|
check out
our home page |
Sicily is
a fascinating place. We spent 7 days there in October. It has beaches, mountains, volcanoes, lots of
very old
churches and cathedrals, Roman and Greek ruins, great food markets and of course the stigma of being
the home of the mafia. This eclectic combination of attractions made our visit
very interesting. We enjoyed the beautiful places, but also suffered
from a certain feeling of unease as we were always looking over our shoulder
expecting to see Tony Soprano or one of his lieutenants. We enjoyed
Sicily, but I don't think we'll visit again anytime soon.
Below are the highlights. |
|
|
We
started in Taormina,
a beautiful mountain village in the northeastern corner of the
island.
As you can see from the picture on the right, Taormina's
topography is striking. This picture shows how it is located on a
mountain
outcropping with Giardini Naxos below (the main beach resort in the
area) and tiny Castelmola above. Actually, the city is far more
beautiful from outside than it is inside.
Taormina is a great place for just walking around and shopping or viewing Mount
Etna from the ruins of the Greek ampitheatre. The picture at the top of the page
shows this magnificent view of Mt. Etna . |
|
|
|
|
|
This is no sleepy mountain
village. It's a major European tourist stop and considered one of the 3
most beautiful places in Italy, right alongside Bellagio and Amalfi. It is
definitely a fun place to visit. On the other hand, it's no fun to
drive here, and parking is practically nonexistent unless you're staying
in a hotel with its own parking. There is very limited parking on the street for 1 Euro per
hour and there are 2 parking garages for 2.50 Euro per hour. (All these prices are from 2003. Today, it's far more expensive.)
On the left is a shot of the main street, Corso
Umberto, with Alisa admiring the silverware and glassware displayed outside this store.
|
|
We stayed for 3 nights "down below" in
Giardini
Naxos at the Villa Mora, a very pleasant 2 star B&B right in the center of
town. It's rated at 2 stars but the amenities are more than 2 stars.
The only problem is the train that goes by several times during the night,
and lack of parking in the summer. We had no problem parking because we were there
in October. To the right is a picture of Nando the host at the Villa Mora in the
breakfast room.
Another
moderately priced hotel we can recommend in Naxos is the
Arethena Rocks Hotel which is located
at the far southern end of town right on the beach. We didn't stay
at this hotel, but we did visit and we think it's a great bargain for the
price.
Both the above hotels still exist.
|
|
|
|
|
Speaking of trains, one of the more
interesting sights in Giardini is the train station. It's like a
museum. Here's a picture to the left with Alisa admiring the sculpture exhibit inside the train station.
After driving up to Taormina
twice and finding parking with great difficulty, we decided to take the
bus up to Taormina. It was very convenient with about a 5 minute
walk (uphill) into the
center of Taormina from the bus station.
|
|
|
On the left is a picture a store window in Taormina
displaying marzipan. It looks like fruit, but actually, it's all
beautifully sculpted marzipan, which is popular all over Sicily.
However, all
of the "sculptures" taste the same, just marzipan.
In Taormina,
we ate at two very nice restaurants. One was the
Casa Grugno, reputed to
be one of the two best restaurants in Sicily. It was very good and
the service was excellent. The price for a tasting menu was 52 Euro.
The other restaurant was a surprise. We ate here because it was
right near where we had miraculously found a place to park. The name
of it is "Ristorante Da Lorenzo" and it is located on Via Roma, number 12.
It was
very good. Everything was just perfect, and of course it was a whole lot
cheaper than the Casa Grugno.
Both the above restaurants still exist and still have favorable reviews.
|
|
From Taormina, we made a day
trip to Siracusa, about about a 90 minute drive. In Siracusa, we visited
the very impressive archeological park, where one can see a Roman theatre
and a Greek theatre just about side by side. On the right is a
picture of the Roman theatre all ready for the next gladiator event.
To the right below is where couples in Siracusa go to get their wedding pictures
taken on the day of their wedding. It's on the island of
Ortygia
which is part of Siracusa and is where many of the city's
most interesting attractions are.
|
 |
|
|
Siracusa is also where we
learned about the "unofficial parking attendants" in
Sicily. In order to visit the archeological park, we parked on the
public street where there were absolutely no signs regarding parking.
We were immediately approached by a very large man with a pack of
"receipts" and he explained that we had to pay him 3 Euros for the privilege
of parking where we were parking. This was an offer we quickly
realized we couldn't
refuse. We later realized that this is apparently a time honored
profession, and met several more similar "parking attendants" in various
places as we
traveled about the island. We even learned how to avoid paying
them.
|
 |
|
|
|
Taormina or Catanya (located
about 30 minutes south of Taormina) are the most convenient
jumping off points to visit Etna,
the most active volcano in Europe. We drove for about an hour to get
to the "Sapienza Refuge". This area is about as far as you want to
go with your private car. From here you can take any of several types
of tours to the active parts of the volcano - hikes on foot, tours by
jeep, or a combo, part in a mountain bus, and part on foot. The more
adventurous can hike by themselves. To the left is a view of the
barren landscape typical of Mt. Etna.
|
|
|
|
What
amused and entertained Alisa the most about Etna was chestnut
harvesting!! We found out that October is chestnut season in
Sicily and the local folk trek into the woods to hunt for
chestnuts. Apparently it's quite a sport. You have to pick
the thorny fruit off the fully laden tree and then smash it with a rock
in order to extract the nut. To the right is a picture of the crew
picking chestnuts with Alisa.
|
|
|
|
After
leaving Taormina, we drove to Enna, a mountain stronghold with incredible
views of the countryside. Enna is well worth a visit, and is very
near Piazza Armerina, home to the Villa Romana del Casale, an ancient villa
with the most celebrated mosaics in all of Sicily. This place is
really incredible. Below are the most famous of the mosaics. On the right is the room of
bikini clad female athletes in competition, and ton the left are a couple
of battle scenes, great examples of the detailed and beautiful mosaics found here.
|
|
|
|
|
From Piazza Romano, we drove to Agrigento, home to the best preserved
collection of Greek temples anywhere in the Mediterranean, outside of
Greece. The temples are fantastic and when lit up at night
provide a spectacular view. To the right is a picture of the most
complete temple in Agrigento. We spent one night in Agrigento at
the "Villa Amico", a very cheap but
adequate B&B. We paid 50 Euro for the two of us including
breakfast and a barking dog next door. Our host Domenic was very
helpful.
This B&B is still going strong.
|
|
|
|
|
We drove from
Agrigento west along the southern coastal road with the intention of
rounding the western end of the island and visiting Erice, another
beautiful mountain fortress. The coastal road turned out to be very
slow and very ugly. It was so ugly, that we turned north and drove through
the mountains. The interior roads of the island in general are far
more attractive and provide a much more enjoyable drive than any of the
coastal roads we were on. It took a while, but it was worth it when
we reached Erice, a really incredible town overlooking the port city of
Tramani. To the left is a view of the streets of Erice and below to
the left is
a shot in one of the best restaurants we visited in Sicily - the "Monte
S. Giuliano" on Vicolo San Rocca right near the center of town. They
had the most delicious home made pasta. Everything was excellent
including the service. Below on the
right is the view from the castle down to the sea below.
The restaurant is still operating with great reviews.
|
|
|
|
|
|
From Erice we
headed to Palermo, the largest city in Sicily. Palermo is without a
doubt the noisiest most chaotic city we have ever been in. The
driving is insane and the road signs are extremely confusing.
Everybody drives and parks wherever they want, and stop signs are strictly
considered as recommendations only. It's really hard to describe the
pandemonium, the noise, the cacophony of police and fire sirens serenading
one another...
We stayed at the
hotel BEL 3, a pleasant 3 star hotel in the hills above the city. This
hotel is excellent if you have a car and want to do some day trips in the
area. We discovered a good way into town without parking problems by
driving to the San Giulio bus station located on the edge of the city
center (plenty of free parking, (but try to avoid the unofficial parking
attendant) and then take a bus into the center.
The hotel Bel 3 is still operating as a 3 star hotel.
|
|
|
To the left is
the view of Palermo from the hotel. Palermo looks best from
afar. Generally, the weather in Sicily is very good, but it rained
for the better part of the 3 days we were in Palermo.
While in Palermo we ate at
a couple of good restaurants. One was
"Cucina Papoff", a restaurant
which serves elegant classical Sicilian cuisine. The place was full
of tourists, which surprised me. We also ate at
"Cin Cin" ("cheers"
in Sicilian), a most unusual restaurant run by a most unusual Sicilian,
who spent most of his life in the United States. He runs a
restaurant which changes the menu everyday and serves very original food.
We enjoyed it.
Both the above restaurants are still operating.
|
|
I can't
leave Palermo without mentioning one of the most interesting places we
visited while we were there. It was a wine bar by the name of "Kursaal
Kalhesa". Kursaal is located on "Foro Unberto I, within what
seemed to be a part of the city walls on the eastern edge of the old part
of the city. Why was it notable?? Only because of the setting. It
was the most elegant wine bar we've ever been in, The building is old, and
the interior is set up as a magnificent library. The
books are real and so was the very wide selection of wine. They had
a very limited food menu. To the right is a picture of the interior.
Kursaal is still operating and looks like it has developed and expanded very nicely.
|
|
|
|
|
| AN INSIDER'S GUIDE TO SICILY |
|
| VISIT SICILY |
|
THE BEST OF SICILY
|
A LOVELY TRAVEL BLOG ABOUT A TRIP IN 2003
|
THE FOOD OF SICILY
|
TYPICAL SICILY
|
SICILY - ITALY'S HOTTEST NEW LUXURY DESTINATION
|
SICILY - HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY & PEOPLE
|
