Fifteen of us enjoyed a week, early September, in the beautiful Villa Augusta. It was perfect for us. We had the place to ourselves.
It is a lovely space. The gardens with the olive trees and it's mature plants and fruit trees. The large terrace where we all ate together was cool and shaded. The views from the upper terrace, gorgeous.
Evelyn the cook prepared our first nights meal and then a further 3 meals for us all which were all very good and very generous. By the 4th course we could hardly move!!
No desserts but for those with a sweet tooth, chocolate from Lidl did the trick!! The young 'Work Away' lads who served were excellent; polite and just perfect.
We organised breakfast for us all the first morning and there was so much we had enough for lunch. We then decided to do our own thing. Plus there was so much bread left over from our evening meals we had it toasted with the very tasty Sicilian marmalade and Apricot jam.
Wine and beer is so cheap it's
crazy. So another benefit of eating at the villa. The cost of eating in was also such great value and so relaxing.
The coast is close but very local and not so great for swimming, we preferred the pool, the great beaches are further south. The villages are local with excellent food. Syracuse and Noto are spectacular but be aware they are a good hours drive especially at the moment due to part of the motorway being closed. But well worth the journey. Note: all restaurants add a service charge per person at the end.
Taormina is a must. Again an hours drive but perched high with incredible views and amphitheatre. Shops and restaurants galore. Live music with an excellent reclining laid back saxophonist !!!
The beach of Isola Bella below Taormina is worth a visit...beautiful if very busy.
We did a vineyard visit and tasting session below Etna on the way to Taormina. Well worth it and very interesting to hear and see all about Etna and the surrounding area.
We all felt a week was not enough.
Sicily beckons us to return. She has so much to offer, so much to see. And Villa Augusta and it's pool is sorely missed.