Le Vie della Zagara: Experiencing Sicily with Gusto!

Invited to attend a mid April press trip hosted by Sicilian not-for-profit cultural association Gusto di Campagna and the Distretto Agrumi di Sicilia (Citrus District of Sicily), I was one of roughly two dozen members of the international media to travel Sicily’s Le Vie della Zagara, a new initiative encouraging visitors to spend at least a little time of their beach bound holiday in delicious and eyeopening exploration of the island’s surprisingly diverse landscape and enjoy its equally varied bounty of citrus fruits and many more treats along the way.

Gusto di Campagna – a term which could be interpreted to mean country flavour or country style, and I suspect the idea is for the phrase to have dual meaning – was established in 2007 by “farmers willing to collaborate together to promote and enhance their quality productions and their multifunctional agricultural activities.” Sound like a load of hot dry air? Well, there was an awful lot of huffing and puffing about grand plans that I had to endure during the trip and considerably less demonstration of action than I would have loved to see. But (and it’s a big juicy gorgeous but) for all the ostentatious bluster of earnest intent, a cool sea breeze of down to earth charm soon smoothed things out and cleared the air for the captivating wonders of sun-kissed Sicily to be wholly admired.

Zagara is Italian for orange blossom. And La Vie della Zagara – the ways of the orange blossom – certainly proved an apt description of the itinerary we kept as the first full month of spring indeed was a glorious time to visit. Most everywhere on our tour, the heady and intoxicating scent of the zagara was present enhancing the mood when situations were already pleasing, softening annoyances or inconveniences when not.

The trip was my first to Sicily. Despite knowing Italy pretty well and having had the good fortune to see a sizeable chunk of it, many of the most quintessentiallyItalian elements I’ve come to expect weren’t nearly as apparent or discernible as everywhere else I’ve been in the country.

At its closest point to the Italian mainland, Sicily is only a couple of miles across the Strait of Messina from Calabria on the mainland. But the distance between, say, Palermo and Milan is considerably greater. Indeed, Sicily is a lot closer geographically – and to a considerable extent culturally – to North Africa than Northern Italy (and Palermo is about as far from Milan as it is London).

With its Moorish past, the tone of the island comes across as more like that of the Alentejo, deepest Andalusia or Marrakech than that of Venice or even Rome. But it wasn’t only the Moors who made an impact. The Greeks, Romans and Normans – and of course, the Bourbon Kings whose mark is perhaps the most indelible of those left upon this uniquely Sicilian mélange set amidst a backdrop of rugged and imposing terrain. Add to this ancient and beguiling hodgepodge, Sicily’s famously sunshiny climate along with generous amounts of one of the world’s yummiest cuisines to yield as richly idiosyncratic a destination as any.

Very much a diamond in the rough but an undeniably marvellous gem to behold, local folks seem to realise they live somewhere special but aren’t quite sure what it is that makes them and their island home so distinctively different. Every customer service quirk or wrinkle in my visitor experience (and I must say such nuanced encounters occurred more frequently than I am accustomed) was countered usually with a warm generosity of time or a sincere desire to please – often during the same situation and from the same persons involved.

In the coming days, I’ll delve deeper into the tastiest bits discovered along Le Vie della Zagara in a series of dedicated posts. Until then here are a few key points on getting to Sicily from London.

Addison Lee

I used the handy dandy Addison Lee app for my transfers to/from London airports. I’ve relied on the app a number of times before and definitely plan to for upcoming trips as I’ve yet to have any issues with the service.

Flights

Ryanair via Stansted got me to Palermo on a Monday night while Easyjet from Catania brought me back to London via Gatwick the following Friday. I can’t say I’m a fan of flying Ryanair, but I’ve got to give the airline credit for serving so many routes to otherwise overlooked or hard to reach places. My outbound flight was my first experience flying Ryanair Business Plus, which for yielded a much more comfortable and tolerable journey than usual for not that much more cost. The Easyjet leg was hassle free.

Agromobile

Agromobile is a website and a free to download app sharing food and wine related itineraries in Sicily. The project is the brainchild of Gaia Barcellona and Valentina Guerrera, “two young professional Sicilian women who love their land and have decided to start an activity that would enhance and promote the image of Sicily both in Italy and in the whole world.” A number of the sites I visited along Le Vie della Zagara are highlighted by Agromobile with practical suggestions grounded with a local perspective.

For more details about Gusto di Campagna go to gustodicampagna.com.

Information about the Distretto Agrumi di Sicilia can be found at distrettoagrumidisicilia.it.

More to come! Grazie.