Alyx Dellamonica’s photostream on Flickr.
Vendicari is a wetland of international importance; Kelly and went there to chase birds and go “Squee, nature!” Modica is where we spent Christmas and Boxing Day. It is built in a ravine and so we got to do lots of urban climbing, scaling the staircases that connect its various streets. Perhaps more importantly, Modica is where the best chocolate in Sicily is made. Tell a Sicilian you’re going to Modica and they say “Mmmm, ciocolatta.” (Tell them you’re going anywhere else on the island, or Naples, and they tell you that the people of that town are terrible thieves and sure to rob you.)
I loved every place we went in Sicily, but my love for Modica was not so much of the type that spawned “I could live here fulltime” fantasies. More “I would love to live within reach of this town and come for a long weekend four times a year.”
Of course, I might still be chasing birds on Vendicari if the wind hadn’t been a-howling.
