Sicily

First, planning for Sicily and looking at the map, it was clear that a week would limit us to what we really wanted to see, so we decided on ten days. It was a good choice and add to the fact that we are not travelers that dawdle, little grass grows under our feet on vacation. Not that we don't take time to relax, but there's too much to experience sitting around.

Renting a car was the best option for traveling around and we really got a taste for the Italian driving experience within minutes of departing the car rental company. We quickly learned, especially departing Palermo, that you have to proceed with caution, be aggressive, be defensive, watch out for motorcyclist weaving between cars in both directions. It seemed like you are expected to kinda move over to the right, perhaps even into the berm, when someone is passing you on the left, even though an oncoming car is quite close. It is unsuitable for timid drivers, period! One thing we were thankful for, with our short stop over in Dublin, Ireland, is that the Italians drive on the right side of the road.

Palermo, the capital city of Sicily, has an enriching history dating back to the Phoenicians who founded it in the 7th century BC. Then along came the Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, and Normans which reveals this combination of history sometimes in the mashup of different architecture setting next to each other within Old Palermo.

The city is best experienced by foot. Standing on most any corner in Palermo, you are bound to see a church or two, or three, since, according to our map there were 36 notable churches to visit, that doesn't include the ones that are not notable, there were many more.

Seafood is the main event on most menus, along with the ubiquitous pasta. Street markets are always fun to visit and Palermo was no exception offering unusual food and providing a chance to view daily life of the people of Palermo.

We were told these long vegetables were similar to zucchini.

Octopus, squid, shrimp-common street market and menu items.

Arancine (rice balls).
Deep fried rice ball with a center of cheese or spinach or meat
and tomato sauce. Quite simply the best street food.

Palermo, Sicily

Palermo, Sicily

Palermo Opera House, Palermo, Sicily

Australian Banyan tree, Palermo, Sicily

Palermo, Sicily

Palermo, Sicily

But enough of Palermo, there was so much more to see around the island. Next stop, Cefalu! We really like Cefalu for the quietness of this seaside fishing village. It felt more like a resort town, which I think it is. People were sunning themselves along the beach and enjoying lunches on the waterfront cafes.

After parking the car we approached the city this way. What a pleasurable entrance!
Cefalu, Sicily

Cefalu, Sicily

Cefalu, Sicily

Cefalu, Sicily

Cefalu, Sicily

The owner of this little vehicle was rolling down the streets yelling to  residents of what he
was selling that day. A person would exit their home and buy what they needed for the day.
Cefalu, Sicily

Significant sights that we discovered in Cefalu were the Cathedral of Cefalu, one of Sicily's most important building.

Stunning aspe mosaics in the Cathedral of Cefalu. Construction
began in 1131 during the Norman domination of the island.

The Cefalu Lavatoio Medievale was used up until the 20th century. There were many more
"pools" than on this photograph for dipping your clothes for washing into the cold, cold water.

Exiting Palermo and traveling east was a memorable event. I think we drove through more tunnels that day, than in my entire life, ten fold. It sure didn't make for an enjoyable ride, but I believe that the Italians designed the road that way so as to save the landscape of its beauty. And you sure can't blame them for that. You don't get it both ways. If more time allowed, Cefalu would have been a joy to stay overnight, but as it was, we stretched our time a little thin everywhere we visited, and Taormina was our destination that day.

For several hundred years, Taormina has been a popular tourist destination. Modern day celebrities flock to this quaint city that is perched on a hilltop overlooking the sea to the south. To the northwest you are offered views of snow-capped Mt Etna. We had to drive to the base of the Mt Etna to actually see it, cloud cover obscured our view everyday.

First siting of Mt Etna

The land mass that the lava flows have covered is difficult to describe other than to say it is miles and miles. We saw little vegetation for long periods of time and as far as the eye can see. If you ever decide to go there, pack gloves and a good solid pair of shoes, as we found it hard walking on this lunar like landscape. Their are trails to hike near the parking lots, it was just too cold and windy for us. And in the winter, don't forget to pack your skis, a favorite pastime of the area. There are ski lifts, lodge, rentals, they have it all.

George amongst the Mt Etna landscape.

But getting back to Taormina, it is a charming medieval city with narrow winding streets, fabulous views, and outstanding restaurants and art galleries. Strolling through the streets, you can easily come upon a 2000+ year old mosaic, Roman/Greek amphitheater or other super old sights to see that aren't  necessarily on every tour guide. However, the grand sight to see in Taormina is the Teatro Antico di Taormina. Still used today for performances, this ancient Greco-Roman theater is located within the walls of the city overlooking the sea.

Teatro Antico di Taormina

Teatro Antico di Taormina

As mentioned at the start of this blog, driving, especially in Taormina was challenging. There is one street that circumvents the city so if you miss a turn, oh well, you have to drive the whole way around the city again. Thankfully the good ol' GPS was helpful but not perfect, since the streets are narrow and some close to one another. But finding our hotel was beyond challenging and hair-raising and add to the fact, there was no sign for the hotel. Needless to say the second time around the city, we were approached by a fellow standing outside a hotel's name that was similar name to ours. He ask if we needed help parking, as he worked for the hotel. I do believe that the Italians are fabulous car parkers, they have to be, to live there. So George jumps out, me still in the car. He's maneuvering the car, honking at other cars, until we came to a rest in the spot and he says what room are you in. I said we didn't check in yet. As it turned out, it wasn't our hotel. We were staying down over the hill, on this unbelievably steep, steep street, one way in, one way out street. The protocol was, that if you are going up, the vehicle coming down has to put-er-in-reverse, OMG, but then you, who is going up, has to stop, now you're dead, because you have lost all your momentum which is needed to get up the freaking cliff road. In fact, our hostess said "turn your air conditioning off". She knew you were going to need all that little car's power it could muster, to get up that hill. What an adventure, but once we got to our room and to our little patio facing the sea, it was very rewarding, Oh try telling that to the driver!!!!! Honey do you need a glass of wine after that drive. No, I'll take the bottle please!!!

Is that possible in this car?
Near Taormina, Sicily

Taormina, from our hotel, looking east

Taormina, Sicily

One of several entrances to the city.
Taormina, Sicily

We stumbled upon this 2nd century BC mosaic, once part of a home.
Taormina, Sicily

View from our hotel.
Taormina, Sicily

Public gardens
Taormina, Sicily

Several tourist books recommend walking from Taormina up this steep, steep (are you getting the picture, it's either steep up or steep down in Taormina) trail to the medieval town of Castelmola. We did it, it was challenging, but I can't say we enjoyed this little town. Yes, there's a castle there dating to the third century BC. There's a touristy restaurant there with everything related to the male genitalia, and believe me it was the most crowded restaurant in town. But my guess is that in mid-October this little town is a weekend destination, it was deserted, except of course at that one restaurant taking in the sights. The views anywhere in Taormina were pretty spectacular.

On our hike to Castelmola.
Taormina, Sicily

View of Taormina from Castelmola, Sicily

On the road again, destination Noto! The area around Noto and Syracuse were probably our favorite. Here it was much warmer, the sun was shining all day, and we were staying on an adorable, rustic farm where olives, carob, almonds and some citrus were grown. Our host and hostess were interesting, he the farmer, she a freelance archeologist. As we came to learn, freelance archeology is a common profession in Sicily. Because just about every time someone digs they come upon artifacts that could be worth preserving.

Our home away from home on the farm.
Noto, Sicily

Siracusa or Syracusa, which ever you like to spell, is a beautiful city with so much history. By far the most interesting museum we have visited in a long time was the Museo Archeologico Regionale P. Orsi. This gem of a museum did a fine job of telling the story of Sicily, however more specially the history of Siracusa and its surrounding region. A fabulous coin collection with magnified glasses for seeing the details of each coin was really cool. Most helpful, in many displays, was a map showing where artifacts were discovered. Included with the ticket museum, was entrance to the quarry. A huge area where you'll find the largest Greco-Roman theatre in Sicily, Orecchio di Dionisio, and burial caves. The Orecchio di Dionisio (Ear of Dionisio) is where slaves were imprisoned and legend has it that the acoustics of the cave where so good that the tyrant of the times could hear everything the slaves where saying. It is a must visit and larger than you can imagine. Other caves were off limits due to their fragile condition.

Orecchio di Dionisio, Siracusa, Italy

Ortigia we loved, an island in the oldest part of Siracusa. Clean, friendly, interesting architecture, shopping, seaside, art, historic, it checked all the boxes and then some. It was a treat to see the painting by Caravaggio, Burial of St Lucy at the church of Santa Lucia all Badia. Surveillance was very evident, no photos allowed.

Between Ortigia and mainland Siracusa, Sicily

Quite often in our travels we come upon a wedding or two.
I don't believe I've seen a get away carriage quite like this one.

Noto, as the tourist articles attest, looks like something straight out of a movie set. In 1693, an earthquake devastated Noto as well as other cities in southern Sicily. So the majority of the buildings in Noto where reconstructed in the Baroque style of Architecture, resulting in the majority of them looking very similar. It is a beautiful city and one that can be visited in a day or less. It is a world heritage site.

Noto, Sicily

Upon leaving the Noto area, a significant agricultural area, on a Sunday morning, we discovered ladies of the night working in the sun lit early morning hours along side of the road. Quite easy to pick out due to their attire typical of night work, but surely surprising because of the time of day.

So far we have covered a lot of territory in Sicily, wishing we could linger a little longer in some areas, and anticipating what was ahead of us to discover; isn't that always a dilemma when you travel. Much anticipated to us was Agrigento. Here is were you will find eight temples, the most intact Greek temples outside of Greece in the Valley of the Temples. The World Heritage Site logo is taken from the most preserved temple in Agrigento. We got up early to spend the entire day, walking, looking, reading, thinking, discovering, learning. Valley of the Temples is a testament to early Sicilian civilizations. I could write much more, but you just have to experience it for yourself, it is a fascinating location.

Temple of Concordia, Valley of the Temples, Agrigento, Sicily. The most preserved temple,
believed converted to a church in the sixth century, which perhaps saved it from demolition.

Ancient road with wheel grooves in the rock road.
Valley of the Temples, Agrigento, Sicily

Valley of the Temples, Agrigento, Sicily

In the confines of the park, there are gardens, where ancient civilizations cultivated citrus and nuts and today you will find 36 fruits and nuts still cultivated, mostly for preserving and selling to tourist. It was nice reprieve to duck into a shady spot from the hot sun and walk through the groves.

An unusual ancient goat breed can also be found in the park. It is not exactly known how or when they came to Sicily, but what we learned is that they came from the middle east and are near extinction today. Their horns were truly unusual.

Old goat breed near extinction, Argigento, Italy

Just a stones throw from Agrigento is the Scala dei Turchi, Stairs of the Turks. These white cliffs are a geological wonder of soft limestone and marl. It is an excellent location to swim and sun yourself.

Scala dei Turchi, Stairs of the Turks, Sicily

Scala dei Turchi, Stairs of the Turks, Sicily

And I have to mention cats! Cats are everywhere on the island. There wasn't a day we didn't see dozens of them. They all look pretty healthy too, so someone is caring for them, however I can't say the same for the "wild" dogs roaming around. It is a bit of a somber sight, but the good thing is there was far less dogs than cats on the loose.

Our last stop encircling the island was Trapani. Where the Tyrrhenian and Mediterranean seas meet, its history is loaded with beautiful churches, museums, and an old town that was fun to discover. On the day we visited, the winds were 35-40 MPH, so our experience was not the most desirable. But I'm glad we took the time to see the western side of Sicily, it is very rugged and far different from the east. We had a fabulous last dinner at an outstanding restaurant that is still etched in my mind, window seat and all.

Near Trapani, Sicily

Near Trapani, Sicily

Did you say pomegranate? Fresh pomegranate juice on the street, what a delight!
Trapani, Sicily

Trapani, Sicily