The world is really a small place. I seem to have missed Howard Hodgson in my travels over the past month during which we shared a number of common destinations: London, Mdina and southern Sicily (The world around us: Why has southern Sicily been passed by? – TMIS, 4 April).

I recall reading somewhere that when a man is tired of London he is tired of life. Hence his description of London as “an urban hell where everyone is on the make; where decency and honesty are as common as a polar bear carrying a glacier in his paw while walking down Oxford Street and nobody knows the name of the next street, or doesn’t speak good enough English to give you directions even if they did” contrasted sharply with my recent experience there, where I savoured the strolls around Hyde Park, the diversity of theatre land, where I was fortunate enough to experience Mozart’s The Magic Flute South African style, with percussion instruments replacing the habitual violins and cellos, the warmth of the local with its fair share of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, followed with an invitation to ram the dart board – that invention of instant friendship – and much else.

Mr Hodgson’s views on London set the scene for more to come, with his equally downbeat exposé of his time spent in southern Sicily. His experience there was one of dirty streets, impossible-to-find good restaurants and hotels as also seaside towns with a sloppy seafront. How can this be?

For those of us who have decided, like myself, to make southern Sicily our second home, nothing can be further removed from the truth. We truly enjoy the picturesque Sicilian fishing villages, such as Scoglitti, Marzamemi and Punta Secca, the exquisite greenery of the Modican altipiano, with its forests, rivers, expansive valleys and birdsong, the enjoyable walks in the winding and narrow baroque alleyways of the Mdina-like UNESCO world heritage towns of Ragusa Ibla, Noto and Scicli, the awesome views from the Hyblean mountains, the cool breeze and serenity of the mountain towns of Palazzolo Acreide, Giarratana, Monterosso Almo and Vizzini, the hustle and bustle of the trendy playground that is Marina di Ragusa, to name but a few.

It is evident that Mr Hodgson is bent on quantity rather than quality. He seems to have set off on his umpteenth journey, this time to southern Sicily, without taking the time to make the necessary effort to prepare himself. Had he done so, he would have discovered what many British and other Europeans are increasingly referring to as the new Tuscany of the south.

My humble advice to him is to look up some of the many available websites and plan a journey to southern Sicily where he can take in the many sights on offer, including the many excellent restaurants and typical trattorias and rosticcerias which are literally all over the place. A well planned visit will surely make him yearn to return to more spaghetti alle vongole veraci, grigliata di pesce, cannolo siciliano and favourite Sicilian amaro, downed obviously by ample doses of Cerasuolo di Vittoria, Inzolia or Nero d’Avola.

One final word of advice if I may: life’s too short so it’s best to live it cool and relaxed… and there’s no place like southern Sicily to do so. Alla prossima!

Mario Spiteri

Circolo Amicizia Malta Ragusa

Ragusa

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