Staying with Antonio was like being with family. His home is welcoming and has a cozy atmosphere. Antonio is friendly and kind. We were there in winter, in a storm, and sitting by the fireplace with a book was very relaxing after sightseeing. Antonio had many excellent suggestions for where to go and how to get there. We were about 30 minutes from Valli di Templi, and I am very pleased we stayed with Antonio, rather than near the site.
A real highlight of our stay was dinner with Antonio, twice! Antonio is passionate about Sicilian cooking, something he began learning from his grandmother. He was happy to teach what he was doing, and to be sure we had real Sicilian dishes, some you that you might not find in a restaurant. Most of what he serves comes from his garden in season or his efforts of the summer which are in jars and bottles such as homemade tomato sauce (he turns 400 kg of homegrown tomatoes into enough sauce for a year - 500 one- liter bottles), hot peppers in oil, capers in oil, sun dried tomatoes, his own olives and olive oil, and many kinds of jams and marmalades. He does magic with fresh herbs from a little basket on his counter. My husband is vegetarian, and Antonio made multiple, wonderful vegetarian dishes for us, as well as superb stuffed calamari for me and himself one night. I hope that I absorbed enough of the lessons to make these dishes myself! Antonio is a rare host, and staying with him cannot be more highly recommended.