DISCOVERY SICILIAN SIMPLE FLAVORS

Day 1_Welcome in Sicily
Upon your arrival at Palermo airport, you’ll be met and transferred by your English speaking driver to your three star hotel in the city centre. Dinner at leisure and overnight stay.

Day 2_Cooking class and food markets
Breakfast in hotel and meeting with the Chef Clemente. You will venture to one of Palermo’s historic markets (Il Capo, La Vucciria or Borgo Vecchio) were will purchase all the ingredients necessary to prepare your meal. Along the way, you will also taste some of Palermo’s most typical foods, such as “panelle” and “pane con la milza”. Hands on cooking class in a typical restaurant and lunch. The dishes you've prepared will be served with just the right Sicilian wine, and dessert accompanied by local biscotti and Sicilian dessert wine. After lunch you will see on your own the most important monuments of Palermo as Quattro Canti (the Four Corners), Palermo’s extravagant baroque square and the twelfth-century Cathedral of Palermo. Transfer to Monreale, where you’ll admire the Arab-Norman magnificence of the Cathedral. This nearby treasure dates from the 12th century and shows the different architectural influences of both the Normans and the Arab population. Return to the hotel and overnight stay.

Day 3_Cefalù and Gangi
Breakfast and departure for Gangi with visit to Cefalù en route. This enchanting fishing village and summertime resort sits on a rocky outcrop in the centre of Sicily’s north coast. Cefalù lies in a scenic locale between the massive peak and a long sweeping beach. Against this backdrop rise the lofty twin towers of the cathedral built by Roger II in 1130. This splendid cathedral is one of the finest examples of Arab-Norman architecture, and contains luminous mosaics. Lunch at leisure.
In the afternoon, scenic drive through the Madonie Region to arrive in Gangi, where you will meet Giovanna Tornabene at her cooking school. Giovanna and her mother Wanda are two-time James Beard Award winners for "Best Italian Cookbook.”: Gangivecchio's Sicilian Kitchen, 100 Ways To Be Pasta, Sicilia Home Cooking. We suggest to have a dinner at Tenuta Gangivecchio. Overnight stay at Gangivecchio.

Day 4_Cooking class with Giovanna
Breakfast and meeting with Giovanna, ready to teach you the tricks of natural and simple flavors. You will enjoys the foods made in class during lunch. In the afternoon departure for Piazza Armerina where you’ll view the extraordinary floor mosaics in the Roman Villa del Casale. The famed Roman mosaics housed in this third-century villa are among the best preserved in the world, depicting scenes from everyday life. Arrival in Agrigento and overnight stay at hotel Domus Aurea, with a beautiful temples view, where we suggest to have a dinner. Overnight stay.

Day 5_Valley of the Temples
Breakfast and meeting with your guide to visit of the Valley of the Temples, one of the most representative sites of Greek civilization in the Mediterranean area. Visit to the Temple of Hercules, the Temple of Juno, the Temple of Castor and Pollux, the wonderful Temple of Concord and finally the beautiful Garden of Kolymbetra. Lunch on your own and visit of a dairy to see the “pecorino” and “ricotta” production, from the milking, to the cooking, to the maturing of the product. Local products and cheeses tasting. Return to the hotel and overnight stay.

Day 6_Cooking Class and Chocolate Tasting
Breakfast and transfer to eastern Sicily through the Baroque, whose heritage, both for importance and for beauty, has been declared World Heritage by the UNESCO. Arrival at Palazzo Failla a beautiful charming historic dwelling in historical centre of Modica. In the morning you can visit Modica, (on your own) where you will admire picturesque lanes and arrows streets, with plenty of old workshops, St. George’s Church, the only one including a nave and as good as four aisles. You can visit the Antica Dolceria Bonajuto, the oldest confectionary shop of Sicily and taste the very famous chocolate of Modica. Lunch at leisure.
Return to the hotel and meeting with the Chef Failla, that will organize your hands-on classes, you learn how to prepare “Scacce Ragusane”, typical Sicilian food, Making of Cavati, home made pasta, Rabbit “ a stimpirata”, typical Sicilian plate (rabbit meat served with vegetables). Finally, making and tasting of typical Chocolate of Modica (the recipe coming from ancient Aztecs). The chocolate of Modica is special and very particular because of the lack of cacao butter, the only ingredients are cacao and sugar. Dinner at exclusive restaurant La Locanda del Colonnello. Overnight stay at Palazzo Failla.

Day 7_Arrivederci!
Breakfast and departure for Catania airport, or choose to extend your tour to visit Etna and Taormina!