This little building/castle was quite a find. It was the hardest to find as there is very little information on it, but it was worth finding (once we FINALLY found it). Yet another trip that educated LUCK came together to be a success. This castle was built first as a monastery. After the earthquake and eruption from 1693 it was left unused for a long time. After that, when the Duke Horatio Nelson came and conquered a major battle in the area, he took it and made it into his fortress. The things in it still belonged to them. Our little 'guide' had seen two duke's reign here and his father had seen 3. It was a building full of history! Outside was a traditional English garden, just like I saw while I was in England. Nice large hedge mazes. The kids thought that was great!
The above picture is the remains of the original monastery. The below picture is one of the rooms that was set up. Those furnishings and things in it are original to the owners.
The huge wood table that is in front of the kids is from the monks from back in the 1400s. It was certainly a solid piece of furniture. They also had a piano forte from the 1800s that they let us play!
Not my favorite stop in all of Sicily, but it was certainly unique and something to remember. It was just outside the city of Bronte which is world famous for their pistachio trees. They are not in season at the moment, but it was fun to still see the rows and rows of trees. I cannot even imagine how cool they would look with their branches full of pistachios. Yet another growing region of Sicily that we were able to see. Maybe some day we can come back in the growing season and see even more :).
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