Last week I had the pleasure of leading a wildflower walking tour in Sicily. A couple from London loved the stunning variety of wildflowers, as well as the absolute absence of the noise of motors and car traffic. To hear only birdsong and bees buzzing, and oh yes, perhaps that was me panting as we walked steeply uphill.
On a walk near Modica, down the road from where I live, there is an old trazzera, a kind of muletrack between 2 stone walls, that leads up to a field with an abandoned stone hut in a lovely peaceful spot. This is where we came across many orchids growing together, apparently thriving after a wet winter and a cool spring.
The colors of the wildflowers were also stunningly wild, at times bordering on lurid. As always in Sicily exaggeration is the norm. Here a few wildflowers we saw during a morning of walking near Modica, Sicily.
Our walk ended up at our house, where we toured the garden, and our walkers, apparently intoxicated by the scent of lemon blossoms, imagined that it was a wonderful project to restore a house in Sicily (I assure you it’s not.) Then we had a long lunch prepared by Emanuele – local Ragusano cheese, fennel-spiced olives, fresh ricotta and artichoke pasta, early sweet strawberries, lots of red wine, and then things get a bit fuzzy. Let’s just say that the Italian habit of napping after lunch was embraced by all.
