Italy Trip Review: Monreale, Palermo, Taormina, 8-Day Vacation

I would spend less time in Taormina which is basically a resort town with many bad restaurants - in one I was served my main course in a bowl with four chips in it and part of the meal comprised overcooked vegetables.  I reported this to the manager who did not charge me for my main course.  My wife also had complaints about her fish being raw but we did not report that. 
The wine tasting events were not satisfactory.  Sicily has a lot to learn from Italy and indeed the U.S about how to conduct these events.  In one we were placed inside to eat in what appeared to be almost an office in the winery buildings.  In another we sat across from each other at an enormous table that seemed to be designed for tour groups although this was denied when we raised it.  Both events were located inside buildings.  One of the aspects we look for in a wine tasting is eating lunch outside in a nice shady setting with trees flowers etc around us.  This was wholly lacking in both locations.  We had no complaints about the food.  I would therefore not recommend such events to friends. 
Hotels were generally good to excellent and service was also very good in most.  I single out the hotel in Catania as being the most welcoming and helpful - it is truly an extraordinary hotel but drivers seem to find it hard to locate and its not very accessible for downloading luggage.