We loved every minute of our stay in Sicily. Especially renting a luxury villa in Sicly  instead a hotel turned out to be the best decision for us. Since I’ve been getting so many messages on my Instagram with regards to this holiday, I’ve decided to document everything here for you guys. From where we stayed to what we did and of course as promised, I am going to include the ‘Spaghetti alla bottarga’ recipe since so many of you asked me to share it.

Part of my family is from Sicily so I’ve been many times in my life. And I have to say, I am always happy to come back! Sicily it’s a big island with a lot to visit so each time we travel to a different part and it always feels like a fresh holiday! This time we visited the very southern area around Modica, Noto and Siracusa.

First of all, the weather never disappoints, which makes it a top destination already from May (until November) to score a sunny holiday within Europe, without having to travel very far away! The Sicilian cuisine is very vibrant, and we are totally foodie, always appreciating the local fresh food and specialties. On top of this, you will find a gorgeous landscape and what I love the most, it’s not extremely touristic and most of the things still feels very authentic Italian. Italians are famous for being friendly and kids are most welcomed everywhere you go. There is no doubt you will feel very welcomed on this beautiful island.

We flew from Amsterdam with a direct flight to Catania. My first tip is to rent a car to be picked up at your arrival as it will give you a lot of freedom to explore during your stay. We picked a luxury villa in Sicily rather than a hotel for several reasons and this turned out to be the best choice ever! We found our Luxury Villa through Isula Sicilia (the one we stayed at was called “Sea Home”) and if you take a look at their website you will see you can choose through a lot of beautiful villas, quite reasonably priced. For us it was a must to have a pool and to be close to the beach and our villa was literally in front of the sea! We took beach walks every day and loved that it wasn’t one of those crowded beach, but more a seaside wild area with a lot of nature around. So relaxing! What we also loved about Isula Sicilia is that they supported us with a lot of activities we booked in advance. These made the holiday so special! It really felt like having all the amenities of a resort, but with the privacy of our own luxury villa.

These are the experiences we booked through Isula Sicilia:

• GIASIRA WINE TOUR & TASTING 

If you are a wine lover, I strongly advise visiting a winery. This was one of our favourite experiences! We walked through the vineyards, admired the nature and especially tasted the delicious wine they produce combined with Sicilian traditional food.

• PRIVATE CHEF IN VILLA

Another of my favourite experiences. The chef was very professional, with a sophisticated restaurant menu, yet traditional to the Sicilian kitchen. It felt like being at a very good restaurant but with the comfort of not having to leave the house.

• MARZAMEMI VISIT

Normally we would have done this tour by boat, but it was not possible due to Covid restrictions this week. We still really enjoyed walking around and exploring one of the cutest town on the sea. It really felt so traditional, like nothing changed in 50 years. And loved that every corner was literally facing the sea! It’s the southest town of Italy!

• CHOCOLATE SCHOOL

This day have been so special for Emma! Casa Ciomod have been so welcoming and we loved listening to the historic part of how Modica keeps producing chocolate in the traditional and most natural way. I think it’s literally every kid dream to make their own chocolate so this is definitely an experience to share and enjoy with the family!

• YOGA CLASS AND MASSAGE IN VILLA

Since we had Emma we started to spend some holidays in big resorts, mostly because it is very practical with kids. And of course I always loved the spa and doing yoga in the morning as it gives such a good energy to the day. It’s been great being able to book these services in villa and again enjoy everything in the most privacy . Taking a massage and doing yoga with the sound of the waves in he background it’s been the most relaxing moments of this holiday!

Finally, as promised I am sharing the Spaghetti recipe I showed you one night on Instagram and so many of you asked! It is very easy and really anyone can do this! All you need, is some traditional ingredients (you can buy them in any supermarket in Italy and in some Italian shops abroad too!).

SPAGHETTI ALLA BOTTARGA

Bottarga is known as the caviar of the Mediterranean.

Ingredients: Spaghetti or Linguine, Bottarga, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Onions, Lemon.

Start with peeling the lemon, keeping only the yellow part. You can also grate this part of the lemon. Also cut the onion in small small cubes. Mix them in a pan with the olive oil and leave until they reach a golden colour. And this is ready.

Take a pan with water and let it boil. When it starts boiling add salt. Do not add too much salt as the Bottarga already comes with a strong flavour.

Add some spoons of the boiling water to the pan with stir fried onions and lemons.

When the water is boiling add the Spaghetti (about 80/100 gr x person normally for 10 minutes). A few minutes before the spaghetti are ready, take them off the water, and add them to the pan. Keep stearing them for the remaining minutes. When the time is up grate the Bottarga on the Spaghetti (same as you would grate cheese on it). And that’s it! So simple! Enjoy!!

Finally, if you’d like to watch a complete tour of our luxury villa in Sicily, you will find a youtube video tomorrow on my channel, including all the links to my outfits. Looking forward to hear if any of you will be visiting in the summer!