to be fun—at least on this adventure. That’s especially true during a cooking class at A Tunnara.

Meet Chef Samara

There, you join Chef Samara who will alternately cheer you on, coach you, joke with you, maybe offer a hug for a cannoli well filled as one volunteer adds the wine to the fresh mussels, another puts the pasta on to boil, all of you laughing as you work. And then you eat outside to the sound of the waves.

Hunter will start singing—as he does at home, at the ruins, at gelato shops and wine cellars. More wine is poured. Someone pulls you to your feet for a dance in the sand, and you’re thinking, “May I live every day like a Sicilian?”

All-inclusive trips run around $3,600 a person, double occupancy, but solo travelers are welcomed and encouraged. To learn more or to inquire about a stay for Fall 2024 or Spring 2025: sicilianadventures.com or 504-210-5202.

Kim Schneider explores the world from her home base in Traverse City, Michigan’s wine and orchard country. Follow her travel visuals in real-time on Instagram, @travelingcoachkim.