Palazzo Diaz

This was our final morning at Baglio soria. We had breakfast, said goodbye to our room and were on the road towards masala by 10am. We stopped off at our new hotel, Baglio oneto, en route to check in and get rid of our bags - and to be honest get an early peek of the place because it looked pretty delicious from the photos. It was indeed pretty delicious in person too. A jasmine scented courtyard, a friendly welcome and stunning views across the bay to the egaldi islands and up towards erice.

All that could wait for later though and we were soon back en route to masala. First stop was exploring the old town with beautiful streets, cream coloured, decorated buildings. We had coffee in the square opposite the cathedral and then headed to the archeological museum which had been highly recommended by guiseppe, the Tom Wilson lookalike consierge at Baglio oneto.

The highlights of the museum included two boats, one Roman the other Phoenician which were excavated from the harbour in the 1970s. Much of the museum also contains the ropes, nails, jewellery, amphorae and other items also salvaged from the wrecks. Some things, like the ropes were in incredible condition when you think they’re around 2000 years old. We also looked around the archeological park behind the main building which contains the remains of carthinaginian marsala with floor mosaics from a similar era.

We’d built quite an appetite so we headed back into the masala main gates and wolfed down lunch arincini, a fried bolognese bread roll (weird but delicious) and something pizza-like. Then back to Baglio oneto for some much needed pool lounging before our 6pm wine tasting.

We arrived promptly at the reception desk for the wine tasting session only to realise almost immediately that most people on the tour were British apart from a jovial German couple and a cheery if slightly odd Finish couple. Of note on the British side was one couple who proceeded to take photos of themselves constantly throughout the tour - the woman was dressed in a brassy leopard print jumpsuit and the man wore an unfortunate pale green v-neck jumper with bland blue shorts which were too long for him. Needless to say the woman behaved less than well and kept taking during the tour - including the hallowed wine cellars dating back to the early 1700’s. Our sommelier for the evening was a florid and highly experienced Italian who dealt well with their simple and ill-judged interjections. During the session, we tasted the olive oil grown on the land surrounding the Baglio as well as drank delicious glasses of Zibbibo, Grillo - nicknamed ‘the baby of Sicily’ because of its combination of flavours, a superb Nero D’Avolo and finally a Marsala- all exclusively grown in the vineyards which surrounded us. Small food accompaniments were paired with the various wine according to their suitability. In addition to the group, there was a couple who were getting married at the baglio next year and they were tasting the wine for their upcoming wedding. It was a glorious evening, full bon vivieur and good humour which thankfully masked the selfie obsessed couple by brushing them aside beautifully. An amusing evening.Read more