This is great! More, please.

hi thursdays -

I admire your chuzzpah - this is definitely travel, not tourism. How lucky you asked about the platform!!!

really looking forward to more,

regards, ann

Excellent report so far. Keep it coming!

Thanks - more coming as I write it...

Hi ann - nice to "meet" you again. I've discovered that when it comes to buses and trains you can't ask too many questions! When I got back down to Napoli P.G. I asked again, and I checked the itinerary on the door of the carriage before I boarded. Better to look silly than take off in the wrong direction (which I have actually done...)

April 19th - Not Loving Noto

I would visit the Archaeological Park in Siracusa with the tour group, so I had planned a day trip to Noto and then a day (Sunday) exploring Ortigia. Over breakfast (delicious, but a bit too sweet for my taste) I discussed my plans with my landlady. The bus station, which I had expected to find practically next door to the B&B, had been moved over near the train station, I learned. Marriott had bought a big building two streets away, and not content with renovating the building itself, was intent on cleaning up the neighborhood, and the bus station didn’t fit their plans. Even the market, which set up right below my window, was in jeopardy.

The bus to Noto was either very late or very early, but when we passed a parade (demonstration?) on the main street I saw why. A whole line of inbound buses waited behind the marchers. Modern Siracusa did indeed look uninspired, but I enjoyed the countryside - again, wildflowers brightened otherwise rocky hillsides. I learned later that between the demands of shipbuilding and of agriculture, Sicily lost its trees many centuries back.

One thing you hear a lot about on Sicily, at least while you have a guide, and especially if the guide is from Catania, is the earthquake of 1693. This devastated many of towns in the east, including Catania itself (already largely destroyed by Mt. Etna in 1669) and Noto. I’m not quite sure why I wanted to visit Noto, as it was rebuilt after the earthquake in baroque style, and I’m not generally fond of baroque, but the pictures looked good.

I had expected the town to be quiet, with scaffolding covering the damaged cathedral (the dome collapsed in 1996). Well, I knew my guidebooks (mostly Lonely Planet, copyright 2005, therefore researched 2004) needed updating, and I found that Noto had been discovered, and also cleaned up. No scaffolding in evidence. Just a main street punctuated by shining clean, honey-colored, impressive buildings. Very beautiful. Very sterile. Even though a wedding was underway in one of the churches, all those clean buildings combined with the tourist crowds made the whole place feel inauthentic.

I took to the back streets and the Trattoria del Carmine, where I tucked into an excellent antipasto and so-so ravioli. Then I went back to the main street and took pictures - the crowds had disappeared, no doubt in search of lunch.

My landlady had warned me not to miss the bus back. This had worried me a little - I knew there would be few buses on Sunday, but did the service shut down on Saturday afternoon, too? I had been unable to find a timetable anywhere near the bus stop in Noto, but I finally discovered that you could find out the bus times in the same place you bought the tickets - the Tabacchi. Still, when I saw a bus show up I decided to take it, instead of exploring further.

So, I started wandering round Ortigia a little earlier than planned, and was enchanted. (More on that later.) I found a promising looking place to try for dinner, and then stopped off for coffee on a side street before retiring to my B&B to rest my feet. (Last fall I spent a month limping round Budapest, Austria and Venice, but so far this trip my feet were holding up well - no reason to stress them too far, though.)

When I showed up at Il Fermento (Via del Crocifisso, 46) the owner warned me that the back room would get very noisy later, but I decided to stay. (A large crowd of kids did arrive towards the end of my meal, I think they were in town for a gymnastics competition.) I started with a seafood risotto that could almost have made an entire meal. Lovely, creamy rice was packed with small bits of seafood, and decorated with shellfish. Then I tackled some huge shrimp, finding delicate, delicious flesh just inside the heads. An ice cold limoncello made a perfect finish to the meal. Including the house white wine the bill came to around 30 euros. Back outside I found the town alive with people, and I joined the crowds on the main street for a while, before going back to my room.

thursdaysd,

Thanks for the report, I can't wait for the rest! Sicily is my next destination and I will probably be traveling solo too.

How was the April weather?

Thanks for this Thursdaysd. I'm really enjoying your report and can't wait for more.
Micheline

Thanks!

Dayle - I really liked the weather in April - sunny, warm days and cool evenings. I did have some rain one day, but I think it was only one day. By the time I left in mid-May it was getting hotter, and no more cool evenings. If you want to swim I guess fall would be better, but then you'd miss the wildflowers. Avoid the summer if you can! Unless you're really into heat and siestas, I guess. I had AC available about everywhere I stayed, but didn't need it.

April 20th - Loving Ortigia

After my initial exploration of Ortigia the day before, I knew I would spend this day just wandering around, soaking up the atmosphere and admiring the buildings and the views. Here, beautifully restored palazzos stood right next door to ones gently crumbling into ruin. In contrast, the main street had plenty of modern shops, and the whole place had a lived-in feel I had missed in Noto.

I started down by the water and had the lungomare, the port and the Fontana Aretusa largely to myself. By the waterfront the lungomare, dark and cold two nights before, now basked in sunshine. Further back, a double row of big trees offered shade. I had been thinking of taking a boat ride, but this seemed an activity better organized for a group than a solo traveler - I would wait until I came back with the tour group.

At the fountain I took pictures of the papyrus - a pretty, feathery plant that I would never have imagined could be used to make paper - and the ducks, before moving on for more pictures of the Duomo and of the Artemis fountain in the Piazza Archimede. Here I picked up a copy of the Herald Tribune to go with an espresso macchiato at the Café Diana, a place that seemed popular with locals.

I should say more about the Duomo, a spectacular building on a spectacular piazza. This day, I mostly admired the outside (Spanish), but later I would learn that it is the oldest continuously occupied religious building in Europe. (I think the tour guide said the world, but Europe seems more likely!) Not the same religion for all those centuries, of course. It started as a temple to Athena, and the 5th century B.C. columns still support the roof. Inside I could feel the age - and the peace.

Lunch - less than 2 euros - was a mortadella and cheese sandwich from a nearby alimentari, followed by a siesta. For dessert and coffee I picked a different café - Café Minerva, near the duomo. This would be a better choice after the improvements to the street outside are finished, but the cannolo was good regardless. I've never had a sweet tooth, and now too much sweet stuff at the wrong time messes up my blood sugar, but I don’t really think of cannoli as sweet. On Sicily the shells were much lighter, and the ricotta much creamier, than those I’ve had at home. I wouldn’t waste any opportunity to indulge.

I walked off some of the calories by exploring the southern end of the island, finding access to the castle at the very tip completely blocked off. The more time I spent on its back streets, the more I liked Ortigia. Yes, there were tourists around, but not that many. Yes, there were tourist shops, but not whole streets of them. Yes, the buildings were often baroque, but not aggressively so. Mostly, I think I liked the town because of the variety. Greek ruins here, a Spanish church round the corner, modern apartment blocks down the street. It had the feel of a place that had just grown over the centuries, rather than being designed and built all at once.

For dinner I followed my landlady’s recommendation and went to the Ristorante Porta Marina (www.ristoranteportamarina.135.it) - a bit more up market than Il Fermento, although the food was no better. I started with gnocchi, which came with a good cheese sauce and pistachio topping, but was just a touch gluey. The beef that followed wasn’t bad, but the mixed salad was decidedly uninteresting.

Once again, there were crowds out on the streets when I finished eating (it was still the weekend), and again I strolled with them down the main streets. When I got home I watched the parking game being played below me, finally realizing that the helpful man directing cars into spaces was actually running the show, as the drivers tipped him.

Thursdaysd-I am so glad that you enjoyed Ortigia. My daughter spent a semester there "studying abroad" during college and the whole family fell in love with the little island.I will mention your visit to Cafe Minerva to her-it was her favorite coffee stop between classes.Seriously, if there is heaven on earth its on Ortigia but don't anyone!

dutyfree - how neat! When I was there they were resurfacing the street between the cafe and the Duomo, which meant it was a bad place to sit outside during the week, but I could see it would be really nice when they finished.

Your daughter was so lucky - I liked Ortigia so much! It really didn't seem to have a lot of tourists (at least in April), so I'm a bit worried about the new Marriott.

April 21st - Tour Time in Taormina

I started traveling back in the 90s, with tour groups, but over the years I’ve switched more and more to independent travel. But I do take an occasional tour - when it makes sense for transport, when I’m feeling lazy, when I want some company in the middle of a long trip. This time I would take my fourth Rick Steves’ tour - I’d done two back in the 90s, and then Greece in 2006. I’d found the guides to be excellent, and the other tour members interesting travel companions. Still, this is likely to be the last RS tour I take, as the groups have grown larger and the prices higher, and most of the tours go to places where I’d rather travel alone.

I had carefully compared itineraries before deciding, and this one came closest to including all the places I wanted to visit (tours.ricksteves.com/tours08/product.cfm/rurl/code/ISC08/). My timing was right - the year before the tour had included Southern Italy, with too much time on the bus and too many places I preferred to visit solo, and I see that next year it will be cut back to only nine nights in Sicily.

I would now backtrack to Taormina to join the tour. Of course, I could have spent my extra nights there, instead of going on to Siracusa, but I thought Ortigia would be much more my kind of place (it was!). I wanted to take a look at Taormina, for the Greek theater and the views, but since I’m not a shopper and I don’t care for resorts, I didn’t want to spend long there.

I began the day by visiting the market, conveniently situated right beside the apartment building housing my B&B, and by buying a panini for lunch from the alimentari even more conveniently located in the building itself. Then I rode the shuttle back to the train station - I had bought my ticket while I waited for the bus to Noto. Initially I thought that a bus would be faster, but then learned I would have to change in Catania. Besides, I really prefer trains - no worries about luggage disappearing from the storage area under the bus, and easy access to a toilet.

At the station I found that a strike has caused the cancellation of trains coming from the mainland - good thing I was already on the island! (One couple joining the tour had to find a car and driver in a hurry because of this.) I also found that groups of schoolchildren were being taken through the train - apparently this was an educational outing...

At the Taormina train station I met up with a young Swedish couple on a long trip, unaccountably lugging a large suitcase around with them. Since the taxis wouldn’t take me to my hotel, we rode the bus up to town. Here my cell phone again came in handy - if you want a taxi from the bus station you have to call for one. After dropping the Swedes in town, the driver negotiated some remarkably narrow streets - just wide enough for the car, but not for the car and a pedestrian - on the way to the tour hotel, the Vello d’Oro (www.hotelvellodoro.com/uk/index.htm). Here I was surprised to find that I had a single room (these tours operate on a mandatory share/no single supplement basis), and a very nice single room at that, with a balcony with a good view (once I got the sticky door fixed).

I went out to look around - quickly abandoning the shops for the lovely Villa Communale gardens. Gorgeous views, pretty flowers, quirky buildings and some welcome shade - even so early in the season the sun had developed some noticeable heat. Then I compensated for a very bad coffee at the café just outside the gardens (I suppose they thought they were selling the view rather than the coffee), with a much better one back at the hotel.

At 5:00 o’clock it was time to switch to group mode and show up for the introductory meeting. Our tour guide, Alfio, turned out to be a tall, dark Sicilian with a charming accent and an apparently encyclopedic knowledge of things Sicilian, but he seemed not to feel the sun, as this meeting was out in the open - no shade, and tables too far apart to hear each other properly. I was surprised to find I was the only solo traveler on the tour. This might sound good - I wouldn’t have to share a room - but single rooms are usually the worst, and I would have to work harder on socializing.

After the introductions, and a move indoors, Alfio went through the entire itinerary with us - did he think we had signed up without reading it? Then we went out for a pre-dinner walk to visit a stretch of Roman wall. Nice piece of wall, but Alfio used it as the starting point for a complete outline of the history of Sicily. Standing around listening to things I already know is one complaint I have with tours.

No complaint about dinner, though. Antipasto, including cheese, lasagna and veggies, pasta alla Norma (with eggplant and an excellent cheese, a Sicilian specialty),beef involtini and salad, and a huge slab of tiramisu. And wine - later the wine drinkers would chip in for a wine kitty, but this first night it was included. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the name of the restaurant.

Enjoying this immensely. Is the Vello D'Oro within walking distance (or reasonably so) from the centro area?

bookmarking

Thanks Holly - yes, the Vello d'Oro is in a good location just above the main street at the west end of town. I had a good view of the Piazza IX Aprile from my balcony. Breakfast included meat and cheese, and the juice and coffee were good.

April 22nd - Views, views and more views

While I definitely preferred Ortigia to Taormina - more laid back, more varied, fewer fellow tourists - Taormina does have quite wonderful views, with the coast to the east and Mt. Etna to the west. I started the day on my balcony, with a view out to sea over the main piazza. Late in the morning we visited the Greek Theater, where the views were still stellar despite the stage wall (happily now somewhat ruined) built across the best view by the Romans. And I spent the afternoon up above Taormina in Castelmola, which had the best views of all.

The town itself did have attractions beyond the shops. My photographs include several churches, a baroque fountain with an angel-faced centaur centerpiece (the symbol of Taormina), the narrow streets (staircases in places), a flower-bedecked balcony, a quaint door, but, of course, lots and lots of shots of Mt. Etna and the coast.

The group spent the morning on a walking tour of the town, including the Villa Communale gardens and the Greek Theater, with an informative local guide (of course Alfio was also a local!). Then a group of us rushed off to catch the bus up to Castelmola (www.castelmola.com). One hardy sub-group decided to walk up, but I did mention that Sicily was short on trees, didn’t I? No trees means no shade, and I didn’t want to trek up a steep hill in full sunshine when I had an alternative. (I do my hiking in the Appalachians - plenty of trees!)

Unfortunately, lots of people wanted to take the bus up, and several of us didn’t make it on. I turned to the couple behind me and suggested crossing the street to the taxi stand - with three of us splitting the fare it wasn’t that pricey. We picked a quiet place for lunch, and then I went off to enjoy the spectacular views from the castle and explore the town. It was festival time - in the Church of St. George a big statue of the saint and the dragon was up on a float, being decorated with red roses.

Back in Taormina (by shared taxi again) I checked out the restaurants on my list. I had done a fair amount of research - guidebooks, fodors.com, slowtrav.com - and had a list of possibles for most of the towns I would visit. Here the first couple of places seemed too pricey, and I settled on the Granduca (www.granduca-taormina.com). I don’t often bother with reservations in Europe - if you go a little early they can usually find space for a single - but the town seemed crowded and one reason to eat at the Granduca was to enjoy the view, so I had my hotel call.

Perhaps as a result, the restaurant gave me a table right in front of their big glass windows, and even after the sun set I could watch the palm trees tossing in the wind. For the first time I had brought my iPod to dinner, and I listened to Marlena de Blasi taking about Orvieto while I ate. And I ate well. A carpaccio of swordfish with greens was excellent. I followed that with a Sicilian specialty, pasta con le sarde, with sardines, raisins and pine nuts. I had had doubts about pasta with sardines, but promptly became a convert. With wine and water, the bill was around 30 euros.

April 23rd - So Much to See, So Little Time

On the itinerary, days 3 and 4 looked good. This day, we would visit Mt. Etna in the morning, drive to Siracusa, and then meet in the early evening for a walk and dinner. The next morning we’d visit the Archaeological Park, which would leave me nicely positioned to spend the afternoon at the museum. It didn’t work out that way, as Alfio changed the schedule.

The day started well, despite an early start, with a good talk and good views from the coach. But our visit to Mt. Etna itself disappointed me. The place we stopped at was mobbed, and then we just got to follow a well-worn path round the rim of a small crater. A freezing wind tried to blow us off the mountain, and only dead black ash surrounded us. Alfio had told a stirring story about a close encounter with live lava on the way up, but we didn’t see so much as a spark.

Then we stopped off in Catania on the way south for a walk round the town center and a disorganized lunch stop. I did fine - I picked the closest café, shared a table and figured out the buffet system, but others had more trouble. Then, back on the bus, Alfio announced that we would tour the Archaeological Park that afternoon, instead of the next morning. This meant that the tour would include two full “free” (i.e. no activity days) days instead of one. I like having some free time, but I don’t see a need to pay tour prices for too much of it.

Rosa, our local guide for the Archaeological Park, was dynamite, bringing the site vividly to life. The Greek theater was disappearing under plywood in preparation for the summer drama series, but nothing could hide the size of the quarry behind it. The Athenians who had survived the disastrous (for them) naval battle of 413 BC had been forced to work there for seven years, before ending as slaves.

Rosa was so good that, when we were given the option to tour the Duomo with her that afternoon, instead of with Alfio the next morning, most of us chose to do so, even though that meant we didn’t reach our hotel on Ortigia until 7:30, with no real orientation to the island, and only a couple of vague suggestions for dinner. (Alfio was swapping the group dinner on Ortigia with two lunches later on.)

I had announced my intention of eating again at Il Fermento, and several people wanted to join me, so I asked Alfio to make us a reservation. When he called me to say he couldn’t get an answer, I pulled out my restaurant list for Siracusa, and headed down a little early to meet my group so I could confer with the front desk. We settled on Oinos, just round the corner at Via della Giudecca 71, where I had perhaps the best meal of the whole trip.

We had to split the group, and my table of three shared appetizers - asparagus with quail eggs, and a tuna tartare sampler. Then I had Argentinian beef with Jerusalem artichokes, and got a taste from the duck breast and leg with foie gras. Everything was delicious, and the wine, a Shiraz and Nero d’Avola blend, so good it seemed a steal at 15 euro a bottle.

thursdaysd,

This is very intreesting for me to hear about your tour. I'm surprised that there was so much last minute itinerary changing going on. Have you had this experience with other RS tours? Is this part of the reason you won't do another?

I've never been on a tour and this is giving more more confirmation of the many reasons I've never felt a tour would be a good option for me, even if it does mean going solo.

Hi Dayle - glad to know someone's still reading!

Previous RS tours have not had much in the way of itinerary changes - some extras added, and the need to cope with things like bus breakdowns and local guide availability.

This was the first tour on this itinerary, but I had the feeling the change on days 3 and 4 had more to do with the guide. He said that he liked to put a lot into one day, and then give us a free day the next day. This is completely opposite to what I would like, with some scheduled activities and some free time each day. As I wrote, if I want an unscheduled day, and can organize it myself. I'll be pointing this out when I write my feedback on the tour.

I think the more I travel, the less I like tours, or at least general tours. I don't need to hear the lecture on how Greek temples are designed again, for instance, and I've seen enough glass-blowing, pot-throwing and carpet weaving demonstrations to last me a while. But I did enjoy the Greek RS tour I did in 2004 - the trip report for that is at www.wilhelmswords.com/eur2006, if you're interested.

Yes, we're still reading. More, please (again).

I'm definitely reading. I hope to make Sicily my next trip, combined with the Aeolian Islands and some more time in Roma! My last trip to Italy (3rd) was 3 weeks solo and I have no problem driving around the countryside on my own etc.

I'm just wondering how different Sicily might be. I am expecting less English spoken and my bit of Italian may not be enough. Also seems like trans will be a bit more challenging, as you thought.

Please do continue!

Dayle, I think the differences between mainland Italy and Sicily are that Sicily seems more genuine, work-a-day and real. Less concerned with fashion and material things. You can definitely tell that many areas are not as affluent as further north but that is not a bad thing at all.

There are areas where English is not spoken but that is part of the fun and adventure! I am unsure about public transportation but navigating and driving in Sicily is easy for the most part (exception: Palermo at busy times).

Dayle, that sounds like a great trip. If you have no problem driving yourself, go for it. I'd not plan to drive in Siracusa or Taormina, or in Palermo for that matter (where there's good public transport), but the main roads looked fine. I have trouble justifying the cost of a car for one person on a budget, plus I can drive or navigate well, but not both at once!

I don't speak Italian (I'm hopeless at languages) and I managed fine. I did notice that in the less touristy places and restaurants, e.g. on the Egadi islands, off the west coast, less English was spoken.

April 24th - Slow Day in Siracusa

Since this was a “free” day I was able to get up a bit later. The tour was staying at the Residence alla Guidecca (www.residenzaallagiudecca.com), self-catering apartments in renovated palazzos in the heart of the old town. I had a big bedroom with a lovely double bed, a sitting room with a mini-kitchen concealed in a cupboard, and a bathroom. My rooms were dark, as they looked out onto a narrow street rather than a courtyard, and there was an easily missed step a few paces inside the bedroom door, but otherwise this would be a good place to settle in for a few days.

A couple of other women on the tour were also interested in visiting the museums in the new town, so we rode the shuttle to the train station together and then shared a taxi to the Papyrus Museum (www.museodelpapiro.it). Good thing it was free, as the labels were all in Italian, and there wasn’t a great deal to see. Some papyrus sheets with Egyptian hieroglyphics and a couple of canoes caught my attention, but I soon moved on to the Archaeological Museum (tinyurl.com/5sa3ly) next door.

In Naples I had been disappointed in the Archaeological Museum because part was closed for renovation. Guess what, same thing here! At least they reduced the admission charge. The prehistoric section was still open, and I found this especially worth visiting as most of the Sicilian history I had read had started with the arrival of the Greeks in the 8th century BC.

Although the Greek section was also accessible when I was there, I was still a little “Greek museumed-out” from my six weeks there in 2006. I was more interested to learn that Sicily had been a magnet for invaders even before the Greeks - just too tempting to resist, apparently. And then there were the dwarf elephants - I had absolutely no idea that such things had existed, never mind on Sicily (and other Mediterranean islands too, it turns out).

I finished with the museum around lunchtime, and walked back to Ortigia just in time to score a panini before the shops shut for the afternoon break. I ate it under the trees on the lungomare, and then revisited the Café Minerva for coffee and cannolo. I also checked that Il Fermento was open and made a reservation for three for dinner.

I had not forgotten that I wanted to take a boat ride. I had mentioned it to Alfio in the hope that he might pass the message on, but no. Luckily I ran into two people from the tour who were interested, and we agreed to take a boat around the island. Our boatman doubled as a tour guide, but he spoke no English - the Italian couple sharing the boat with us were able to help out with a little translation. We had a lot of fun - getting to see the castle at the end of the island, meeting up with a scuba diver who handed up a few sea urchins, and finally sitting in the bottom of the boat as the awning came down to get us under a low bridge.

Underneath the alla Guidecca’s main building lies a surprise - Jewish ritual baths dating back to the Byzantine era. Alfio arranged a reduced admission price for the group, and most of us headed down the steep stairs to have a look at the small, deep, rock-hewn pools before dinner. The water came from an underground spring, and I couldn’t help reflecting that it was mostly women who were supposed to purify themselves in the cold water, not men.

I had planned to eat dinner with the same couple as the night before, but word had spread that I was revisiting a restaurant I had liked, and in all eleven of us showed up at Il Fermento. We took over a big table in the back room, and fortunately one of the men spoke some Italian, and was able to translate the message that with so many of us, and only one person cooking, it would help if we didn’t order too many different dishes. The risotto and king prawns I had had before were popular, and I gathered that the ravioli and salad were appreciated, too.

Thursday I am certainly still reading this terrific report! And while I read I continue to learn! Who knew, for example (certainly not me) that the Duomo in Ortygia is the oldest continuously occupied religious building in Europe!

You weave a compelling tale and I am hoping for more soon!

Thanks eks! I certainly didn't know that about the Duomo either - that info came from Rosa, who was a terrific local guide. I must say, the atmosphere inside the Duomo was in every way consistent with millenia of use as a sacred building.

Here's the next installment, but I'm off to eat some Chinese food, no more until tomorrow.

April 25th - Heading Inland

Today we would leave the east coast behind us and drive through the inland hills to Piazza Armerina for two nights in an agriturismo. Tomorrow would star the mosaics of Villa Casale - one of my absolute must-see sights on Sicily (I just love mosaics). I looked forward to the agriturismo, too - not the kind of place you get to stay at if you only use public transport.

Before we left Siracusa, though, Alfio had added a visit to the recently opened WWII bomb shelters near the Duomo. As shelters go, these weren’t at all bad, cleaner and less claustrophobic than the London tube, for sure. Originally caves, they featured a big cistern for water.

I had been a little concerned that our lunch stop might have been Noto: instead it turned out to be Caltagirone, which I had really wanted to see, but had thought too far for a day trip from Siracusa. Ceramics have been produced there for over a thousand years, but I didn’t want to shop, I wanted to see the Scalinata di Santa Maria del Monte, 142 wide steps leading up to the Chiesa di Santa Maria del Monte , each riser faced with hand-decorated ceramic tiles. And indeed, while the plates and vases in the shops were a little florid for my taste, the tiles were just right - birds and flowers and lions and horses and geometric shapes, each riser different.

Before releasing us to find lunch, Alfio took us to see a huge “nativity” (presepe in Italian). Think of a model railway layout, but without the railway and with the nativity scene as the centerpiece. This one occupied most of a church, and included numerous tableaux of people going about their daily lives - fixing meals, gathering firewood, catching fish.

Again, we were given only sketchy directions for places to eat. I headed straight for La Scala, listed in Lonely Planet and actually on the Scalinata, but they were only offering a “tourist menu” at 25 euro. I should mention that April 25th was a holiday - Liberation Day, both celebrating the end of WWII in Italy, and commemorating the war dead. On a different day I would expect to find a regular menu.

Unfortunately, many places were closed because of the holiday, and I wasn’t having much luck when I ran into a couple from the tour looking equally hungry. Then I took another look at Lonely Planet and we found Non Solo Vino, almost hidden up a staircase, where I enjoyed an excellent piece of swordfish with fennel and orange. Apparently the antipasto buffet and spaghetti with clams were also good.

We couldn’t linger over lunch, though, as we were supposed to meet up with the group for a pottery demonstration. This was where I realized that one pottery demonstration is really much like another - I would have done better to visit the ceramics museum. I didn’t have time for that after the demonstration, but I did abandon the shoppers, which let me spend a little time in Caltagirone’s pretty public gardens, and take a quick peek at a religious festival that seemed to center on the cloak of S. Francesco di Paola (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_of_Paola).

After we got settled in at the agriturismo we had to play the “name game”, designed to help us remember each other’s names. With 27 people on the tour, I could certainly use the help, but I hadn’t realized we were going to do it outside. The evenings were still cool, and even in a sweater I wound up thoroughly chilled. I didn’t know it at the time, but the sickness the Sorrento doctor’s prescriptions had cured would now make a comeback.

We were staying at Torre di Renda (www.torrerenda.it/intro/index_eng.htm) for two nights, and ate dinner there both nights. My room, a double, was small enough I wondered where two people would put their luggage, and again I didn’t have much of a view. There were great views available however, looking across a valley to Piazza Armerina.

I thought dinner good but not great - stronger on quantity than quality. The antipasto, as usual in Italy, was good, the pasta just OK (although since I’m not really a pasta fan, maybe I’m not a fair judge), then we had tough pork as well as tasty rabbit and potatoes. Dessert included both cake and tiramisu.

I absolutely love your report and your website and photos! You sure are a role model!! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks so much SeaUrchin! (Blush) I don't feel like a role model, but I did hang out on the Solo Traveler's board when we had one to say that solo travel doesn't have to be scary.

Love your title!
My father was born in Siracusa so reading your wonderful report with my interst. Thank you.

cigalechanta - I just can't resist an opportunity for alliteration! Probably a silly question, but I haven't been a fodorite that long, and I mostly hang out on the Asia board (the Europe one fills so fast): have you been to Siracusa?

Keep it coming thursdaysd, very informative!

April 26th - Mesmerizing Mosaics

A group of 27 doesn’t just make unrealistic demands on people’s memories for names, it makes unrealistic demands on small hotels’ hot water supplies, and some on this tour weren’t up to the challenge. Faced with the choice of a cold shower, getting up earlier or showering in the afternoon, I picked the latter, but I did miss my morning shower.

Remember my previous encounters with museums “closed for renovation”? Well, the Villa Casale, one of my reasons for coming to Sicily in the first place, was also partially closed for renovation! True, renovation is a good and necessary thing,(very necessary in the case of the Naples museum), but I was beginning to feel I had chosen the wrong year for this trip. I do hope that renovation at the Villa includes a new roof - the current monstrosity makes it very hard to take decent photographs, and must turn the place into a sauna in the summer.

Still, the Villa (sights.seindal.dk/sight/456_Villa_Romana_del_Casale.html) is huge, and although some of the most famous mosaics were covered, I had plenty to admire. Built in the early fourth century, probably as the manor for a large estate, it survived the invasions of the Vandals and the Visigoths, and later the Arabs, but was buried by a landslide in the twelfth century, and remained hidden until the 1900s. The UNESCO listing for the site says simply: “the finest mosaics in situ anywhere in the Roman world”. Just stunning.

Almost anywhere would be an anticlimax after a morning at the Villa Casale, but Piazza Armerina wasn’t bad. I made a quick getaway from the group to be sure I could buy a panini before the shops shut. With a “happy hour” and another large meal scheduled for the evening I wanted a light lunch, which I ate on a bench across from the duomo. Exploring the town afterwards, I found several people from the group in a nice-looking trattoria, and was invited to join them for coffee and dessert.

Heading back to the coach we walked into the first rain I had encountered since Herculaneum back on April 15th - and hail as well - but it cleared by the time we reached the agriturismo. Now, later in the year, I imagine people will spend the afternoon at the pool, but not in April. I admired the views, I went for a walk among the wildflowers and I caught up on my journal, but it was definitely a slow afternoon.

In contrast, the evening was lively. We all showed up with contributions for happy hour (I took olives, from the same alimentari as my lunchtime panini), and then took turns introducing our “buddy”. RS tours have everyone pair up on the first day and then check that our buddy is present when otherwise the guide would need to count heads. (Turns out that “buddy” is a dirty word in Sicilian!)

I tried to graze sparingly on the assorted goodies, but getting through four courses after happy hour was a bit difficult. This night we had the usual mixed antipasto, followed by another pasta Norma, meat and very mediocre spinach, and my favorite cannoli.

April 27h - Agrigento to Scopello

My notes for this day are extremely sparse, possibly because I had gotten sick again. (For those who missed the Capri-Sorrento part of this trip, I spent most of that time suffering from a cold followed by a cough.) My fellow travelers rallied round with an assortment of remedies, and I would find that Advil for Sinus (which I’d never heard of - I don’t watch ads) shortened the transition from cold to cough.

We spent the morning at Agrigento, where remarkably intact Greek temples stand proud on high ground above the sea, even though the site is known as the Valley of the Temples (go figure). No “closed for renovation” problems here. The setting is dramatic, and the temples among the best I’ve seen. I hear it’s even better at night, when the temples are lit.

Our local guide, while not as dynamic as Rosa, nonetheless knew his subject well. Not a good person to entrust with the group photo, though - the result is dominated by one of the temples, with the people hard to identify!

We had a group lunch, and although I can conjure up the table and the people I sat with, I can’t remember the food. My notes just say that the chickpea fritters, which I had looked forward to trying, were disappointing, and that a promised surprise turned out to be a dessert wine. Then we made the long drive to Scopello, a little village in the northwest near the entrance to the Zingaro National Park.

We stayed at Albergo La Tavernetta (www.scopello.org/la-tavernetta.htm), where I had a room with a small balcony. For dinner many of us wound up at Il Bagnio, said to have food with Arabian influences. My seafood couscous was more couscous than seafood, and very short on expected spice. I ate cassata for dessert, rich with sugar and candied fruits and also on my list of things to try, but found it too sweet for my taste. I’ll stick with cannoli!

thursdaysd, I'm really enjoying your report (and enjoyed the one on Capri & Sorrento as well, as I'm going there in July). Sicily is on my list, so it's good to get the information.

Thanks SusanP - here's the next installment.

28 April - Back to Nature

After Greek temples, Roman mosaics and lots of Spanish baroque, we were going to spend this day in the country, hiking the seven kilometer coast path through the Riserva Nationale della Zingaro (www.riservadellozingaro.it/index.html). We had beautiful weather for the trek, but, unfortunately, I woke up feeling decidedly off color. What to do? We had four hours to make it from the southern entrance to the northern, where our coach would meet us. Or I could do a very short trek at the southern end and then backtrack to take the coach north. Or I could forget the whole thing. There’s no public transport at either end, and although Scopello is only two kms. from the southern entrance, San Vito Lo Capo is 20 kms. from the northern.

Initially I planned to backtrack, but quickly realized I wouldn’t have enough time to reach even the first cove, and that the scenery would be well worth some effort. I had already slathered on sunscreen (I hate the stuff), and with a borrowed bandana to cover my thinning hair I decided to keep going. It’s surprising how far you can get just putting one foot in front of the other.

Four hours only gave most of the group, including me, enough time to make the walk and take a short lunch break (our hotel had provided sandwiches). I’d have liked to take it more slowly, and not just because I was sick. I live in North Carolina, where a three hour drive will get me to mile after mile of sandy beaches, but I really prefer my coastline rugged, with cliffs and breaking waves, and this was much more my kind of place.

To my right a dark blue sea met a sky just a few shades lighter. To my left, open, rocky slopes climbed high, home to birds and wildflowers. I could now recognize acanthus, but I still don’t know the name of the big cactus with a spire that looks like a giant asparagus. And at ground level yellow and red and pink decorated the plants where darting lizards took refuge. We weren’t the only visitors, but only a few others were walking the paths or sunbathing in the coves.

The coach duly collected us at the northern entrance, and we drove on to San Vito, where Alfio treated us to gelato. (I know that many posters here are gelato fans, but I’m afraid I’m a heretic - I’m just not that fond of frozen treats.) San Vito’s long sandy beach had even fewer sunbathers than the coves in Zingaro.

Apparently the folks at La Tavernetta,, where we ate a group dinner, felt we needed feeding up after our hike, because they served way too much food! Assorted bruschetta were followed by no fewer than three kinds of pasta, including pasta con le sarde (not as good as the Granduca’s). The swordfish, accompanied by French fries and salad, seemed a little dry, but dessert, pineapple and little cakes filled with ricotta, was good.

29 April - More Marvelous Mosaics

Today we visited another of my “must-sees” - Monreale cathedral (www.bestofsicily.com/monreale.htm). We left early for the drive through craggy hills in the hope of beating the crowds, but were foiled by the presence of three cruise ships in Palermo. But nothing could spoil my enjoyment of the remarkable mosaics.

The Norman king William II commissioned both the cathedral and its accompanying monastery (now mostly destroyed) in 1174. It had only been a hundred years since the Normans had wrested control of Sicily from the Saracens (or Muslim Arabs) with the backing of the Roman Catholic pope, but Arabs, Normans and Orthodox Christians managed to coexist in an unusual and productive harmony, at least for a while. The cathedral reflects influences from all three religions.

The entire interior is covered with Byzantine-style mosaics, 6,340 square meters of them, with a background of gold. In 42 separate scenes the mosaics depict key episodes from the Bible, culminating in a huge Christ Pantocrator above the main altar.

Outside we visited the cloister. Here 228 slender, paired columns, all different, all with intriguing capitals carved with scenes from Sicilian history, and many with mosaic inlay, are in need of the renovation recently completed inside the cathedral. An Arab fountain was tucked into one corner.

I planned to revisit the cathedral after the tour ended, so I didn’t mind leaving for a drive through more craggy hills to a winery. The best part of the winery tour was the bottling operation, but I approved of the wine tasting that followed. (Although why before lunch instead of after?) I quite liked a Viognier and Chardonnay blend, and could have talked myself into buying some of the Nero d’Avola and Shiraz blend if I wouldn’t have had to carry it.

Group lunch at the winery lasted until 4:00, and again was stronger on quantity than quality. I paid more attention to the conversation than the meal.

The streets in our base for the next two nights, Cefalu, weren’t sized for coaches, so we walked into town (our luggage went by taxi). I had a good-sized room at the Hotel la Giara (www.hotel-lagiara.it), with somewhere to put my pack and a table to write at, but again, no view and problems with the hot water.

My cold had now mutated to a nasty cough and congestion - I had been having trouble hearing all day. Two other people were also on the sick list, and after a walking tour of the town we arranged with Alfio to visit the doctor. Actually, the Guardia Medica, which unlike the Emergency Room in Sorrento, was free. Although we arrived just after 9:00, as suggested, we had to wait until nearly 10:00 for the doctor to come back from a house call. (An actual house call!)

Alfio translated her diagnosis of my problem as “cold air”, which, while unlike any diagnosis I had heard before, actually matched my experience. The doctor didn’t want to give me another antibiotic, and instead prescribed nose drops (Argotone). These worked quite well, except that I couldn’t help swallowing some, and after four or five days they started to disagree with my digestive system.

Still enjoying your report and keepiing it for reference. Sorry you took ill, but you are a trooper, good for you!

Well, SeaUrchin, I'm the idiot who hopped around Turkey on crutches after she fell down some steps in Istanbul on a different RS tour! I did go home early when I broke my wrist in Switzerland, though.

30th April - Chilling Out in Cefalu (Pronounced Chefalu, didn’t think I’d pass up an opportunity for alliteration, did you?)

This was our “vacation from our vacation” day - i.e. unscheduled, although Alfio had arranged a pre-dinner visit to a puppet theater, and then moved the “farewell” dinner from May 1st in Palermo to this evening in Cefalu. Like April 25th, May 1st is a holiday in Italy (and much of the rest of Europe: once the pagan festival of Beltane, now it’s the European equivalent of the US’s Labor Day). Alfio said he had just found out that his target restaurant in Palermo would be closed for the holiday, but he also said that he had held the farewell dinner early on other trips, and you would think he would have known about the holiday.

I think Cefalu may be trying to become the next Taormina, with lots of shops and restaurants, but it doesn’t have a Greek theater, or beautiful Villa Communale gardens, and if you want the best views you have to trek up the 900-foot hill, Il Rocca, that soars above the town. While I had made a longer trek through Zingaro, that had been mostly flat, if uneven, and I didn’t feel well enough to tackle this one.

Not that the views at sea-level are bad. Cefalu is an attractive small town, with a crescent beach, some fishing boats, and narrow, atmospheric streets (unfortunately shared with cars). A great place for shoppers and sunbathers, and swimmers in season - although two of our group did brave the waters, they didn’t have much company. The Duomo is a magnificent Norman construction, with Byzantine mosaics created a little before those at Monreale, and there’s no shortage of places to drink coffee and watch the passing parade.

My last puppet show featured shadow puppets, in Malaysia - Sicilian puppets are very different! (See www.lifeinitaly.com/tourism/sicily/sicily-puppet-theatre.asp) Big, three dimensional constructs, manipulated from above, used to tell a story of Christians defeating Saracens. I thought the costumes good but the movements clumsy, and enjoyed the opportunity to examine several generations worth of puppets more than the show itself.

The farewell dinner seemed a little low key, and again I concentrated more on conversation than food. I was surprised when Alfio, who had been of very little help with restaurant recommendations, asked me where I got mine! Of course, it's an understatement to say that Rick Steves has never been a foodie, but I had expected some local knowledge from a Sicilian guide. We moved up onto the Spanish sea walls for dessert - cassata and limoncello under the stars. A beautiful idea, only marred by the fact that we didn’t do a buddy check before we left the restaurant, and one woman got left behind.

May 1st - Palermo With the Tour (later there will Palermo on my own)

We arrived in Palermo from Cefalu way too early to check into our next hotel, so we left the luggage there and headed out with our local guide. She gave us a pretty comprehensive tour of central Palermo, but I realized (again) that following a guide around doesn’t give me a good feel for where I’ve been, and often for what I’ve seen.

I do remember La Matorana, a 12th century Greek Orthodox church getting set up for a service, the Fontana Pretoria in the piazza of the same name, notorious in its day for its nude statues, and the cathedral, an Arab-Norman extravaganza, at least on the outside. Then I was upset to learn that the Capella Palatina, another treasure-trove of mosaics was, guess what? Yes, closed for renovation - completely closed this time. We took a walk through the Capo market, and finished in front of the Opera House.

Given a choice of lunch or the Archaeological Museum, I chose lunch, along with several others. The couple I was with and I chose an antipasto buffet in the first reasonable place we saw. When we met up with the rest of the group for an optional tour of the Opera House, I heard that the museum had been a disappointment. The Opera House, five full tiers of red and gold boxes, could have used some of the renovation I kept encountering - the royal box, impressive at first sight, was distinctly shabby.

Unfortunately, my room at the Hotel Tonic (www.hoteltonic.it) turned out to need renovation too - shabby would have been an improvement. I’ve stayed in a few really grotty rooms over the years, but mostly in Asia, and mostly at very low prices - not in Western Europe at 85 euros a night (the Tonic’s rack rate for a single).

I could put up with the room being small (London B&B small). I could put up with the bed being small (I’m only 5’ 5”). But the tiles on bedroom floor suffered from ingrained dirt to the point that I wouldn’t walk on them barefoot. And the room’s narrow window looked out on the bottom of an air shaft full of scaffolding and tanks. The only way to get any airflow was to run the AC. When I asked the front desk to move me I was told they had no other rooms. The “flawless renovation work completed in June 2007” certainly didn’t include this room, or the other single that I saw.

I went for a walk to calm down and consider my options. Although I had already paid for the room as part of the tour cost I seriously considered moving to another hotel. But by the time I got back, and had Alfio confirm that the hotel couldn’t move me or transfer me to their sister hotel, I judged it too late to move. Instead I took pictures for a tripadvisor report (I’ll write up all my hotels after I finish this), and tried to avoid touching the curtain while I showered.

Although we had eaten the farewell dinner the night before, we all met up for a rather disorganized farewell drink. Then I ate a last meal with four friends from the tour at La Tavernetta, a place we had checked out at lunchtime. We shared a spread of “Arab” appetizers, and then I enjoyed prawns and potatoes.

thursdaysd,

I'm so sorry you ended your tour in a horrid room. It's sounding more to me like your tour buide, Alfio, was more interested in Free Time for himself than for you. Was that your impression too?

Note to self: remember to check for renovation, construction on major sights of interest before next trip! Thanks for sharing this experience.

Tour Thoughts

Strictly speaking, the tour would end after breakfast the next morning, but after I hugged my dinner companions good night, I would be on my own again for the rest of the trip. In some ways, the tour had been a success. We had seen everything I had expected, and some things I hadn’t expected, with good local guides. My travel companions had all been interesting, and I had really connected with some of them.

But. Touring places with 27 other people is really not my style - I’m more accustomed to dodging tour groups than parading around with them. Most of the time I’d really rather sit down with a good guidebook and a cup of coffee than stand around listening to a tour guide. I’ve found that when I go back alone to places I’ve visited with a group (the Temple of Heaven in Beijing comes to mind), I see more. If you want to get a feel for a town, the best way is to walk it, on your own.

I hadn’t had to worry about hotels or transport or luggage, or about some of my meals. But, I travel light, I can carry my luggage when I need to. I actually enjoy the planning phase - picking hotels and restaurants, and then seeing how they turn out. And I’m not convinced that tours are cost effective.

Dayle - I found Alfio a bit of an enigma. He was very knowledgeable abut Sicily, and I think he really wanted us to share his enthusiasm. He was responsive to requests - after I got tired of standing around in full sun when shade was available, and asked him to put us in the shade when possible, he did so (although he kept pointing out that he was doing so). He went to the Guardia Medica with us. But I saw less of him during unscheduled time that I remember being the case with other RS guides. And I did think that bunching activities into one day to leave the next free was as much for him as for us (or the driver - he mentioned that the driver could have the day off in Siracusa.) But, those tour members who have posted feedback on the RS website thought he was great.

BTW, the end of the tour wasn't the end of the trip - I'm about to take off for Western Sicily on my own.

thursdaysd...

Thanks for the trip report. I enjoyed reading it.

I have been on several RS tours too and have been considering the Sicily tour for the fall of 2009 (or South America...I can't make up my mind!).

Thursday thank you again. I am sorry that the trip was marred by your being under-the-weather and by those "sight" closings. But it sounds as if you made the best of things..you are a good traveller!

LowCountryIslander - I see on the website that the RS tour will be ct to nine days next year, so not the same itinerary as I did.

eks - thanks - but the trip isn't over yet - I did another nine days in Sicily after the tour ended - more to come.

May 2nd - Heading West

When I checked out of the Hotel Tonic, a new man on the front desk apologized several times for the state of my room. I refrained from pointing out that the hotel had freely chosen to rent it out, and climbed into my waiting taxi with a sense of liberation. Alfio had advised a bus rather than a train to get to Trapani, where I would catch another bus for Erice, and an early taxi to get to the bus station. When I came back to Palermo I discovered that it had a perfectly good bus system, or I could have walked a short distance and caught my bus on its way out of town, but I hadn’t fully switched back to independent budget traveler mode.

While I waited in the Segesta bus company’s office (the bus “station” was a series of offices) I watched a young couple trying to communicate with the clerk. I think they expected the Segesta bus company to have a bus to Segesta (another Greek temple), but they wound up taking the same route I did. The bus took two hours to get to Trapani, but 40 minutes of that was getting out of Palermo, and 30 minutes getting into to Trapani - the traffic was very bad in both towns.

At the Trapani bus station I had time for a coffee in the bar before the bus to Erice left, loaded with locals, including a bunch of school kids. We gradually lost the locals, as the bus progressed out of Trapani and then down the main street of Valderice. When the bus turned round at the end of the village to make the run up to Erice, only a few tourists were left.

When I say up, I do mean up. Trapani is at sea level. Erice is at nearly 2,500 feet, literally, I would discover, above the clouds. The bus zigzagged up the side of Mt. Eryx, avoiding a couple of tour buses on their way down, and stopped outside the town proper. I swung my pack onto my back and set off through the Porta Trapani and up a steep cobbled street, arriving at the Hotel Moderno (www.hotelmodernoerice.it/modernoeng.htm) somewhat out of breath. The Moderno felt especially welcoming after the Hotel Tonic. My single looked out on a quiet side street and was a little dark, but clean, comfortable, and reasonably sized, with plenty of hot water and BBC on the TV.

Erice wound up competing with Ortigia at the top of my “favorite places in Sicily” list. Although tour buses visit during the day, I found it surprisingly easy to avoid their passengers. They packed the souvenir shops (carpets and ceramics are big) on the main street, and the cafes on the main square, but just a couple of steps away the narrow streets were empty.

Looking for lunch, I followed signs off the main street to the Ulisse (tinyurl.com/5su6cj). The antipasto caldo included some good chickpea fritters along with too much potato - coquettes and fries. My order of couscous seemed to have been forgotten (from the waiter’s behavior, this wasn’t just slow service, which doesn’t bother me), and unlike the fritters proved a second disappointment: I wouldn’t order it again. I wouldn’t choose to eat at Ulisse again, either, and after checking out some other restaurants, I decided to take half-board at my hotel.

Erice is a triangle. Having entered at the southwest angle, I now walked through town to the southeast, where Lonely Planet promised a 12th century castle built over a pagan temple to Venus. The castle was there all right, and definitely photogenic, but what blew me away were the views. Clouds drifted below me, hiding and then revealing the pyramidal peak of Mt. Cofano, and the coastline north towards San Vito lo Capo and the hills of the Zingaro National Reserve. Blue sky, blue sea, restored castle to my right, ruined castle outpost below me, church belfry behind me - just stunning.

Dinner at the Moderno wasn’t stunning, but an improvement over lunch. I started with pasta Trapani, heavy on garlic, and then had a so-so veal Marsala.

thursday...

Thanks for the "heads-up" about next years RS tour going to 9 days.

Even though next years tour won't be the same itinerary as your trip I liked reading about your time in Sicily because I usually try to arrive a few days prior to the tour and stay a few days after.

And...any information I can gather from trip reports I take very willingly!

May 3rd - Exploring Erice

The more time I spent wandering around Erice, the more I liked it. I started the day taking photos before the day trippers arrived, and then headed for the northern angle of the triangle. This part of town felt deserted - some of the pathways, overgrown with grass and bordered with wildflowers, seemed positively rural. Some of the stones in the town walls here, according to one of the bilingual signs, had inscriptions dating back to the Carthaginians.

I stopped for mid-morning coffee at Café Maria - run by Mary Taylor Simeti, author of “Bitter Almonds”, according to LP. I started to sit down inside, but the waiter led me upstairs to a terrace with a wonderful view. I bought a panini and apple for lunch from the alimentari just up the street and took it over to the east end of town so I could enjoy another view with lunch. Shady formal gardens spread along the high ground behind the castle, with convenient benches.

Besides looking north, towards San Vito, I could also look south, where Trapani sprawled inland from the coast, its salt pans a series of ordered rectangles beyond the port. Up above, I wandered from church to church, shop to shop, between grey stone buildings and along grey stone lanes. I went back to Café Maria for more coffee and delicious dessert - the local marzipan. I considered buying a small, colorful ceramic frog for my neighborhood coffee house, Mr. Toads. I enjoyed being a solo traveler again.

Eventually I went back to my hotel for dinner. This time I started with the excellent antipasti buffet - lots of mushrooms in various guises, artichokes, assorted cheeses, meats, olives… Then I tackled the mixed grilled meat secondi, which included a very good sausage and equally good meat patty. I retired to bed thinking I should maybe have planned to spend a third night in Erice.

May 4th - 6th - Bored on the Egadi Islands

From Erice I would head further west, beyond Sicily itself, to Favignana, the largest of the three Egadi Islands. Sunday is not a good day for public transport on Sicily, but the Albergo Egadi, my next hotel, had assured me that the buses and ferries would be running. Well, there were plenty of ferries, but only three buses down from Erice. Fortunately, I had picked up a timetable in the bus station in Trapani, because the online schedule had the 10:00 bus leaving Erice at 10:30. I suffered through a ride with a surly driver playing the radio at full volume (once we got off Mt. Eryx and into transmitter range, that is), and then carted my pack along the waterfront to the ferries. The Ustica ticket clerk sent me over to Siremar, which had an earlier ferry not listed on their website. Moral - don’t necessarily believe online schedules!

The Albergo Egadi (www.albergoegadi.it) gave me a very nice room, with washed blue walls, and blue chiffon curtains framing a view out to sea, and a lovely bathroom with a tile floor and huge shower. The weekenders had just left, and I had the place almost to myself - my first night I ate dinner in the hotel’s restaurant in lonely state. Before overfishing killed the industry, tuna fishing and canning dominated the islands’ economy, and tuna, in various guises, dominated my meal. While I enjoyed the food, I didn’t have room for dessert, and 40 euros is a bit above my usual budget.

I had read that the islands had few tourists and good hiking. In early May there were certainly few tourists. Unfortunately, that seemed to mean little tourist infrastructure. I had envisioned coves with cafes and beach umbrellas: instead the ones I found were completely deserted. On Levanzo, a five minute ferry ride from Favignana, a couple of sleepy cafes did face the ferry dock, but on Favignana the cafes mostly clustered round the main square. I imagined the locals preferred shelter to sea views during the winter.

The good hiking existed, but only if you were willing to hike in full sun - these islands were just as deforested as Sicily. I did find a few trees on Levanzo, along with more totally deserted coves, but not on Favignana. The views were good, the wildflowers were in full bloom, and I had my choice of coves - provided I brought my own beach umbrella and drinks! Looking at the two sail boats moored round the point from Levanzo’s ferry dock, I concluded that this was the best way to visit the islands.

Breakfast at the Albergo Egadi was very continental - no cheese or meat here, just a croissant and bread with jam or marmalade. At home I don’t eat breakfast, but I get into the habit when I travel as so many places include it in the price. I did have one memorable meal on the islands, at El Pesacdor, featuring an excellent home-made pasta with baby shrimps, basil and cream. And I ate pizza one night at La Sirenetta, where I was amused to see the cook using a pizza press and metal oven to turn out what tasted to me like a perfectly acceptable pie that also seemed to be in demand for take-out. I guess I’m just not a pizza connoisseur - they usually get cold and soggy before I finish eating.

In July and August I imagine the islands are quite different. I did chat with a young couple who had loved their time on Favignana so much they hadn’t even visited the other islands. If you want your own personal cove to go swimming this is definitely the place. But I wished I had spent more time in Erice and less on the islands.

May 7th - 8th - Surprising Trapani

At first, I planned to spend these two days in Marsala, hopefully tasting the eponymous wine. When I couldn’t scare up any reasonable accommodations in the town center, I decided to stay in Trapani instead, and day trip. In Trapani I located a B&B in the heart of the old town, just down the street from the cathedral, which also gave its guests a 15% discount at its associated Trattoria.

Trattoria Ai Lumi occupied the front of a palazzo: I crossed a courtyard and climbed some stairs to reach my room in the B&B (www.ailumi.it). Getting into the room presented a challenge, I had to position the old iron key exactly right to unlock the door, but the room behind the door, although perhaps overfull of bed, had windows opening to the courtyard and the usual amenities - after I turned another key on the wall to get the heat/AC unit to work.

I never did make it to Marsala. Partly because my research on the net didn’t turn up any particularly good transport options, and partly because I liked old town Trapani so much. Big surprise! I had thought of Trapani as just a big town useful as a transport hub, and arriving in town by bus I had certainly passed a lot of undistinguished, even deteriorating, apartment buildings. The old town, though, reminded me of Ortigia.

Although not an island, the old town occupies a peninsula, with a port on the south side. On the north is a stretch of sand, although I didn’t see anyone using it as a beach. In between are several streets lined with churches and palazzos in varying states of repair, most decorated with interesting carving. A great place to wander around with a camera.

I walked a lot, winding up the first evening at a tree-filled park with a stage and a pond where I was surprised to see black swans. I also rode a bus further into the new town, to visit the Museo Nazionale Pepoli. This was, of course, undergoing restoration, and I had to be led out of the main entrance, through a park, down a street and into a suite of offices to gain access! While the coral artifacts were interesting, this isn’t a must-see, and to me, neither was the Madonna di Trapani in the Santuario dell’Annunziata next door.

The statue of the Madonna is important to the people of Trapani, however, as are the twenty life-size tableaux representing scenes from the Passion of Christ that are carried through the streets on Easter Friday. I visited the statues in the Chiesa del Purgatorio, where I learned that each is the responsibility of one of the town’s guilds, and that several required considerable repair after the town was bombed during WWII.

I lunched both days at one of the cafes on Via Turetta, just down from the twin clock towers enclosing the façade of the Palazzo Senatorio, on good tuna salad. I ate both nights at the Tavernetta Ai Lumi, and was a little surprised that almost all my fellow diners were tourists (maybe the Italians were in the smoking section), as I hadn’t realized Trapani would be so popular. I can recommend the seafood risotto, the mozzarella and tomato salad, and the excellent cheese plate. And the dessert wines!

thursdaysd,

Still enjoying and certainly appreciating your detailed report! This is great stuff to know for my future, probably solo, trip.

Grazie

Thanks dayle - nice to know someone's still reading!

Sicily is a great destination, and I think you'll do just fine solo! I look forward to your trip report [grin].

May 9th - 11th - Palermo On My Own

Instead of the downtown Palermo hotel Alfio had recommended (Hotel Posta), and despite his suggestion that the Corso Camillo Finocchiaro Aprile might not be in the best part of town, I stuck with my reservation at Sky Sleeping B&B (www.bed-and-breakfast.palermo.it/eng). While it took a short bus ride or a ten minute walk for me to get downtown, I thought this a great find, and the Corso an interesting place to call home. With greengrocers’ stands, a butcher’s shop, a fishmongers and a bakery, the street effectively housed its own little market.

My room at the B&B, a good-sized double, was clean and comfortable and furnished in Scandinavian modern. On the top floor of an apartment block, with sweeping views from the terrace, I found it a nice change after a series of older buildings. My landlord recommended a couple of local restaurants - the downtown ones were just for tourists, he said - although he was a little shaky on where to find an Internet café. The T.I. wasn’t very knowledgeable about Internet cafes either, although I did eventually track down a couple.

I seldom watch sports, except when I’m stuck with local language TV, which is how I developed an interest (admittedly limited) in bike racing. So I was quite pleased to find that Palermo was hosting the start of the Giro d’Italia (Italy’s version of the Tour de France). Pure serendipity - the first I knew about the race was when I saw the pink vans selling souvenir merchandise around the blocked-off Piazza Castelnuovo.

This first stage was a team time trial, and although I didn’t watch the start (I was revisiting the mosaics at Monreale) I did see the teams setting off on practice runs in the morning, and watched almost all of them making the final run up to Piazza Verdi in the afternoon. The speeds they reached were truly impressive.

Besides the race, and my second visit to Monreale (I had thought there might be fewer tour groups in the afternoon, but not really) the highlight of my return to Palermo turned out to be the Palazzo Mirto, near the Piazza Marina, where the huge 150-year-old ficus tree in the shady garden was being ignored in favor of the flea market outside.

The palazzo offered a taste of the high life in Palermo in the 18th and 19th centuries, with a series of beautifully decorated rooms. Although the guidebooks talk about the marble floors, and the painted silk walls in the Chinese sitting room, I particularly admired the embroidered wall hangings and the china collection. Unfortunately, the Castello della Zisa, which I had expected would give me a view of life in Moorish Palermo, was little more than a shell.

The day I visited Monreale I picked up a panini before catching the bus at Piazza Indipendenza, but I ate lunch twice at the Antico Caffe Spinnato, a very popular place one block south of the Teatro Politeama. Arriving just a little early let me grab a table outside before the crowds showed up. Here I finally tried granita, a Sicilian specialty made from crushed ice and fruit juice or coffee. Pleasant enough, but I think I would need to be hotter and thirstier to really appreciate it.

My first night in Palermo I met another single female traveler when we left the B&B for dinner at the same time. When we realized we were both heading to Il Vecchio Cortile we joined forces. Her language ability put me to shame - she came from German-speaking Switzerland and spoke English to me and Italian to the waiters. I had an interesting mixed antipasti plate, much of which I couldn’t identify, followed by slightly overcooked shrimp, but I paid more attention to her description of her upcoming trip - she was headed to Tunisia to cruise on her uncle’s boat.

I had planned to eat at my landlord’s second recommendation the next night, but after a long day my feet were tired, and Il Vecchio Cortile was just up the road, so I went back, alone this time. The pepper steak with fries and salad were good but not great, but I had to rely on my iPod for company. I noticed that about the time I finished my meal, around 10:00, a large family with several kids was just getting started on theirs.

Farewell to Sicily

My last day in Sicily featured Palazzo Mirto in the morning, Antico Caffe Spinnato for lunch, and a late afternoon Air One flight to Naples. Unfortunately, I left on a Sunday, and buses were few and far between in Palermo after lunch. After I retrieved my pack from the B&B, I waited for a bus. And waited. Finally, worried one would never show, I walked down to Teatro Politeamo, where I caught the airport bus.

Air One had sent me an email a few days earlier. Screen one said: “We regret to inform you that Flight AP6179 on 11MAY has been cancelled”. As panic set in I scrolled down. Screen two said they had re-booked me - same flight number, same day, just half an hour later. Why couldn’t screen one have just said that the flight time had been changed?

Riding the bus out of town and along the coast, I took a last look at Sicily. The island had easily lived up to my rather high expectations. Beautiful scenery: absolutely - from Taormina to Erice, the coastal scenery had been gorgeous, wildflowers had brightened the more forbidding interior, and I had loved exploring the towns. Interesting food: yes. Disappointing couscous and too-sweet cassata and been balanced by wonderful cannoli and excellent seafood - notably tuna and shrimp. Layers and layers of history and culture from all those invaders: again yes. Despite the “closed for renovation” problems.

Would I go back? I’d be happy to, especially to Siracusa and Erice, and I’d like to spend more time on the south coast, and visit Enna and the Madonie and the Aeolian islands. But I’m hearing the siren call of Asia, which I haven’t visited in four years, so it won’t be any time soon.

Loved your trip report Thursdaysd! It was like reading a journal or a bookguide!

Thanks Castellanese - I hope it may inspire some people to consider visiting Sicily.

thursdaysd,

Mille grazie! So very helpful. You gave me some good ideas on towns to visit. I'll save the links too.

Thursday,

I have to tell you that I enjoyed your detailed trip report immensely.

We are planning a trip to Sicily in October and I have a few questions:

I have read conflicting reports about the renovations going on at Villa Romana del Casale. The one report said that everything was covered with dust and not worth seeing. The one mosaic I really wanted to see was the famous Girls in Bikini. Were you able to see that one?

Is Piazza Armerina worth seeing?

I know you said you were disappointed in your trip to Mt. Etna. How far up did you go? I think I might be happy just looking at it and saying I was there.

You raved about Ortigia! This was not on our list of places to see, but I am reconsidering after reading your report.

Chrisjim,

Glad you enjoyed it! I think I got a glimpse of the bikini girls under the tarp covering the renovations, but if you're not going until the fall they may have moved on to another area. I'd recommend a visit anyway, but I really go for mosaics! I wouldn't go out of my way to visit Piazza Armerina, but it's not a bad stop if you're not going anywhere else in the interior.

I think Mt. Etna would be more interesting if you got further up (and away from all the tour groups, lol!) Do be aware that's it's likely to be very cold up there.

I would say that Ortigia and Erice were my favorite places, along with Monreale and the Villa Casale.

bookmarking

Fabulous trip report & very informative

Thanks

bookmarking

bookmarking

Great report. Two friends and I will be in Sicily for the first time in late March. Your report will be of tremendous help--and it's also so enjoyable to read. Thanks, thursdaysd.

Bookmarking for all the useful info. Thanks Thursdaysd.
I am trying to decide whether to rent a car or use public transport for my upcoming May trip to Sicily.
Dayle, from other threads I see we will be there around the same time. Have you been planning this since 2008?

ahotpoet - I would rent a car. When I looked into the bus schedules I found a lot of waiting time for connections. A car will be more expensive but will give you freedom.

However, it depends on where you'll be traveling. If from city to city then a bus would be better. If you want to see smaller towns then a car would enable you to move around as you want to.

Sigh...yes I have been planning this forever! I've had to delay for 2 years due to work and another year due to elderly parents. NOW I AM GOING!

I think it's time to post for a GTG. There are several Fodorites going around the same time. I would be great to meet up for a great dinner if at all possible.

I'm traveling from April 19 to May 12.

Buon viaggio,
Dayle

We didn't have problems with buses:

http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/bruce-and-marija-carless-in-sicily-in-november.cfm

So nice that people are still reading this! I loved Sicily, envy those of you headed there. If (hopefully when) I go back I'll use buses and trains, but that's partly because I travel solo and it's not cost effective for one person to rent a car - especially an automatic! Plus I don't want to have mess with parking.