We really enjoyed our two weeks staying in Fabio’s home. The house has everything you need, even down to bathrobes! The bedrooms are big and the bathrooms are fine. The kitchen is very well equipped. We had a couple of stormy afternoons where we sat on the patio and watched the lightning around Mount Etna. The grounds are extensive but the highlight is the pool. It is deep (with a diving board at one end) and clean. We spent a lot of time cooling off in the pool. Reasonable 4G coverage in the house.
Sortino is a quiet hill top town which is worth exploring (especially first thing in the morning when all the bakeries and cafes first open). Lots of different supermarkets to choose from. Basic Italian is helpful as very little English is spoken - which we really enjoy!! The gelateria in town was our favourite - €1 for an amazing ice cream!!
It is easy to get to the motorway (E45) from Sortino which makes exploring the rest of the east coast easy. We went as far north as Taormina (beautiful ancient theatre but very busy), Etnaland (!) and then right down the coast to the southern tip of the island. We would recommend visits to Noto (& the nearby beaches), Augusta (& beaches), Syracuse (especially Ortigia) and Marzamemi. We would also recommend going inland to see the Pantalica and the amazing mountain top town of Palazzolo Acreide.
Pippo & Mary were such a help and so friendly. In fact, everyone we came in contact with in Sicily were very friendly and tried their best to assist us.