In February during our winter break, we went to Sicily for a week. Thanks to the miracle of the internet, we were able to book this trip a few days before we left. 
We flew into Catania on Saturday night and picked up our car rental before driving north to the town of Taormina where we stayed for three nights. Upon our arrival in Taormina, we went out for what was a late dinner for us, but a normal dinner time for all of the cool Italians at Ristorante Pizzeria Tiramisù. Good food and even better restaurant name.
Balanced breakfast in Taormina. While we had kitchens in all of our Airbnbs, laziness prevailed and this was our breakfast each day.
We stayed in this Airbnb and had the view pictured above.
Church in downtown Taormina. The downtown strip is called Corso Umberto which provided a great route to walk.
Sicily is known for these fried rice treats called arancini. Not wanting to disrespect the culture, we averaged about one arancini per day. This one is the classic ragu flavor from L’Arco-About Pizza and definitely the best one we had!
Typical Sicilian hairstyles
We spent lots of time wandering the streets and hills on Taormina. We also spent lots of time going to restaurants and sights that were closed because it was the low season. Above is the result of walking for a while to a restaurant that was closed and then finding that the cable car to get back up the mountain was closed too. Luckily there was a drink stand in the parking lot of the cable car station. The iced snack is called granita and it was delicious!
Tourists ruining our ruins photo at the Teatro Greco. Mt. Enta is photobombing too.
Classic Sicilian salad of fennel, oranges, onions, oregano, and either anchovies, capers or olives. Easy to make too; this version looks nice.
We hiked up to the village of Castello di Mola to visit Bar Turrisi and try some of their almond wine. At the bar (4 floors up), we had unexpected views of Mt. Etna and an unexpected theme of phallic symbols everywhere in the bar. Tiles, door handles, statues…you name it, it had a wiener on it. The other pictures we took were NSFW.
Lunch at Bar Turrisi, accompanied by a bottle of almond wine. Surprisingly, their choice of dishware was PG-13. The dish on the left is called caponata, another classic Sicilian dish. Also pictured is eggplant parm and some antipasti.
One of the winners of the pistachio dessert competition. Lots of entries but we were the only judges.
Another winner pistachio dessert contest.
After Taormina, we drove south to Syracuse where we stayed for one night. Within walking distance is the island town of Ortigia where we saw the Fontana di Diana pictured above.
Next up was one of our favorite places, Ragusa. Ragusa is a tiny hilltop town with tiny men on tiny horses. We stayed in this beautiful Airbnb, in Ragusa Ibla, the old town.
We had one of our favorite meals of the trip at Risiu, Ricotta Bar and Cheese Experience. We started with this bowl of homemade hot ricotta cheese that was served with fresh bread that tasted and smelled like the smoke from the fire.
The second course at Risiu, pistachio burrata with grilled vegetables and a tasting dish of Ragusan and Sicilian specialties.
Walking off lunch
Giardino Ibleo, a park in Ragusa
Somehow we got hungry again for dinner after cheese-fest 2000.
The city of Agrigento was our next stop where we stayed for 2 nights here. Agrigento is famous for the Valley of the Temples which we spent a few hours walking around in. We highly recommend doing this! It reminded us of the fields of pagodas in Bagan, Myanmar.
While in Agrigento, make sure to get gelato at Le Cuspidi. The Sicilian way to eat gelato is on a brioche bun. For some reason, we went for cones and this is one of the biggest regrets of my life. Above is an ancient Roman brioche bun factory that got destroyed when cones were invented.
Pantless lazy guy
Stone sticks. I took AP art history in high school so I should know.
Low carb lunch with some token vegetables after a long walk in the hot sun around Valley of the Temples.
From Agrigento, we drove up the coast to see the Scala dei Turchi, the white cliff pictured above. You are not supposed to walk on the site, but luckily we arrived at the beginning of fashion photoshoot for high waisted stonewashed jeans with florescent windbreaker tops and white Reeboks. We each bought an outfit.
A lovely dinner at Aguglia Persa. (Potato stuffed with black pork cheek, sautéed mushrooms, and smoked provola cheese, dipped in a cheese fondue; Porchetta with marsala; Seared tuna)
Early Crossfit mosaics at Villa Romana del Casale.
On our last day in Sicily, we spent the afternoon in Catania speedwalking through the sites and looking for sandwiches to bring to the airport. We were successful and found great paninis and cocktails at La Salameria. Upon returning from Sicily, Covid-19 kicked into high gear and we never went on vacation again. The End.
That food looks delicious, and the scenery amazing.