Buonasera, good evening from Ragusa, a charming hilltop town in southeast Sicily.

Ragusa is divided into two areas, with the ancient part called Ragusa Ibla, established in the 2nd millennium BC and known for its Baroque architecture. Unlike Palermo, Ragusa has a calm, refined elegance and is a very clean city. By 10:30 on a Friday night, most everything is closed down, and there aren’t many people walking the beautiful stone streets. At least that’s how it is in mid-October; it must be a lot busier in the summertime.

The press trip I am on, sponsored by Sicilia DOC wines, has officially begun, and we’re a group of nine U.S. journalists who are on the go all day long visiting wineries, and we only have time for about 16 hours in Ragusa. So you know what that means—I’ll have to come back as soon as possible to spend more time exploring this fabulous place.

Below are a few photos, the first showing me, Aperol spritz in hand (taking a break from wine!), in front of the Duomo di San Giorgio. This Baroque-style Catholic Church was built in the 1700s, and it took nearly 40 years to be completed.

Here’s the entrance to my charming boutique hotel, Ibla In Suite.

All around Ragusa Ibla you will see decorative stone carvings called mascheroni depicting figures of whimsical faces that were carved out of pietra pece, the local asphaltic stone.