East-South Sicily. Where to go, why to go, where to stay, what is around… My first interaction with this part of Sicily started from legendary “Il Commissario Montalbano” (“Detective Montalbano” in English version) TV series based on the novels by Andrea Camilleri. The main character is Salvo Montalbano (played by Luca Zingaretti), the head of the police station in the fictional town of Vigàta which is a beautiful mix of Ragusa, Scicli, Modica, and some other towns of this area.
As Sicilians say, this cult serial put Sicily on the travel map, at least for Italians. It took American serial “White Lotus” to put Sicily to international travel map… But for me, this is a land of Montalbano, the character created by genius of Andrea Camilleri, true to the place, charismatic, bow–legged, bold, and so easy to adore.
When I was visiting this area first time, it was Ragusa and Noto. Love from the first glance and forever, paradise for someone with photo camera in hand and love to authenticity. My second time, few years later, was under the guidance of dear friend Fausta Occhipinti, the owner of beautiful countryside property Baglio Occhipinti. Can’t thank Fausta enough for bringing me in the very heart of this area and making me feel like local. This is Fausta.
And here I’m in the town of Modica.
So, let’s go Montalbano steps. And oh… if you have not seen this serial yet, please do!
My long time goal was to see the house of Montalbano in sea side village Punta Secca. One of those dream houses where you can have dinner on the terrace overlooking the sea, and start your day from the long swim in the sea… Well, not all of Montalbano’s swims and dinners were dream-like (don’t forget it was detective story), but the place… Ah! Finally I made it there one pinky windy March sunset. The wind was cold and crazy, my scarf and coiffure were blown away, and my keds were almost blown away too, but I was happiest of the happiest to be there. These days Punta Secca is a vacation village, pretty much abandoned off season. But season is rather long in Sicily, you know…
My next discovery was town of Scicli.
I should confess, Scicli didn’t exist on my map before I’ve got there thanks to dear local friends. And I loved it. No, I LOVED IT. Through and through. The reason we came there was the police station of Montalbano which was filmed at Scicli. Well, the time we came, the museum was already closed for the day (yes, there is museum!). But the town was still there to explore, enjoy, and plunge into atmosphere.
Another priceless discovery: town of Modica. Thanks to Fausta, her friends and her friends of friends, for me this area of Sicily became so packed with true gems, that I would now suggest my clients to spend there 2-3 weeks if their agenda allows. Well, it still would not be enough, but really, you would find very few areas in the world so intense with places to visit, live and enjoy – aesthetically, historically, culturally, with authenticity still present, and hospitality which doesn’t cost little fortune. Every second person there would ask me what I’m doing in my cold Canada and why I’m not moving to Sicily where food is great, sun is shining, and sea is warm. Something to deeply think about.
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