Bruce and Marija: Carless in Sicily in November
Nov 16th, 2011, 10:47 AM
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Bruce and Marija: Carless in Sicily in November
Unlike Paris in the Spring Time, you're unlikely to hear a song extolling the virtues of Sicily in November. We weren't particularly interested in trying that combo either but we were invited to a Halloween weekend wedding in England. Before sending regrets, I played the BA FF lottery one more time and scored 2 for 1 Club World tickets to Milan, with a stopover in London. There was even a sympathetic bug in the ticketing software and the total cost of the tickers for two was only $307, an unheard of amount for BA tickets.
I chose Milan as our post-wedding destination because I really wanted to go to Rome again. That's not a typo. Rome is our favorite city but we're not ready to settle down, we still want to play the field. Genoa, Mantova, Modena and Ferrara seemed worthy of exploration and the chilly weather would even stimulate our appetites. I started a thread about Genoa on which viajero2, in typical fodorite fashion, offered unsolicited advice suggesting that we go to Sicily instead. After summarily dismissing the idea, I began to see its merits--warmer weather and the opportunity to taste the much lauded Sicilian cuisine. My crystal ball was at the shop, so I didn't know that fierce storms would sweep through Genoa and Northern Italy while we were in Sicily. Thanks so much, viajero2!
Since we would be traveling off season I reserved only the first hotel and made reservations as we went along. We had the luxury of deciding how long to spend at each destination based on its appeal. Although a car provides a lot more flexibility than public transportation it's also an added stress that we didn't want. After consulting with vagabonda on trip advisor we found that public transport would take us where we wanted to go. Public transportation was prompt, comfortable and problem free. (Except for the bus to Monreale, details follow.)
Our route was: Palermo (3 nights) at the Falkensteiner Hotel, Agrigento (1 night) at the Villa Athena, Ragusa (1 night) at the Locanda Don Serafino, Ortygia (2 nights) at the Domus Mariae Benessere, Taormina (2 nights) at the Villa Schuler and Catania (1 night) at the Il Principe. (We also spent one night at the Sofitel at London Heathrow where they woke us up at 4 AM instead of 5 AM, and one night at the Crowne Plaza Linate.)
I chose Milan as our post-wedding destination because I really wanted to go to Rome again. That's not a typo. Rome is our favorite city but we're not ready to settle down, we still want to play the field. Genoa, Mantova, Modena and Ferrara seemed worthy of exploration and the chilly weather would even stimulate our appetites. I started a thread about Genoa on which viajero2, in typical fodorite fashion, offered unsolicited advice suggesting that we go to Sicily instead. After summarily dismissing the idea, I began to see its merits--warmer weather and the opportunity to taste the much lauded Sicilian cuisine. My crystal ball was at the shop, so I didn't know that fierce storms would sweep through Genoa and Northern Italy while we were in Sicily. Thanks so much, viajero2!
Since we would be traveling off season I reserved only the first hotel and made reservations as we went along. We had the luxury of deciding how long to spend at each destination based on its appeal. Although a car provides a lot more flexibility than public transportation it's also an added stress that we didn't want. After consulting with vagabonda on trip advisor we found that public transport would take us where we wanted to go. Public transportation was prompt, comfortable and problem free. (Except for the bus to Monreale, details follow.)
Our route was: Palermo (3 nights) at the Falkensteiner Hotel, Agrigento (1 night) at the Villa Athena, Ragusa (1 night) at the Locanda Don Serafino, Ortygia (2 nights) at the Domus Mariae Benessere, Taormina (2 nights) at the Villa Schuler and Catania (1 night) at the Il Principe. (We also spent one night at the Sofitel at London Heathrow where they woke us up at 4 AM instead of 5 AM, and one night at the Crowne Plaza Linate.)
Nov 17th, 2011, 08:31 AM
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We followed your exact itinerary a couple of years ago (with car) and had a fabulous time so I'm eagerly awaiting further details. We, too, had bus problems going to Monreale - a truckers' strike which blocked the road. Nonetheless, Monreale was one of my favority stops in Sicily. And we stayed at the Villa Schuler with its wonderful views of the sea and Mt. Etna. Sicily is grand - I just wish my travel "bucket list" wasn't so long so re could return.
Nov 17th, 2011, 02:09 PM
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Thanks for reading!
Palermo
We flew from Milan Linate to Palermo on Alitalia, booking tickets on the Italian site since it had promotions that weren't available on the US site. We paid $240 for tickets for both of us, arriving in Palermo and returning from Catania. The fare was very comparable to that of Windjet. I decided to go with Alitalia since it had multiple flights each day to Milan Linate while Windjet had only one. Since the Milan to Sicily tickets weren't part of the BA ticket I wanted to make sure we had a good chance of returning to Milan on the day before our BA flight back to London and the US. Our only problem with Alitalia was with contacting the call center, http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...er-charges.cfm .
Linate is a tranquil airport and we even had time to buy a new SIM card from TIM before our flight, despite having to go through Schengen formalities, since the UK is not part of the Schengen zone. (We bought from TIM since it supposedly has better reception in Ragusa and Noto than the other providers.) The phone worked fine everywhere. I thought about buying a micro-sim card for my iPad but decided to just rely on free WiFi since I didn't want to waste time online while traveling. I knew if I had WiFi I would continue to research restaurants, etc. and reply to e-mail.
Our flight landed in Palermo on schedule and, since we travel with carry-on only, we quickly caught the airport bus into town (leaves every half hour, fare of 4.8 E, boards in a parking lot outside the airport exit ). In less than an hour we were at the train station in Palermo, an easy 20 minute walk from the Falkensteiner Hotel, www.falkensteiner.com/en/hotel/palermo. Overall the hotel was great. Our room was very spacious, though there was a lot of street noise if the windows were open. The breakfast was outstanding, including brioche and granita. Although there is a self-service machine for brewing coffee, we were treated to some barista made cappuccini that were probably the best we've ever had.
My only gripe with the hotel, besides the lack of free WiFi, was the staffs' inability to correctly answer questions about opening hours, transportation, etc. I had information supplied by the incredible vagabonda of tripadvisor but I thought it wise to check again. Since our first full day was All Saints' Day, a national holiday, I expected some of the opening and closing times to be on a Sunday schedule. The staff adamantly claimed that the holiday would have no effect on the hours of the Capella Palatina and the Duomo of Monreale. They were wrong. Similarly they told me I could not take a bus from Piazza Independenza to Monreale but had to return to the train station to catch the bus. Again that was incorrect. We took the bus from Piazza Independenza. We also had unbelievable problems trying to buy stamps. The hotel told us to go to a tabaccheria, standard practice in Italy. We went to at least 8 tabaccherie and none of them had stamps for the US. Finally, the hotel said they would mail our cards, but of the four cards to be mailed, only one arrived and it did not have a stamp. These were small annoyances and I wouldn't hesitate to stay at the Falkensteiner again, especially at the off season rates we had.
Last fall we spent a very enjoyable week in Naples and I expected Palermo to be a similar chaotic, crowded mess of a city. It wasn't. After Naples the streets of Palermo seemed deserted, the traffic and garbage were no match. (Although we didn't eat any pizza in Sicily, I expect that Palermo would come up short there as well. ) Despite its shortcomings in the chaos and filth departments, Palermo has great food and interesting sights.
Palermo
We flew from Milan Linate to Palermo on Alitalia, booking tickets on the Italian site since it had promotions that weren't available on the US site. We paid $240 for tickets for both of us, arriving in Palermo and returning from Catania. The fare was very comparable to that of Windjet. I decided to go with Alitalia since it had multiple flights each day to Milan Linate while Windjet had only one. Since the Milan to Sicily tickets weren't part of the BA ticket I wanted to make sure we had a good chance of returning to Milan on the day before our BA flight back to London and the US. Our only problem with Alitalia was with contacting the call center, http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...er-charges.cfm .
Linate is a tranquil airport and we even had time to buy a new SIM card from TIM before our flight, despite having to go through Schengen formalities, since the UK is not part of the Schengen zone. (We bought from TIM since it supposedly has better reception in Ragusa and Noto than the other providers.) The phone worked fine everywhere. I thought about buying a micro-sim card for my iPad but decided to just rely on free WiFi since I didn't want to waste time online while traveling. I knew if I had WiFi I would continue to research restaurants, etc. and reply to e-mail.
Our flight landed in Palermo on schedule and, since we travel with carry-on only, we quickly caught the airport bus into town (leaves every half hour, fare of 4.8 E, boards in a parking lot outside the airport exit ). In less than an hour we were at the train station in Palermo, an easy 20 minute walk from the Falkensteiner Hotel, www.falkensteiner.com/en/hotel/palermo. Overall the hotel was great. Our room was very spacious, though there was a lot of street noise if the windows were open. The breakfast was outstanding, including brioche and granita. Although there is a self-service machine for brewing coffee, we were treated to some barista made cappuccini that were probably the best we've ever had.
My only gripe with the hotel, besides the lack of free WiFi, was the staffs' inability to correctly answer questions about opening hours, transportation, etc. I had information supplied by the incredible vagabonda of tripadvisor but I thought it wise to check again. Since our first full day was All Saints' Day, a national holiday, I expected some of the opening and closing times to be on a Sunday schedule. The staff adamantly claimed that the holiday would have no effect on the hours of the Capella Palatina and the Duomo of Monreale. They were wrong. Similarly they told me I could not take a bus from Piazza Independenza to Monreale but had to return to the train station to catch the bus. Again that was incorrect. We took the bus from Piazza Independenza. We also had unbelievable problems trying to buy stamps. The hotel told us to go to a tabaccheria, standard practice in Italy. We went to at least 8 tabaccherie and none of them had stamps for the US. Finally, the hotel said they would mail our cards, but of the four cards to be mailed, only one arrived and it did not have a stamp. These were small annoyances and I wouldn't hesitate to stay at the Falkensteiner again, especially at the off season rates we had.
Last fall we spent a very enjoyable week in Naples and I expected Palermo to be a similar chaotic, crowded mess of a city. It wasn't. After Naples the streets of Palermo seemed deserted, the traffic and garbage were no match. (Although we didn't eat any pizza in Sicily, I expect that Palermo would come up short there as well. ) Despite its shortcomings in the chaos and filth departments, Palermo has great food and interesting sights.
Nov 17th, 2011, 06:34 PM
#15
We also had unbelievable problems trying to buy stamps. The hotel told us to go to a tabaccheria, standard practice in Italy. We went to at least 8 tabaccherie and none of them had stamps for the US. Finally, the hotel said they would mail our cards, but of the four cards to be mailed, only one arrived and it did not have a stamp.
Ahh, Sicily.
You've got to admit the breakfast at the Falkensteiner is German-influenced. It's so...big.
Ahh, Sicily.
You've got to admit the breakfast at the Falkensteiner is German-influenced. It's so...big.
Nov 17th, 2011, 11:49 PM
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I'm surprised you didn't encounter bad weather in Sicily, only because that seemed to be the weather report from there. But I have to admit I was more focused on what was going on in the Riviera.
Nov 18th, 2011, 03:54 AM
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We had great weather, except for one day in Taormina when it rained intermittently. In Agrigento we met a couple who started the loop in Catania. They had non-stop rain until the sunny day in Agrigento. Luck was with us. Sorry for the diaster you're experiencing.
Nov 18th, 2011, 04:55 AM
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I'm really enjoying this (as I have all of your reports), and am especially anxious to hear your thoughts about making this trip car-less. Sicily is at the top of my list, but I've been a bit apprehensive b/c so many say a car is a "must", and I have no interest at all in driving.
Looking forward to more!
Looking forward to more!
