wantagig

Well, this information is more than a year and a half old. So why do you bother to write now you ask? I decided to post it now because I believe that some of the information can still be beneficial to some people. (Like how to turn lights on in your room) Also, I haven't been seeing too much written about Sicily on this forum. Before we left on this trip, I know how much I appreciated reading everything I could from the Fodors, Trip-Advisor, and Slow-Travel people too. When we got back in October 2003, I posted our Sardinia experience right away. We loved Sardinia so much. We enjoyed Sicily to a degree, but not nearly as much as others on this web site and so I was reluctant to write about Sicily. It's more fun to write about something you love. Still, another reason I chose to write now is because I've enjoyed reading so many trip reports in the last few months. It's inspired me to write about Sicily and so now I share part two of our vacation with you.

SIRACUSA: We arrive in Catania from Sardinia on Sunday, Sept. 28, 2003 at 8:00 am. The airport is small and we easily make our way outside to search for the "Interbus" which will take us to Siracusa. My homework indicated that the bus is scheduled to depart at 8:40. I see a bus stop in the parking lot area and then see a booth where I can buy our tickets (8 euro/2). The booth is closed but we're told that we can buy our tickets on board. The driver didn't have any change for 10 euro which was OK with us, but he was able to give us back a couple euro when one passenger boarded later. This was a good reminder for us to try to keep small change handy for times like these.

As we're riding along, we noticed that we were surrounded by locals who don't speak English. I don't remember the subject exactly, but we got on the topic of some intimate things like bodily functions but had no shame as we talked and laughed. There is some kind of freedom in speaking on a bus full (or room full) of people who don't understand (or care) what the heck you're saying. We get to the island Ortygia in Siracusa (the end of the line for the bus) and a woman who was seated one row up and on the other side of the aisle turned to us and with a lovely British accent, asked us a question. We looked at each other like "Ooops!" and immediately asked each other "What were some of the disgusting things we said?". We answer her question, hop off the bus and go to the bar which is right there and we order due caffe'. The man says no hot coffee today because there is no electricity on the whole island! We thought he was joking, but he wasn't. All of Italy and Sicily were blacked out, except for Sardinia. They blamed it on some power thing-a-ma-jig in France.

So we forgo the coffee, gather our bags and head over to the Hotel Gutkowsky to see if they had a room. They were full and my husband didn't like the area. We walked over to the Grand Hotel (217 Euro/night) and loved it. They had electricity because they have a back-up generator. Nice area too. We dropped off our bags and walked quite a ways to the museum but it was closed. We then went from there to the Parco Archeologico. We enjoyed the greek theater. We were hungry by then so we headed back to Ortygia where we were able to relax and enjoy a good casual meal at La Rambla.

We went back to the room and decided to rest a bit as we had covered a lot of territory on foot. As we headed out of the elevator towards our room, the power went out again! It was pitch black and we were counting our blessings that we weren't trapped in the elevator. We fumbled our way along and found our room. I had my mini flashlight with me as our guide. The electric window shades in our room worked but not the lights. For a couple of hours, we hung out and rested while we waited for the room lights to come on. My husband read the International Herald by flashlight. I took a bath by flashlight. My husband said "Will you go down there and ask them when the lights will be turned on?" I said "They'll be turned on when they're able to turn them on." He said "Just please go down there and see what's going on." It was a reasonable request as I'm the only one of us who speaks Italian. (Although at this hotel there is always someone at the desk who speaks English) As I opened the door I almost had to cover my eyes from the bright light! Everything was lit up while we sat like moles (my DH says "morons&quot in the dark. I made my way down to the front desk and explained that we didn't have any lights. His eyes got really big and he asked if I had put my room key in the tiny slot just inside the door. That was a new one on me. If you want lights, you've got to have your room key (the plastic card kind) in a slot to get lights, that way when you leave and take the room key with you, the lights will go out and they can save on electricity. It makes sense to me as I know that electricity is very expensive in Italy. It was just embarrassing to know that the power failure in the hotel had only lasted a few minutes and we waited around unnecessarily for hours for the lights to work. Live and learn.

The next day we had breakfast in their lovely rooftop covered dining area. They had quite a big spread and beautiful views. Very nice. We then left and walked around the perimeter of the old wall of Ortygia on our way to see the duomo. Inside the wall, it's really lovely. The duomo is impressive. The Romans built it around a Greek temple. It has more charm inside. By now we were ready to leave Siracusa. There was dog poop everywhere. We kept saying to one another "Watch out for the poop!" That town was like a dog poop mine field. Everyone on this board loves Siracusa and so I too was expecting a great town. Maybe if we had spent a few days there it would have grown on us more, but there was no instant love affair with Siracusa for us.

We picked up our bags and headed over to catch the bus where it had dropped us off. We bought two tickets to Taormina for less than 12 Euro. The bus takes you to the main Catania bus terminal where it drops you off and you wait 1/2 an hour to take a different bus to Taormina. The whole trip is 3 hours. This is the way to go-public transportation wise, that is. We picked up some people at the train station near Taormina who waited 45 minutes for transportation up the hill to Taormina. They said there were only 3 taxis at the train station. So only a few people were able to get to town. They also said their train was late by an hour when picking them up.

The best part of the bus ride for me was being able to relax for the first time. By now we had been traveling more than 2 weeks and we had been traveling where virtually no English was spoken. So for two weeks, I had been translating for my husband what was being said and was translating to others what he wanted to say. My husband is a talker but he really only had me to talk to. On the ride from Ortygia to Catania there was a young couple from Belgium who were traveling together and they were seated across from my husband. When he found out they spoke English, he talked with them all the way to Catania while I smiled and leaned against the bus window, happy for DH to be able to interact with someone besides me. Happy also that I wouldn't get cotton mouth from translating for an hour.


TAORMINA: We arrive at the bus terminal in Taormina and I make a phone call to the Villa Flora to see if they have a room available. They do, so we grab a taxi which takes us to the entrance of Taormina. They wanted 380 euro for a room with a view but the bad thing was that the view was not visible from the room. Instead you had to exit to the balcony, walk up some steps, THEN you see the view. So the view from your room is actually a wall and some steps. It seemed like too much for too little. The Villa Flora is an annex of the Grand Timeo. When we decided to call around to some other hotels, the people of the Grand Timeo let me use their phone in the lobby probably because they were nice and it was raining. I had some numbers but no room was available. This was the first time in our trip where we were finding that most of the rooms in town were taken. My husband asked how much a room was at the Timeo and she said that she only had a suite and it cost 523 Euro with no breakfast. We looked at it and it was gorgeous. It was a corner room and had 20 foot (seemingly, I'm guessing here) windows/doors galore. The bathroom was HUGE! The view unbelievable. DH said "This is too fancy for us." So I went back to the lobby and made a couple more calls. I borrowed one of the hotels umbrellas and checked out a nearby hotel called D'oro. In the meantime the hotel manager said to my husband that if he wanted the room for 3 nights, she'd let us have it for 474 Euro/night including breakfast. Upon returning, I said "If that room at D'oro is worth 270 Euro, the suite here is definitely worth 474!" The room at the D'oro was small, dark, with a small outdated bathroom and a terrace that looked upon every one else's terrace. DH said OK let's stay here. What a gorgeous hotel.

We decide to explore and so we went to a nearby pizza by the slice place. I LOVE Italian pizza. I don't know if it's the tomatoes, some say the water, maybe it's the olive oil. Whatever it is, a true Italian pizza can't be duplicated here in the states. Some may debate me on that, but I haven't found a pizza here to match the flavor of theirs. This was my first taste of true Sicilian pizza too. I wasn't disappointed by the thicker dough either, yummy yummy! We wandered along the main drag and really loved the walk and the views. We decided to eat dinner and landed at Bacanale. We sat in the back next to an old woman. I asked her a question but she didn't understand because she spoke Spanish. So then I asked her the question in Spanish and we ended up talking the whole meal. The young woman who owns the restaurant with her husband (an Italian) is originally from Cuba and her grandmother was there visiting from Cuba. When we got back to the states I sent her a snapshot of us that DH had taken.

The next day we had breakfast at the Grand Timeo and boy, it was grand! Fresh fruit, juice, cereals, meats, cheeses, yogurts. Huge. We went to the Greek theater which is beautiful. Here though we encountered what became an annoyance during our trip. We gave the guy at the booth 50 Euro, but he gave us change for 20. We said "I gave you a 50". And he said "ah scusi" and gave us a smirk. This happened a few times in Sicily and it ticked me off. We went back to the hotel and took advantage of the gorgeous pool. Had dinner at Gamber Rosa, went shopping and walking.

The next day we went to the public gardens which are beautiful and took lots of pictures. We talked with a man who feeds the wild cats there then we left and headed to a bar for some coffee. We got ripped off for two caffe lunghi (espresso with a little extra hot water added) for 5.60 Euro at a little bar. When he told us the price DH and I looked at each other then at him who said "un caffe lungo vuol dire doppio!" (translation: "a 'caffe lungo' means a double"-which it does not) Instead of arguing we paid the man but started asking proprietors for the rest of the trip "how much is it to have two caffe lunghi and sit inside?" That way there were no more surprises. I'm not sure why, but being "taken" for 3 extra euros really bugs me. I think my anger stems from the fact that for more than 30 years I was in some type of sales or customer service and I would NEVER try to cheat anyone, especially a tourist. It's hard for me to be tolerant of the person who grabs an extra euro here and there for the sole purpose of taking advantage of the tourist.

We leave and head for the funicular which takes us down to Giardini-Naxos. The beach is pebble sand but nice to relax on for a while. We jump back on the funicular heading up the hill when right before the door closes about 6 large Germans all hop on the same bucket-ours! I'm eyeing the posted weight limit as I try to convert estimated pounds of these well fed folks times 2.2. Our little bucket strains up the hill and stops briefly at one of the posts. I think it stopped because when we reached the pinnacle of the post, our bucket was swaying back and forth. I'm pressed up against the wall of the bucket with my nose in the chest of a German tourist-not far from his armpit-as the bucket is swaying back and forth. I look down and out the corner of my eye at how far the drop is. Why did they all have to pile into the same one??? After "oohing" and "weeeeing" our way back to the top, we stumble out of the bucket and head over to get a bite to eat.

After dinner we ask a taxi driver how much it'll cost to get a taxi ride to Milazzo the next morning. He says 110 Euro. After breakfast we say good-by to our first class suite and check out of the Timeo at 8:30 a.m. to catch the bus to Milazzo. On our way to the bus station, we ask another cab driver how much to Milazzo and he says 90 Euro, so we go with him. We arrive at the pier and secure our hydrofoil tickets to Lipari (20 E/2), and wait. We see a whole bunch of people waiting too. The people at the ticket booth assure us that there will be room for us. They wouldn't over sell tickets for the hydrofoil. When the boat arrives, it ends up loading at a different area. Apparently the captain decides where he wants to dock so you have to wait until he arrives to know where to board. It's a really large boat and can easily accommodate all of the people waiting.

next installment Lipari.......

wantagig

LIPARI: We arrived in Lipari and found many people there to greet the hydrofoil and offer rooms for rent. I started making calls and looked at rooms near the pier. I went to Villa Meligunis and saw a small room for 230 euro with a pool that was closed for the season. She wouldn't lower the price either. A man at the bar referred me to another room and said that they'd come and pick me up to take me to see it. So some one from Giardino Sul Mare came to get me and showed me a depressing room (they did have a lovely pool and view) that was 160 euro. I had to insist that they bring me back to my husband who was waiting for me back at the bar at the pier. We had a taxi driver take us to a couple of places and finally settled on Gattopardo. 100 euro/night. We enjoyed the pool and took a shower with water that was neither hot nor cold. We wandered into town, dodging the ever present motor scooters along the way and had a forgettable dinner in town.

The next morning we rose to no hot water. We went to the desk and told them we were checking out. The room was dark and depressing with one light bulb that hung from the middle of the room. There was the hot water problem, the sad breakfast, the teeny-tiny bathroom. Actually Lipari itself was a problem for us. Most of the people were stand-offish to us which was unusual for Italy and Italians. The girl at our hotel was nice and one British woman who owned a boat tour was sweet, but I just wanted to get outta there. Before "getting outta Dodge" we went to the museum in their centro storico area and really enjoyed all that we saw. Even there, I tried to ask a man a question who I thought worked there. I said "mi scusi per favore" a couple of times, but he wouldn't respond. He had an angry look on his face so I told myself that he had probably just had a big fight with someone and that's why he didn't respond. I just wanted off Lipari.

VULCANO: We weren't on any particular schedule so I didn't know if we should try another island or just leave and head for Palermo. My husband suggested that we go to Vulcano and stay at one of the sister hotels of the Grand Timeo. All we had heard was the stench of sulphur on the island. My husband said "Let's just go check it out....besides, do you really think the Framon people would own a hotel in an area that stinks to high heaven?" Before we had left Taormina, the hotel clerk at the Timeo (a Framon hotel) had referred us to their hotel "Les Sables Noirs" on Vulcano. When we arrived, I called them, verified that they still had a room and they sent someone over immediately to pick us up at the pier.

Les Sables Noirs. a 4 star hotel was very nice and peaceful. There were hardly any guests and they were planning to close for the season in about one more week. It was 198 euro/night including breakfast. We had a view of the sea and the black sand beach and found the surroundings to be really tranquil. And no, there was no stench of sulphur while on the premises of this hotel. We walked to town and had a lovely dinner at Maurizio for less than 50 euro.

The next day after a huge breakfast we walked to the volcano and my husband climbed to the top (3 euro) while I sat at an outdoor bar and struck up a conversation with a nice young lady who was a student. I didn't go with DH because I was wearing clogs and they said that it wasn't a good idea to hike in them. My husband was wearing clog sandals but decided to go anyways. When he returned he said that I would have been fine walking in my clogs. After he came back down the volcano we went by the sulphur baths. We had been told of how the baths rejuvenate the geriatric crowd. My husband figured out how. It's not the hot sulphur water per se, but rather the fact that the hot sulphur water eats away at the bathing suit fabric of the beautiful Swedish tourists. So you have these beauties emerging from the sulphur water with semi transparent suits which automatically will put an extra step in the gate of an old fellah! I guess one can't help but feel better after a couple of hours in the sulphur water eyeing the "scenery". Personally, I didn't want to take a chance that the water would do damage to my suits. Any woman knows that a good fitting bathing suit is like a good fitting pair of jeans. They don't come easy. I wasn't about to risk ruining one. For those who didn't want to pay the few euro to enter, you could go into the sea next to the sulphur spa and hang out among the spouts of warm sulphur water bubbling up from the floor of the sea to the surface.

We were going to take a cruise around the island of Vulcano for 10 euro per person but the boats were not going out due to bad weather. Instead we just walked and walked until we got tired then we turned around. We headed back and poked around the few shops in town. Back at the hotel, we went along the beach to a restaurant called A Zammara. We each had a very fresh salad and some pizza, relaxed on the beach, then went back to A Zammara for dinner.

The next day after breakfast we said good by to Vulcano. At the pier we paid less than 30 euro/2 and took the 45 minute hydrofoil back to Milazzo. We decided to go then because the hydrofoils were running and the weather was churning up the sea. If the waters are too rough, no boats will leave. We decided it was time to head to Palermo. For 11 euro, we paid for a taxi ride from the pier at Milazzo to their train station which is a few miles away. We picked up two 1st class train tickets to Palermo for less than 25 euro. On the train ride we struck up a conversation with a businessman (Dino) and a train employee (Ferruccio) who were both finished with work for the day and were heading home. They were giving us recommendations based on my notes of Palermo. It was sweet of Ferruccio to buy a caffe' for me because he could see that my throat was beginning to be parched from all of the translating that I was doing. After lots of great advice, Dino got off at his stop and said "Parla bene della Sicilia!" (Speak well of Sicily) They were both so sweet!

PALERMO: When we arrived, I called our first choice Hotel de Palmes but they could only accommodate us one night. Based on advice from the fellows on the train, we started walking (because it was rush hour and gridlocked) to the "Quattro Canti" where there were plenty of decent hotels to be found. We looked right and saw large flags protruding from a wall and assumed that a hotel was underneath them. That's how we found the Grande Albergo Sole. Based on my research, this was supposed to be nice. I asked if they had a quiet room. They did (room 343) and it was just lovely. Very large, new and clean. Ditto for the bathroom. This hotel has been refurbished. It was 144 euro/night.

For dinner, we walked to the marina to La Fenice which I had read was good. I opened the door and said "buona sera". The man didn't respond so I asked if they were closed and he grunted "yes". We were too early and he was too grouchy so we went next door and had a very nice meal where the waiters were attentive and friendly.

The next day we walked to Piazza Independenza and got on bus #389 for Monreale. I had heard so much about this place. People wrote that it was not to be missed. In my eyes, it absolutely lived up to all of the hype! When you think about how much time and effort went into the decorating of this chuch. It's mind boggling. Drop coins in the box to lighten up the walls. There's a mini slide show with information on the cathedral when you first walk in-translated into many languages. Describe this cathedral in one word? Easy, "Wow!"

After hanging out there for quite a while, we grabbed a bite to eat not too far away that was delicious. I wish I knew the name. This is a good time to mention "pasta alla Norma". This is a Sicilian specialty and so I tried it at a few spots during our stay in Sicily. The Norma pasta at this mini trattoria was scrumptious.

We hopped on the bus and as we were pulling into the main bus piazza back in Palermo, I saw a big line of people going into a building. I asked the girl next to me what the attraction was and she said it was the Norman Palace. We headed over there and soon were inside. It was like a scaled down version of the cathedral in Monreale. It too was really beautiful. If you find yourself in Palermo with only a few hours to kill, try to see the Norman Palace to enjoy and at the same time you'll get a feel for the cathedral in Monreale. You can't be disappointed. We spent the rest of our late afternoon touring the Vucciria outdoor market, later we looked in bookstores and grabbed some pizza.

The next morning after a large delicious breakfast also included with our room, we went to the train station and got tickets for Agrigento. It departed Palermo at 8:40 a.m. and took 2:20 minutes. Tickets were less than 27 euro/2 round trip. Upon arrival at Agrigento Centrale (there are two stations in Agrigento) buy two tickets per person at the bar for your bus transportation from the train station to the ruins and back. To exit the train station, take the elevator UP to the street level. (We were perplexed for a bit.) Take the orange bus either number 1, 2, or 3 from the station to the ruins. It's only a 10 minute bus ride. Upon your return to the station, take ANY orange bus. They all stop at the train station. You also need to flag down an orange bus as it rounds the corner or they won't stop. You have to wave your arms to get the drivers attention. Remember to validate your tickets on board. They booted off a chick who was riding for free.

We spent a few hours in Agrigento at the ruins. We bought a "cumulative ticket" for 12 euro each to view the ruins. That ticket granted you admission to two different sections of ruins. We also each rented an English audio self-guide for 4 euro. You held it like a phone. It was very informative. It came with a card that had the title of the ruin followed by instructions to press a number to learn about what you were seeing. For instance it would say on the card "Temple of Zeus - press 422". It was our job to find the temple of Zeus and then press"422" to learn. The problem with their system was this:

The good thing was that there were plaques along the pathway describing what artifact you're seeing.
The bad thing was that the plaques were only in Italian. (My Italian is pretty darn good, and fortunately I can understand most things, but I'm not ready yet to be an official translator of the language)

The good thing was that all the plaques had a number assigned to each artifact.
The bad thing was that the artifact number did NOT correspond with the number on the audio self-guided tour card.

Allow me to illustrate; I was reading in Italian a plaque by a ruin that says "Tempio di Giova". So I'm thinking "OK, we have Giova's Temple here." On the plaque next to Giova's Temple I see a number "37" is there. I'm looking on my card that comes with the audio self-guided tour for a number "37" but there is no 37. So I'm looking on my audio card for "Giova's Temple", but I don't see the word Giova anywhere on the card. After asking, I learned that "Giova" is Italian for "Zeus" . On my audio tour card I see "Temple of Zeus-press 422". So because my Italian is not 100% there, I failed to realize that Zeus and Giova were one and the same. Basically, they could make it much easier for the foreigner to understand by assigning the same numbers that are already written on the plaques in front of the artifact to the audio self-guided tour card....but that's just my unsolicited advice.

In spite of the confusion, we did enjoy our audio self-tour guides a lot. We decided that the ruins wouldn't have been half as interesting without the info we gleaned from the audio rental. The ruins are amazing. At one time the Romans had built walls around the Greek temple and used it for worship. Not too terribly long ago, less than 200 years as I recall, they removed the Roman facade to expose the ruins. That's why they look so good.

We rode an empty, except for us, one car train back to Palermo. When we arrived back in town, we dined at a casual but delicious place called Ristorante Pizzeria Italia. For 26 euro we walked away stuffed with pizza, chicken, salad, wine and beer.

The next day we went to Piazza Independente again to catch bus 327 for the short ride to the catacombs. When you get off the bus, ask the driver to direct you to the entrance. All that the Fodors people wrote about the catacombs caught my attention. Freaky, weird, creepy. I'd say yep, it was all of that and more. Really fascinating! There was a young man named Armando who answered a few questions when we first arrived. He ended up showing us around the whole place answering questions. They used lime to preserve the bodies. It's like a cemetery where the dead is preserved in order for the loved ones to still be able to see him/her at rest. The hair is still on most of them. We saw one guy in a Napoleon army uniform. Their best preserved "resident" is a little girl. The doctor who embalmed her tried a new way to preserve the body. Today she looks like she was just recently placed there. The doctor died without telling anyone what his secret was. After quite a while with Armando, it was time to go. We tried to offer him some money for all of the time he spent with us, but he wouldn't hear of it, so we left it in the donation plate. Our bus ticket was still valid (I think they last 2 hours) so we got back on a bus to get us back to Piazza Ind. From there we walked to Piazza Politeama which seemed to be the "Beverly Hills" section of Palermo.

When we discovered this section of Palermo, we decided that if we ever returned, we'd stay here. Even though we really liked our hotel and our room, this area was lit up with tons of shops, chichi boutiques and restaurants. Ladies, here's a great shopping story. We saw a dress in the window. I went in and tried it on. It was by Diane Von Furstenburg (sp?) They wanted 500 euro for it. My husband said "I love it, get it". I thought that for 500 euro, I wanted it to fit perfectly. I debated on the dress then finally declined. A week later I'm back in LA getting my nails done when I saw the same dress in a Neimans catalog for $350 (much better than 500 euro!). I went to Neimans, found the dress. They had one left- in my size and I bought it on sale for $175.00. Woo-hoo! This just taught me to stick to Italian designers while shopping in Italy.

For dinner we wanted to grab something near the hotel and decided to try a restaurant on the 2nd story a block away called Al Santa Catarina. We were glad we did. We had a delicious pizza, baked homemade pasta with eggplant, beers and a large water for 22 euro.

The next day, after breakfast, it was time to head for the airport. I had made reservations with "Airport Easy Shuttle". www.airporteasyshuttle.it They picked us up at our hotel on time and drove us to the airport for only 28 euro. What a bargain. We were required to pay cash to our hotel for the ride. Then the hotel later pays Airport Easy Shuttle by check. Driving with our taxi driver was interesting as we had time to get to know him. He's an educated man with TWO degrees and he says "here I am driving a cab!" Sicilians love Sicily, but the unemployment rate is so high, it's hard to find work.

ROME: We had already paid with Lufthansa $80 per ticket to fly from Palermo via Air One to Rome. Upon arriving at Rome and knowing we had an early departure the next morning, we went to the Hotel Reservation Desk in the FCO airport to inquire how much one night would cost at the airport Hilton. They said 190 euro. I decided to call them to see if I could get a lower rate if I bypassed the Reservation Desk. It turns out that it would cost 240 euro if I wasn't a travel agent (which I'm not) so we marched right back to the desk and took the reservation. We then walked to our hotel, checked in, dropped off our bags and looked at the schedule to take the free shuttle into town. It wasn't scheduled to depart for a couple of hours so we walked back to the airport and took the train to Termini.

Upon arrival at Termini we started walking toward piazza Navonna so that i could find a pizza place that I had remembered from a previous trip. After about an hour I found it. We had both been to Rome a few times but we wanted to see the Vatican again. We then headed toward the Trevi fountain to throw our requisite coin in. We bought a cute painting from a sidewalk artist, had a great dinner and then found the Hilton shuttle bus just in time at 8:30 p.m. which took us back to our hotel.

The next morning, we enjoyed a huge breakfast and an easy walk from the hotel to our airline gate. If you like convenience, this Airport Hilton is very convenient when you have an early morning departure.

TexasAggie

Thanks for posting. You were right about the info. still being useful - I am printing your report for my Sicily file since we are hoping to visit Sicily in 2007.

wantagig

TA: Oh good. I'm glad you can use the info. I loved your report. You can see we have the love of "Genuine Italian Pizza" in common! Your report makes me want to go to Naples.

For anyone interested, I found the receipt with the name and address of the little trattoria in Monreale, right near the cathedral. It's called "Piccolo Rifugio" located in Piazza Vittorio Emanuele #50. Look for a beige overhang or awning (I can't remember which) that says "Trattoria" on it. We had two "pasta alla Norma", two beers and service for less than 18 euro. Just delicious!

gertie3751

Just to say thanks for posting. Your stuff was helpful. I'm planning a trip to Sicily in Oct and will read anything else you write!

Mamma_Love

Tagging for later!

I have often thought of doing the same - posting a trip report even though it was embarassingly late. I still have not prepared a proper trip report from our trip in March 2004.

Perhaps I will revisit my journal and see if I can come up with anything interesting and useful.

TexasAggie

Hi wantagig

Quick question - were their guides available for hire at Agrigento? My Italian is embarrasingly poor and if the signs and audioguides are still a bit mixed up that could be a hitch for us.

Glad you enjoyed my trip report! I am slowly finishing it (tax season) and added the last bit about southern Italy yesterday afternoon.

wantagig

Hi TA: Yes there were guides at Agrigento. We didn't inquire if there was one available, but I saw some there. I did a quick search and found this website:

http://www.sicilytravel.net/Agrigento_tours.htm

I'm so glad you've added to your trip report. I look forward to reading it this afternoon.

Mama: Go for it! I read your post that said that you "ache for Italy". You NEED to write! You'll be able to re-live your trip as you write, plus you'll be helping someone with your insights and information.