Excursion to the Etna...part one, Zafferana

On Monday morning, our driver and now friend, Enrico, picked us up at the Lemon Tree in his 9-passenger mini bus for our Big Excursion.  His business is called Excursions Sicily, and we highly recommend him for any sightseeing you may want to do in Sicily.  He arrived at 9:30am and all eight of us were, believe it or not, ready for the trip to begin.

Our first stop was the lovely little town of Zafferana - known throughout Italy for its honey.  We visited the "honey house" as it is called and sampled different flavored honeys - chestnut, strawberry, orange, wildflower, eucalyptus - just to name a few.  There was an assortment of bee pollen, honey soaps,  jams,  candies - anything and everything that can be made from honey was available for sale.

Oro d'Etna...gold of Etna

the honey house

Enrico showing us one of the hives...they have over 300 !

cute display of the beekeeping equipment

In the next room, a private tasting of  olive oils, wines, vinegars and various other local products had been arranged for us.  Pickled onions, sweet garlic, sun dried tomatoes, numerous olives...along with the flavored oils and vinegars, there was enough for a feast !

We tasted white, rose, and red wines, then went on to the after dinner wines...almond wine, pistachio wine, and a new favorite - the Fire of Etna - a spicy, sweet liquor that left us all with a warm, fuzzy feeling ( a nice way to start a trip !).

a portion of the tasting room

the Fire of Etna...good for what ails you !

Zafferana is a beautiful town, and although we only spent a short time there we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

a small public garden

quite the view from the main square !

beautiful church on the main square

the bronze doors

is that Gary Mack in church ???

even the floors are gorgeous

taken from the church steps

A cute little model of the Sicilian Carretto (cart).

sightseeing in Zafferana

Our first stop was wonderful...onward and upward to the Etna !!

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