Join Shelley Wiseman, chef and owner of Shelley's Table, and Susan Guerra, owner of Via Del Vino Tours, a New Jersey native, and sommelier now living La Dolce Vita in Italy.  Carol and Susan will lead you on this food, wine, and cultural journey from coast to coast in Sicily, Italy. Along the way, you'll eat, drink and be Italian, meeting the locals, tasting, cooking, and sipping your way from Palermo to Catania! 

This itinerary has been carefully crafted to include a selection of cooking classes and winery visits combined with sightseeing, and free time in many of Sicily’s most iconic small towns and cities as well as in some hidden gems that only the locals know. Visits include Palermo, the Madonie Mountains, Monreale, Segesta, Marsala, Agrigento, Scicli, Ragusa, Ortigia, Catania, Mount Etna and Taormina.

SHELLEY WISEMAN

Shelley Wiseman, formerly of The Farm Cooking School, has been teaching people how to cook since 1990 when she opened La Place, a French cooking school in Mexico City. She started her career in New York City at French Restaurants Le Plaisir and Le Cherche Midi, then traveled to France to hone her craft. Following her years spent cooking and teaching, Shelley became a Food Editor at Gourmet Magazine where she developed recipes for 12 years. She has authored and co-authored three cookbooks, Just Tacos, The Mexican Gourmet, and The Farm Cooking School, Recipes and Techniques to celebrate the seasons. 

Shelley discovered the river towns area of the Delaware Valley after joining her business partner, Ian Knauer, at The Farm Cooking School, immediately falling in love and deciding to make it her new home. With Shelley’s Table, she is setting out on her second solo adventure as a cooking school organizer and teacher. When she is not cooking, Shelley spends her time making hammered precious metal jewelry, hosting dinners with friends, and traveling whenever she can.

SUSAN GUERRA

Susan Guerra is a second-generation Italian American, born and raised in New Jersey. After a career in design and marketing, Susan earned the Advanced Certificate in Wines & Spirits from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust and is currently studying for her Italian Wine Scholar certifications. Prior to founding Via Del Vino, Susan worked in the wine business for 10 years and wrote about wine for New Jersey Monthly Magazine. Via Del Vino began when Susan and her pastry chef husband moved to Italy to follow a lifelong dream. With the idea to show others the real Italy, full of local traditions, customs, and craftsmanship—Susan began creating itineraries designed to immerse visitors in authentic places, meet the locals and discover the true flavors of this endlessly fascinating country.

Our tour begins with a transfer from Falcone-Borsellino Airport to our hotel in the historic center of Palermo. We'll have a light lunch before our optional afternoon tour with Susan's friend Anita, a local historian and author whose detailed knowledge and passion for all things Sicilian is downright infectious. Tonight we'll have a wine pairing dinner guided by Susan.

Accommodations: Quintocanto Hotel and Spa, Palermo

Meals: Lunch, Dinner

We’ll begin our day today with a private tour of Palermo's number one historical attraction, The Normal Palace, the oldest royal residence in Europe. Then we'll head out of town for a visit to the Anchovy Museum in Aspra. We’ll meet Michelangelo Balistreri, the creator of the museum and one of a family of fishermen that spans multiple generations. But this magical place, tucked in a corner of the city that you'd never know about is dedicated to so much more than a salty, little fish. It is also a place filled with artworks dedicated to people who, like he himself, have fought the mafia and a place where Michelangelo helps to educate susceptible youth about the dangers of joining the most notorious criminal organization in the world. He'll give us a quick tour of the museum, in a colorful manner that is difficult to describe!!! 

Accommodations: Quintocanto Hotel and Spa, Palermo

Meals: Breakfast, lunch, aperitivo (enough for a light dinner)

This morning we’ll head to Marsala for a visit to Pellegrino Winery where we'll do a hands-on cooking class with Susan's friend, Francesco, a Marsala native and the owner of Ciacca Putia Gourmet. Francesco will treat us to a unique Marsala wine cooking experience followed by lunch from the foods we prepare, during which we'll learn a bit about this “Vino da Meditazione” that is so much more than something to cook chicken with! 

After lunch, we'll do a quick walk around this quaint little town before heading to Segesta to tour the 5th century BC temple ruins, a truly magical sight set amid tranquil, green hilltops and rolling farmland. After touring the archeological site, we'll head back to Palermo for free time in the later afternoon before dinner on your own.

Accommodations: Quintocanto Hotel and Spa, Palermo

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

On our way out of Palermo, we’ll visit the town of Monreale to tour the Norman Cathedral that overlooks Sicily’s Conca D’Ora (Golden Basin), so named for the color of the citrus groves that stretch out on the plains below. Built between 1170-1189, this UNESCO world heritage site and its nearby Benedictine Cloister are considered to be one of the architectural wonders of the world with magnificent Byzantine mosaics estimated to contain some 4,000 pounds of pure gold leaf.

After a "street food" lunch at a local favorite cafe, we'll head to Agrigento for an afternoon guided visit to The Valley of the Temples, a UNESCO world heritage archaeological site with ancient temples dedicated to deities including Zeus, Hercules, Concord, Pollux, and Castor. After our tour, we'll check-in for an overnight stay at La Mandranova, an extra virgin olive oil, and almond-producing estate where we'll have dinner and spend the night.

Accommodations: La Mandranova, Palma di Montechiaro

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

After breakfast, we’ll do a hands-on cooking class and olive oil tasting experience at La Mandranova, followed by a lunch of the traditional Sicilian dishes we prepare. Our menu will feature fresh ingredients from the farm and local producers and of course, La Mandranova’s own EVOO and almonds. The olive oil will have just been pressed days before our arrival and we guarantee you have never tasted oil this fresh! 

After lunch, we’ll depart for the beautiful, baroque town of Scicli, whose main pedestrian street is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Nowadays, Scicli is well known in Europe as a filming location for the Italian TV detective series, Montalbano. Our historic accommodations in a former noble palace will be our base for the next 3 nights. 

Accommodations: Albergo Diffuso Palazzo Favacchio, Scicli

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Apericena

Today we'll head to Modica for a cooking class in the home of a local chef, that includes a chocolate-making experience. Modica chocolate uses an ancient Aztec recipe brought to Sicily when the island was under Spanish rule. We’ll also visit a truly unique and award-winning chocolate producer, enjoying a stop in the gorgeously restored bottega where we can nibble on samples including those from the aging cellar where chocolates are immersed in flowers, herbs, spices, tobacco, teas, wine, and spirit saturated woods, which imbue the chocolate with subtle scents and flavors. Later, we'll head back to Scicli for free time before dinner on your own with suggestions. 

Accommodations: Albergo Diffuso Palazzo Favacchio, Scicli

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Today we'll head to Ragusa for a tour of the hidden gems of Ragusa Ibla. Our private guide, Barbara has access to places that are otherwise not open to the public—Circolo di Conversazione (a private club), the Teatro Donnafugata (a tiny and beautiful private theatre in a palace only recently opened for occasional public performances), and the secret, walled garden of Palazzo Arezzo Bertini. Then, we’ll have a special visit with Damiano Rotella and Biagio Castilletti, two of the last artisans in Sicily who are dedicated to painting and restoring Sicilian carts, who learned their craft as young boys, in the workshop of the master craftsman, Domenico Di Mauro. We’ll end our afternoon with free time in Ragusa before returning to Scicli for a dinner paired with wines, prepared for us right in our palazzo accommodations.

Accommodations: Albergo Diffuso Palazzo Favacchio, Scicli

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Aperitivo/Light Dinner

Our next stop will be Ortigia just across the water from mainland Siracusa, where you'll have a free day to wander the city’s most enchanting quarter—a labyrinth of colorful streets lined with eateries and artisan shops and crowned with the spectacular, ivory-hued Piazza del Duomo. Among the attractions in Ortigia is La Giudecca district, the maze of less touristy streets, and the former Jewish Quarter where ancient Jewish baths were discovered by accident while renovating a boutique hotel.

Nearby is the archeological park of Siracusa, where guests can do an optional visit to the impressive remains of the ancient city of Syracuse dating as far back as the eighth century BC. You'll have lunch on your own today before dinner in a local restaurant that's hidden on one of Ortigia's characteristic, ancient streets. 

Accommodations: Grand Hotel, Ortigia

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

We depart Ortigia today for a day trip to majestic Mt. Etna—Europe’s most active volcano, a stunning image rising to 3,300 meters directly from the seafloor. On Mt. Etna, 500,000 years of volcanic eruptions have created endless soil variations in neighboring plots of land, prompting some wine writers to call it the Burgundy of the south. 

We’ll have a tour, tasting, and light lunch at the Cottanera Winery, a family-owned property that had once been a hazelnut farm. The estate is located in the prestigious Passopisciaro area and is making wines from indigenous and international grape varieties.

After our visit, we’ll stop in Taormina for free time to shop and wander before an aperitivo at the Hotel Metropole on their terrace that overlooks the sea.

Accommodations: Boutique Resort Donna Carmela, Carruba di Riposto

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Aperitivo.

Today we head out from Donna Carmela for a private street food tour in Catania that includes a visit to the famous fish market. The market in Catania is like a scene straight out of central casting—especially the fishmongers smoking cigarettes as the old ladies direct them on exactly how they want their filets deboned!!!

After our tour, we'll return to Donna Carmela Resort for free time to relax before our final cooking class at Benanti Winery, a prestigious winery on the southeast side of Mt. Etna. The many eruptions that have occurred on Mt. Etna over the centuries have influenced not only the wines of the area but have created the unique flavors of fruits and vegetables. After our cooking class, we'll enjoy the fruits of our labor with a farewell dinner before returning to Donna Carmela Resort for our last overnight stay.

Accommodations: Boutique Resort Donna Carmela, Carruba di RipostoMeals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner