Petralia Sottana and the Parco della Madonie

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The road climbed through olive groves and gave us a final view of Cefalu.

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We stopped briefly at the Santuario di Gibilmanna then continued to climb until we entered a green valley, with the central Madonie massif behind.

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Next stop was Castelbuono, named for its castle which was closed. We wandered round the town, and tasted manna made from the sap of manna ashes which has been extracted for centuries and valued for its health and sweetening properties. Pistachios are also grown and processed here into pistachio cream and pesto which were far more tasty.

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The road continued through a rolling landscape where we encountered goats grazing, and then a glimpse of Mount Etna in the distance.

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By the time we reached Petralia Soprana clustered on a hill, in true Italian fashion, everything was closed for lunch, but we snapped a couple of the churches.

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Further on, and we arrived at Petralia Sottana and B&B Domus Lilio, our stop for the night, again with a balcony and mountain view.

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We had another delicious meal, this time at Petrae Lejum,with grilled vegetables followed by gnocchi and mushrooms and pasta with lamb ragu. Before leaving town, we stopped off to get our picnic made up by Giorggio himself in the local grocers shop.

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