Our driver this week has been Giorgio, a friendly, cheerful, helpful person, prepared to listen to and respond to all our efforts at Italian conversation while driving us carefully around the Sicilian countryside. On our way to Noto yesterday, Adalgisa, our teacher, leader, walking dictionary, source of information and inspiration, had an idea.
As well as being employed freelance as a driver, Giorgio and his wife run a fresh-pasta company: Maninpasta. Here is a link to their website. How would he feel, Adalgisa asked him, about letting us taste his freshly made pasta? In fact, having lunch at his place? We would pay, of course. Much talk ensued. He had phone conversations with his wife. Adalgisa assured him that we only needed the simplest, plainest of food. His wife was NOT to go to any special lengths on our behalf. 
Of course, eventually he agreed, his wife agreed and, while we swanned around looking at churches and fine buildings, Mrs Giorgio – and their two sons, 14 and 10 – worked away all morning at producing tagliateli in a ragu sauce and ravioli in tomato sauce. And when we arrived, Giorgio explained the process and the machinery he uses.
While the pasta finished cooking we ate local ricotta cheese, so fresh and soft it melted in your mouth and their own home-made bread. All this was served with a local vino da casa. Absolutely delicious.
We were all completely blown away. Supermarket-bought ricotta and supposedly fresh pasta will never taste even half-way good after this.
And then, of course, Giorgio refused payment. We were in his house, well, his “laboratorio", workplace, where he and his family regularly have lunch before going to their actual home. So we all gave a present to the boys, which was perfectly fine. That was the “good”.
Back in the centre of Modica later, Phil and I went to the tourist office to confirm information about our onward travel to Siracusa today. Now, some years ago the BBC, in one of their language teaching programmes had described the tourist office of Palma de Mallorca as being staffed by wonderful, friendly, helpful staff. We found them indifferent and since then that has been our point of reference for poor service. Well, Modica ufficio di turismo may have beaten them. We asked about buses to Siracusa. Ah, we were told, in rather bored tones, the timetable is about to change on Monday so it would be better to go to the bus station, about 400 metres up the road, opposite the cafe Barycentro and ask there.
So off we went and walked the longest 400 metres I’ve ever come across. Opposite the cafe Barycentro was a car park – one we know quite well as it’s where we picked up Adalgisa most mornings this week – and a bus stop but ... a bus STATION? No such thing. Fortunately there was a bus there so we asked the driver. You have to get information in the cafe Barycentro!! Ok, fine, so that’s what we did. Buses at 6.30 am, 11.30 am and 7.30 pm. 11.30 sounded ok but then the young lady said the time was approximate. It could arrive before then!! Great! We were thoroughly fed up by then, and that is the polite version.
That was the bad.
So what was the beautiful?
We have to go back to Giorgio for that. After lunch he offered us his personal tour of Modica, promising to take us to a place he knew we hadn’t been. After all, he had been our driver all week and he knew this was too far to go on foot. So he drove us out of town to a viewing spot where we looked down on the city with church of San Giorgio completely central, showing how the steps and the gardens form a kind of chalice to hold the church. 
Absolutely beautiful!!!!!
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