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Sortino: Agriturismo: La Sorgente

Reviewed by: Howard W from UK, review #2217

When: April 2008

Great food and friendly hosts in rural Sicily agriturismo

We stayed for one week at La Sorgente and absolutely loved the place. It's set in a small valley, a few km off the Sortino-Carlentini road. Beautiful quiet, rocky, rural location, and in April there are wild flowers everywhere.

Our room was very comfortable with a nice firm bed, TV, good bathroom with shower. From the outside the accommodation looks very traditional, but inside it has a clean, modern feel. Late evening/early morning can be on the cool side in April, and the heater in the room was useful for helping to warm the room up. In summer, the coolness inside will probably be very welcome!

Owners Pippo and Silvana gave us a really warm welcome. We spent a morning watching Pippo make his goat and sheeps cheese (and tasting the cheese and ricotta - delicous), and ate some superb meals in the evening cooked by Silvana. On our first night we ate with a group of locals in the restaurant celebrating an 80th birthday, and had a huge feast: many antipasti, wine, pasta and risotto primi followed by several meat secondi (and the most delicous potatoes ever), not to mention a sweet, coffee, grappa...

On quieter evenings we ate with just Pippo, Silvana and her mother. In comparison with the huge feast of the first night these were slightly simpler meals, but always absolutely delicous, with an emphasis on traditional, local and seasonal produce (e.g. wild asparagus in April).

The location is perfect for exploring Syracuse, Noto or Pantalica and the beautiful Valley D'Anapo. To the north, Etna and its surroundings and Taormina are easily reachable for a day trip.

We loved our stay on this small, family-run agriturismo. Having a chance to spend a little time with the owners and eat with them made our stay memorable. For people interested in exploring Etna, Syracuse and the villages/countryside of this region, and especially for those looking for a friendly slice of Sicilian family life (not to mention great food), La Sorgente is definitely recommended.

Note: their website has email/telephone contact details. Though they speak a little English, contact in Italian is probably best (for emails, the Google translation tool is perfect if your Italian isn't great!).

Reviewed by: Joseph from CT, review #1889

When: April 2007

A working farm that produces cheese from herds of sheep and goats, this is a comfortable, quiet retreat and convenient base from which to explore Pantalica.

This agriturismo is run by husband and wife team of Silvana Blancato and Pippo Pane. The rustic and rugged surroundings near Pantalica contrasted dramatically with the comfort of our modern room.

Ours was in one of the small, free-standing structures - outside very charming and well maintained, inside immaculate with ironed linens, large bedroom with additional sleeping alcove and a generous marble and tile bath. This has been in operation for several years, but we felt as though we were the very first occupants.

Delicious meals are served in a small dining room feature products of the farm - including various cheeses, olive oil, lamb, etc. La Sorgento is about 35 Km from Siracusa, 40 Km from Noto and Palazzolo Acreide, about 20 Km from Leontini.

We had an apartment in Ortigia for several weeks, so we stayed only one night, but we found the hospitality very warm, the food excellent, and if we returned to spend more time hiking in Pantalica we would definitely make this our base for several days.

La Sorgento is a little hard to find; we phoned from a cafe in Sortino and were met by the owners' son who led the way. This was our first experience at an agriturismo. Our room was meticulously clean and fresh, beautifully furnished and large.

This review is the opinion of a Slow Travel member and not of slowtrav.com.

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