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Twenty miles to the west, 11,000-foot-tall Mount the Amalfi coast above the Tyrrhenian Sea. I
Etna rose over the Ionian Sea, spewing steam thought I might be growing tired of shore ex-
and sulphur gasses. cursions, but I was wrong.
Because I am a fan of “The Godfather” book We picked a culinary outing for our last
and the trilogy of movies it spawned, I chose excursion and it was a winner. First we
that shore excursion for our outing. We mo- walked the narrow, vehicle-free streets of
tored up hairpin turns in a bus our guide this 2,000 year old city past shops selling
dubbed the “Cyclops” to the village of Savoca leather goods and lemons to a plaza with
in the hills above Messina. stunning views of the Bay of Naples and
There, we walked along a narrow, cobble- Mount Vesuvius, which erupted in AD79 and
stone street past 15th century homes with destroyed the Roman cities of Pompeii, Her-
cascading bougainvilleas on their walls to the culaneum and Oplontis.
church where Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) We drove to a small farm near Sorrento
and his Sicilian bride, Apollonia (Simonetta where we walked through vineyards and
Stefanelli) were married. past several dairy cows and calves. Then we
We also visited the bar on the town’s main learned about winemaking and olive press-
square where Michael and his bodyguards ing from Rosa and got a lesson on how to
met and offended his future father-in-law. In make mozzarella cheese from her sister
another village, we walked up a long set of Maria before we moved on to their restau-
steps to the church where a young Vito Cor- rant and sampled Caprese salad, eggplant,
leone, who became the Godfather (Marlin bruschetta, lemon pastries, a local red wine
Brando), was hidden in a wicker basket on a and limoncello.
donkey to escape Sicily. We toasted Italy, Croatia, Montenegro
Our final stop on the trip was Sorrento on and the Wind Surf that evening. And made
plans to return.
66 WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE SPRING 2023
