SWEET SICILY. A stay at Rocco Forte s Verdura Resort. Text and Photography by Jonathan Ramael Journalist & Photographer - BBT Online

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1 SWEET SICILY A stay at Rocco Forte s Verdura Resort Our reporter Jonathan had to pleasure to join a group of European MICE journalists for a two day stay in Rocco Forte s fabulous Verdura Resort on the South-western coast of Sicily. There he would have ample time to enjoy his surroundings, to freshen up his Italian cooking skills, to find out about Verdura s options for incentive and event organisers and to explore some of the most impressive parts of the island. It was truly an offer he couldn t resist. Text and Photography by Jonathan Ramael Journalist & Photographer - BBT Online

2 Here are some of many impressions of the beautiful Rocco Forte Verdura Resort and its assets.

3 Cooking lessons with chef Gianluca Interrante, with local ingredients and olive oil/oranges gathered in the resort itself. You can see the result on the bottom right. Not bad, right? Jonathan and the group of MICE journalists, together with chef Interrante and Verdura s PR Manager Anna Malvezzi (third from the left). Ah, Italy. Is there anything it doesn t have on offer? For me the Italian kitchen is the world s best. In my imagination the country s warm and sunny all year long. Its many cities and tiny villages are all terribly atmospheric, the scenery is awesome and all of it is steeped in history. I m always excited for a new visit, and it had been quite a while. I d never been to Sicily though, so I wondered if it would feel any different from the rest of the country. I together with a group of other MICE reporters from all over Europe was dying to find out. With a stay in Rocco Forte s award winning Verdura Resort the best venue on the island we were obviously off to a good start. A fantastic venue for every occasion Rocco Forte s Verdura Resort is vast. It s literally bigger than at least one country I know of (Vatican City, for those of you into pop quizzes). It s set up in a 230 hectare park next to the Mediterranean Sea, full of tranquil olive and orange groves. The place comes with almost 2km of private beaches, two 18-hole and one 9-hole golf courses (we would get a private lesson by the resort s courteous Golf Manager David Waters), four differently themed restaurants, five cosy bars, six clay tennis courts and one huge, state-of-the-art spa (It has four different outdoor pools with the best view a spa can offer. One of them is so salty you can floatingly read your newspaper in it). You can do more than relax here. Verdura has its own congress centre with a separate entrance, offering beautiful sunlit event halls and coffee breaks right under the olive trees. It has a 300 seat ballroom, seven different meeting rooms and I loved this a charming open-air amphitheatre for up to 500 people. Why would you want to meet inside when the sun is out anyway? The resort offers 203 rooms and suites in different sizes going from big to simply gigantic. The standard rooms all furbished with the best materials are 40m 2, and from there they range from 60 to 175m 2 for the luxurious presidential suite. The bathrooms are huge as well, with sunlight coming in from above no peeking possible. Classy, classy rooms indeed. But Jonathan, isn t it hard to get around by yourself in a resort this big? you might ask. Why not at all, friend! There are bikes everywhere you can just take whenever you like. I rode one of them to breakfast every morning. Great way to get the system started up. Sicilian cooking lessons Our first day in the resort started with a cooking lesson from one of the best: chef Gianluca Interrante would teach us how to make two traditional Sicilian dishes with a twist for lunch all made from ingredients gathered in and around the resort itself. Just to make sure we d try our very best, we were to eat our own creations later. The Italians keep their kitchen fast and simple: take as few ingredients as possible, make sure they are first rate and fresh, combine them in the right way and bam perfect dish. Gianluca made the most wonderful sauce using only reduced orange juice and Verdura s very own olive oil. Add some cooked green beans, some pieces of the same oranges and a couple of red Sicilian giant shrimps (cooked for only 20 seconds) and you have a restaurant quality dish. The pasta that came afterwards was even better: great teambuilding activity and very insightful for a dunce in the kitchen like me. Wine tasting on location We would eat out for the night in the Ulmo Estate one of six wine estates on the island run by the Planeta

4 Some images of Sciacca s - a town we passed through - beautiful cathedral. On the left, wining and dining at Planeta s Ulmo Estate. On the right: Simonetta Agnello on the Fattoria di Mosè Organic farm, posing with one of her (very) long term employees. family. Planeta is a local wine dynasty with roots in Spain. They have about 500 years of experience in wine cultivation and it shows. First we went for a tour through the complex and tasted some of the many wines. The farmstead housing the winery is about as old as the family and offers a very distinctive, original dining hall that can take quite a large group. Once again, dinner was simply superb. Did you know something I can only describe as spaghetti pie even existed? Well I sure didn t and now I feel sad because I had to miss it all these years. Fabulous food, yet again. Greek Temples in Agrigento Our second day in Sicily was mainly used to do some serious sightseeing. First stop were the magical but quite touristy Greek ruins of Agrigento. Next to the modern city lie the remains of Acragas (Agrigentum for the Romans) one of the foremost and richest colonies during the heydays of the Ancient Greeks. The Temples of Agrigento are now a Unesco World Heritage site and are one of the best preserved remnants of the era in the whole country. The mesmerising location on top of a plateau overlooking the sea is obviously a nice extra. One minor point of criticism though. There s this Greek looking bronze statue lying in front of one of the temples, making for a wonderful photo opportunity. Wow, that s insanely well preserved, I thought. Then I saw it was made in Fool me once, Sicily, shame on you Organic lunch in a very special venue Lunch for the day would be in the Fattoria di Mosè Organic Farm, a family estate mostly built in the 1800s but with parts of it (like the impressive tower) dating back to the middle ages. Chiara and Simonetta Agnello run the place are the fifth generation of a family that has been living here for centuries. This used to be their summer home when they were growing up. It comes with traditional Mediterranean gardens full of citronella & jasmine and wisteria climbing up the building s walls. The house s rich history was written about by the owners themselves in their bestselling novel Un Filo D Olio. They offer sleeping space for 30 guests in 6 different rooms, offer cooking classes and the venue is open to events. This is a great venue for someone looking for a more homely, authentic atmosphere. The Boven: Ürs verenigt bergwandelingen op ongeëvenaarde wijze met kettingroken. Onder: Het meertje naast Lenzerheide zorgt op zonnige dagen voor heel wat familiepret.

5 One of many temples at the Agrigento ruins Top: some more impressions of Verdura. Bottom; view over Sciacca s harbour. owners make you feel like you re part of the family and you can eat in their actual living room. What Sicily offers Sicily is a proud and very distinct region; essentially Italian, but still quite different from the rest of the country in a lot of aspects. It has its very own atmosphere and feel. Rocco Forte Verdura offers everything and more a MICE group could ever ask for. There is space for large meetings and events, there are quiet corners for the more private gatherings, there is a restaurant or bar to fit any theme and there are plenty of activities and of course the golf courses to stay occupied. For more info on Rocco Forte s Verdura Resort, check out their website here: hotels-and-resorts/verdura-resort/ Want to enjoy a two minute impression of what a stay at Verdura could be like, check out this lovely video: Published on in May Like our reports? Like our Facebook page as well! For those interested in venturing out of the resort (and why wouldn t you, it s a beautiful island), there are many sites, cities and villages to explore quite nearby. Sicily is the perfect destination for everyone looking for purity, authenticity and atmosphere. We would gladly come for another visit. Posing after our golf Initiation.