Sicily Trip Report 4/2018
 

trip report

Fodorite Dayle, who has helped me often enough that I’m willing to be spurred to action by his request, has asked that I work on a trip report of our recent April, 2018 trip to Sicily and Rome. I’m basically crap at trip reports, but for Dayle and all those who helped so much, here is my effort.

I had secured the air tickets several months in advance (maybe 6 or 8) because we were using FF miles; we have lots of vacation days, but very little money. We booked on AA, whose miles I collect, and flew Business on the way over and cattle on DH’s points on the way back. Neither of us travel for work, so all of our points are hard to come by.

PIT>CLT>FCO was a breeze with the Biz perks, but when we arrived in Rome we learned that I had booked the wrong day for our Alitalia flight to Palermo. With whatthehell swagger, partly because they had a flight quickly leaving for PMO and there we were, we bought two tickets and were in Palermo in a flash.

At the airport we took the Prestia e Comande bus (5.80€) to Politeana. We then walked two short blocks to our B&B, La Bella Vita, booked on booking.com by ratings, location and price. Our host was out but we had a phone number and he came running within 5 minutes. The location was delightful, on a wide pedestrian street between Politeana and Teatro Massimo with a view to the harbor from the large balcony. The immediate neighborhood was lovely with lots of shops and restaurants and cafes. We liked this place: it was clean, comfortable, convenient with a friendly host. Not the lap of luxury, but bright and pleasant and new. The B&B is in an upscale highrise building with good security. It was clean and had a very nice balcony, which we had to specifically book.

We stayed 3 nights in Palermo and loved it. I wasn’t convinced that I would, but I did. As a person who doesn’t really like Napoli, and had heard Palermo described as gritty, I was apprehensive. It turned out that to me, Palermo is what I wished Naples had been. Extremely friendly people, easy to navigate, clean-ish, pretty and full of history and art and fabulous churches. We liked the markets and restaurants too. I was in love with the pedestrianized streets that blocked auto traffic every evening. Surrounded by mountains and the sea, it was beautiful. We never really stopped moving in the two and a half days we were there; we both felt that we saw a great deal. Loved Palermo (best street art I’ve seen since old days in the East Village).

We did find that the two taxi rides we took in Palermo, neither very long, were expensive, about 18€ each. Would do it all again.
It took a good bit of digging around to figure out the most convenient way to get to Monreale, which for us, turned out to be the afternoon hop-on-off bus from Politeana. It would have been even more convenient (no stops) had they explained that the ACTUAL no stops trips left from Palazzo dei Normanni, but despite asking at least three times, the bus people insisted we get on at Politeana. Oh well. It didn’t cost much, took an extra 25 minutes and we got to Monreale.

On our final morning we took a taxi (see above for taxi comment) to the Notarbartolo station and picked up a rental car. As we always do, we rented from AutoEurope and this pick up was at EuropeCar. We found it amazingly simple to drive out of Palermo and onto the highway (E90, with just a very few quick turns) and head to Erice. We were equipped with a GPS sent to us by AutoEurope, Google maps on the iphone, and a paper map.

Getting up to Erice was more difficult. I’m the navigator; my husband does the driving. He insisted on taking a turn that wasn’t in our directions, and that our GPS couldn’t rescue us from. Another setback occurred when we reached the station for the cable car from Trapani to Erice and a gang of thugs blocked the road and insisted that the way up was closed due to a landslide and that we had to park at their lot and take the cable car up. Having read about parking thugs in Sicily, we just turned around. At this point my husband knew he had made a mistake by insisting on a turn that we weren’t supposed to take, and was willing to pull over while we called our landlord in Erice.

This gentleman thought our story about the road blocking thugs was inconsequential, and told us to just come up the hill and he would meet us, which he did. Took us to park our car and checked us into our lovely apartment for two nights, B&B Pietre Antiche. A very nice place with a super helpful host at a reasonable price. This was Dayle’s recommendation.

We had hoped to spend the first evening in Trapani, but we didn’t make it due to getting lost. Instead, we relaxed and enjoyed Erice. We ate out both nights that we were there, and the second day we took a car trip to Segesta. We spent a lot of time there, at the lower and upper sites. Just gorgeous. The wildflowers were in full bloom, and there was a noisy waterfall below the temple. We took a beautiful path to get to the arena on the advice of another tourist, who told us it was longer but prettier, and he was right. I’ve rarely seen such wildflowers; our timing was perfect. Later in the trip, we were told that if we’d come a month later, all the green would have been yellow. Mid April seems to have been perfect.

On the sixth day we headed off to Agrigento, first checking into our agriturismo in the countryside, also found on booking.com using price, ratings and trying to find the best location between Agrigento and Piazza Armerina. The agriturismo was Baglio San Nicolo, a large working farm with a nice set of rooms and grounds and a beautiful pool, which they were just opening in late April.

After a quick checkin we left our bags and headed to the Valle dei Temple. I can’t find the right words but it was a memorable experience. I walked too much and again, we loved it. I did fail to pick a restaurant and reserve, and since we were a little early for dinner, but tired from so much walking. We parked at the first place we found as we headed out of town. I had some sort of seafood sliced and put in a pancake shape and they called it “ice fish” in English. If anyone knows what that might have been, I’d like to know because it was certainly good and the high point of a mediocre meal.

The next day was a lengthy ride (about 90 or 100 minutes going because we chose the more stupid of two routes) to Piazza Armerina. Again, I have no words. I did have a sort of emotional experience there. Around the outer courtyard, an elderly (which means even older than me and I turned 68 the next day) asked me where I was from. I told him that I was from Pittsburgh and he said he had been to Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh when his young grandson was very ill. The boy died and I didn’t know what to say but I told him that I’d also lost a little boy, and took his hand. We were emotional together for awhile, and then, in his heavily accented English, he said, “A long time ago, no?” which totally broke the mood.

That evening we ate at our agriturismo and the food was pretty good. My only complaint, and it really isn’t a complaint at all, was that the most visible employees at the agriturismo weren’t employees at all, but instead, the owning family. They were the sort of young well-off sophisticated Italians that I knew when working in Tuscany, and though they were there, they weren’t hosts at all. They really couldn’t answer any questions that we had. They were good-looking, though. And well-dressed, too.

Next morning was my birthday and we left the countryside for Ortigia. The drive was easy and we pulled right up to Hotel L’Approdo delle Sirene, (and I’m pretty sure that kja gave me that rec) where we dropped the bags and headed to the large outdoor parking lot. I’m not sure if it was Talete or not, because only the parking structure, which was full, was marked Talete, but the lot was adjacent and had machines with tickets. We used the lot for two nights, turning in the car before our last day and night. Not expensive and easy to use.

Ortigia was hopping on a Sunday. I’ve never seen so many counter-culture folks in Italy. It was a bit curious and it felt like Glastonbury rather than Sicily (as far as we knew Sicily) until late at night on Sunday when the crowds left.

We stayed three nights and on the following day we drove to the Archaeology Park in Siracusa and then drove to Noto. We went to a Picasso exhibit in Noto, basically for their bathroom, but we liked it all the same. Noto was a pretty little town with too many street vendors, but that’s life in a tourist spot. We had some very untasty street snacks there.

On our final day in Ortigia, we turned our car in when the agency opened, then we visited markets, revisited the Duomo, and took a boat ride to the caves along the coast.
We had two good meals in Ortigia but just had some takeout pizza on the long day of visiting the Archaeology Park and then Noto. We were too pooped for a restaurant.

The hotel in Ortigia arranged a car and driver for us to the Catania airport where we flew Ryanair to Rome. The cost was supposed to be 70 € but the uniformed female driver insisted that we pay her 100€. I probably will write to Hotel Approdo delle Sirene and tell them, and perhaps they wouldn’t use that driver again, but truthfully, I’ll probably not do it if I haven’t done it yet. The best part of the ride were the fairly abundant views of Etna on a beautiful morning.

Rome is an old favorite for us where we chased fried artichokes, went to new churches or ones we’d forgotten, and visited Palazzo Corsini, totally new to us and highly recommended for the remarkable painting collection. Delicious Sacher gelato at Gelateria al Teatro, my favorite.

The truth is that I could have skipped Rome and come home because I was fairly worn out from all that whirlwind activity in Sicily. By the time we hit Rome, I just missed my grandkids.

A note on food: it was mostly good but I don’t love fish and there was way too much fish. Even the prunes I bought at an outdoor market were faintly redolent of fish. My husband loves fish to he enjoyed the food more than I.

If anyone has questions, I will gladly respond. This is a lot of writing; I’ve barely written a paragraph since retiring, but you were all so amazingly helpful that I knew I had to give back a little.

Final word on Sicily: I want to go back. It was an all time favorite vacation.

How lovely that you loved Sicily so much, despite wrong flight booking, the thugs, the taxi rip off, and the food you didn't like much. I know some people for whom just one of those would have put an irredeemable blight upon the trip, but not you.

Thank you for making yourself write this, it was very vivid and a great read as well as a resource for those contemplating a trip to Sicily. Bill and I went for my "big birthday" about 18 months ago but only had 10 days so we concentrated on the east of the island, firstly because we could only get non-stop flights into Catania, and secondly because I'm a big Montalbano fan so I wanted to see some of the places where it's filmed. Mission accomplished but it meant that we never got to Palermo and the west. I too had been rather put off by Palermo's gritty reputation but I'm more encouraged by what you say and might consider going there to do a language course - I find that they are really good ways to get to know an area because the schools invariably organise trips as part of the course and you can get to know a place pretty well with the help of the teachers who are generally locals.

So you have put Palermo on my "to do" list. Thanks!

Hi tuscanlifeedit!
I was just in Sicily in March with a Rick Steves tour, and loved it, too. I saw all the places you mentioned and more. I enjoyed the food in Sicily a lot--but I enjoy fish, eggplant, and artichokes, which were on most menus.

Our guide told us that Ortigia has become quite the hip weekend destination in recent years and it wasn't empty on a weekend in March when we were there.

Thanks for writing--I share you dislike of writing more than a few words.

Annhig, I did not find Palermo gritty, either.

Thanks ladies.

"Our guide told us that Ortigia has become quite the hip weekend destination in recent years and it wasn't empty on a weekend in March when we were there." elberko, the crowd we saw on a Sunday night were more hippy than hip. It was kind of surprising because I didn't know there were that many hippies around anymore.

annhig, I think you would enjoy Palermo; I can honestly say that the people were the friendliest I've met on a trip in a long time. I was shopping for tissues and a market stall man gave me paper towels to use until I found some. People were so willing to explain things and chat, and it was just lovely.

I'm hoping to add pictures to this report but my husband is still editing them.

Wonderful report! I also loved Sicily, including/especially Palermo. Some of your stories—getting lost, your landlord treating the parking thugs incident as inconsequential, the man at Villa Romana del Casale—really capture the place. And I also tacked on 5 days in Rome, an old favorite, at the end of a Sicily trip. Ended up wishing I had just spent more time in Sicily.

Thanks for writing and I do hope you post some photos.

My heart always skips a beat when I see a trip report on Sicily, one of my favorite trips ever. You brought it all back and made me wish once more for a return—thank you!

I hope you enjoyed L’Approdo delle Sirene! I did, and have often recommended it on this site.

Thanks for telling us about some of your experiences in Sicily, and also for sharing your loss -- I can't imagine the heartbreak of losing a young boy. I hope you were able to enjoy your birthday, tuscanlifeedit -- and that many more follow.

kja: we really liked the hotel; thank you for the recommendation. I mentioned it was my birthday (I like my birthday) when we were checking in, and when we came in that night, there were two gigantic fresh fruit cups and a birthday note in our room! I ate a few cannoli in Sicily, and the mini one I had when we were leaving Approdo delle Sirene was the best one I had.

Leely2, bonvoyage, thanks.

Ooh, I'm so glad L’Approdo delle Sirene made your birthday memorable! :)
Again, thanks for your report.

Nice report. Thanks for taking the time to write it.

Thanks for the nice report. I can't believe it's been over a year since we were there. Like you we found we liked Palermo a lot more than we thought we would. Also like you we found everyone to be really friendly. Our trip was quite similar to yours but we also spent a few days in Taormina. Looking forward to seeing your pictures. Thanks again for posting.

Tuscan, if you're "crap" at writing trip reports, the rest of us had best not bother. That was terrific!! And informative. Sicily has been high on our list for a while, and we've been thinking about going in April or May. So this trip report is going into my Sicily folder on my computer. Thanks!!

Great report, hoping to go there maybe in November. My niece loved the white sardines. I just remember my Dad eating them out of a can. Might have to try fresh ones.

Thank you all.

dcd, one only needs to look at my piddling other half-done trip reports to find that this was a special effort. Thank you for the kind words.

Tuscanlifeedit!

I just saw your TR and I am so happy you enjoyed Sicily as much as the rest of us did. I knew you would love it and end up planning a longer return trip! My trip was 5 years ago now and from what others say, Sicily has become very popular and some places a bit more "touristy". I could see the start of that when I was in Ortigia on May 1. Lots of construction, lots of mainland Italians there for the holiday, a wedding party (although Italian) staying in the same hotel where I was.....

Your details and sharing your impressions is so valuable to the planners. Thanks for taking the time.

Like you, my biggest memory of Sicily was the people, their genuine hospitality and pride in their country. Everyone I met or asked questions of, was so happy to have me see the amazing sights, taste their fantastic food, enjoy their towns.

PS - I'm a "she". Mom got creative with the name :-)

Now, I hope you make it out to my amazing part of the world soon!

Dayle, pardon my assumption. I'm so glad you found my report; I basically wrote it because you asked. One of these days we will come west, but I too am so glad that I went to Sicily.

I don't know that we could take a "longer" return trip because our comfortable limit is about 12 nights away from home, and 10 or 11 are even better. Dog, small grandchildren and DH's orchids need us.

I'm playing with the idea of Calabria (my paternal family are Calabrese, and I've been lucky enough to explore Basilicata where my maternal family is from {Matera}) and then ferry to Taormina, perhaps an island, and/or the Madonie Mountains and Cefalu with flight out of Palermo. I'm entertaining these ideas because we loved Sicily so much.

Thanks for letting me know that you found my report. (Debbie)

I enjoyed it very much and was happy to see that the itinereary you agonized over worked out so well for you. You really accomplished a lot with a good plan. You are so fortunate. To be able to travel frequently! My own trip was once in a lifetime, so it had to be longer ( as I explained to my boss). �� Looking forward to hearing about the next trip!

and you definitely need to get out here to Utah!

Tuscanlifeedit, thanks for the report. I too, watched your planning with interest, hoping you would enjoy the places we loved as much as we did.
Your comments on Palermo are interesting; I guess it's been 6 years since we were in Palermo; it was gritty then, but we loved it all the same. The layers of history there and the architecture are fascinating to me.

We also loved, loved the Sicilian people everywhere we went. I feel, (maybe it's not really so, but...) there's a sense of real life in Sicily, which sadly is lacking somewhat in the busier, more touristy places in Italy.

Hippies in Ortigia, though....I think in Toulouse we encountered the same thing, although in Toulouse most are locals I believe.
I think we still have much to discover in Sicily, although we've been to all the major sights, except for the islands. But it's a place I'm happy to return to, that's for sure.

Thanks again for your report, just long enough, by the way.

Thanks natylou
I'm contemplating a return, but I'm just not sure if we can make it. The hippies in Ortigia (and I like hippies) were an odd sight. We never quite figured it out. Perhaps the artisan shops attracted counter-culture folks, but I'm pretty sure I'll never know.