Heading north

Maps were consulted and the decision was to take in a beach but then head north to some less frequented inland sites. Breakfast however was required and so Ragusa Superiore was visited and our first arancini devoured with much gusto - accompanying of course the by now traditional ricotta stuffed cornetto.
Scicli (totally unpronounceable) for lunch, after some more interesting satnav moments, with this charmer looking down at me. A shabby chic restaurant serving another tuna steak that had hardly been cooked. A pretty smaller town with much less tourism although I am not quite surer why - very much still on the Montalbano trail which we then followed to Punta Secca  with "his" house on the beach. Tricia even emulated him with a swim around the bay.
Pretty dreadful bit of coast though with polythene greenhouses everywhere. It was a relief to head inland to our destination for the night of Piazza Armerina. We had not got anything booked but the Rough Guide recommended three places.so no problem. The first, a converted monastery, is now a hostel for immigrants so on we went. The second, a phone call in French revealed, was full so on we went. The third when we eventually found it was back in private hands. 
In the end we went for a random B&B and were really lucky to find some an excellent set of rooms right in the middle of town in a palazzio that had just been converted to a B&B and had only been open for a month. Very comfortable.
The town itself was pretty, especially around the central cathedral square with a really local feel. The drinks in the bar were strong and dinner was workmanlike rather than gourmet and included a conversation in immaculate English with the next door couple, one Turkish the other Romanian.