That looks perfect. Good choice!

A popular beach town, San Vito Lo Cap, has Arab/Norman influences, as seen in its church/fortress. Sand beaches are prized in Italy and often are dominated by private companies that control them with umbrella concessions that make them feel like crowded cruise ships. Not so here, and the palm trees and mountain at one end give it a Caribbean feel.

A coast guard station, lighthouse and WWII gun turret mark the other end of the town. A lively pedestrian street, with a combination Greek/Arab feel, leads to the beach. The coast guard station and an in-town park both house cat villages.

Perhaps our most scenic trip so far was the drive between San Vito Lo Capo to tiny Scopello (which is only minutes away from Castellammare del Golfo). It’s all about the rocks, mostly vertical. We passed the town of Custonaci, where marble quarries have operated since the 1400’s. Some mountains are climbable; other stacks or rocks simply are waiting for a photographer. The last photo here (Scopello) is one of those iconic shots of Sicily.






Custonaci Marble Quarries















































Scopello

A busy little town, with narrow streets, and little available parking, Carini had a good crowd for Wednesday morning Mass at the 15th century baroque duomo.

We love castles, and we had the 1,000 year-old castle in Carini all to ourselves. It is a castle with a story. In the 1500’s Laura Lanza was forced to marry at 14. Laura then took a secret lover, and when her father learned of this, he killed his daughter and her child. We didn’t see her ghost or the bloody imprint of her hand that has inspired books, movies and songs. The castle rambles and includes a great old chapel and current artworks including anti-Mafia messages.

Sferracavallo, a fishing village for 800 years, still a quiet town at the foot of Mt. Capo Vallo. Vendors were looking for tourists, but we were the only ones. Beer and wine in a vending machine. Cute little town, but not much to see here.

There are beautiful villas, and a stunning beach at this summer hot spot. It was an early beach day in Mondello, but only a hint this day in May of what is to come. Attractive spot for a light lunch and an Aperol spritz. No wonder Harrison Ford picked this place last fall for a swim on his day off from Indiana Jones filming. One of the best beach towns in all of Sicily, even with all the annoying vendors.



Mondello

The Portella della Ginestra massacre was one of the most violent acts in the history of modern Italian politics, when 11 people were killed and 27 wounded by machine gun fire during May Day celebrations, 75 years ago on May 1, 1947, in the town of Piana degli Albanesi. Those held responsible were the “bandit” and separatist leader Salvatore Giuliano and his gang – although their motives and intentions are still a matter of controversy. Some blamed the Mafia or various political factions. There is a reference to this event in The Godfather book.

We saw the site of the massacre, and its memorial on a scenic ride on the way up to Piana degli Albanesi. We were welcomed by a large empty parking lot (with what looked like a small amphitheater) in a spectacular setting.

In search of the holy grail of cannolo in Sicily, we headed to Piana degli Albanesi. Sitting high above a lake (actually, it is an artificial reservoir but gorgeous nonetheless), Piana degli Albanesi is a quiet town with no obvious tourism. It has a substantial Albanian population, but other than some cultural photographs of local festivals, we saw no indication of that. The biggest celebration we have heard about is a cannolo festival, since this little town is said to make the best cannolo in the world. We tried a historic place in Catania and were underwhelmed.

We went to the noted Extra Bar, and they provided our second favorite cannolo of the trip. It was in a smaller version of the shell they offered, and it was the biggest and fullest of any we have tasted here. Many swear it is the best in the world. It was delicious, but still a little short in fluffiness that we preferred at a little restaurant in Modica where we watched the owner make his own ricotta.

Maybe it was the chaotic traffic patterns in Bagheria (an urban area on the outskirts of Palermo), with many intersections without lights, stop signs or rotaries (i.e. every driver for him or herself). Maybe it was the lack of parking. Maybe it was the end of a school day with kids in streets and parents stopping every which way. Maybe it was remembering when we came through here by rail a few days before, this was where we first spotted piles of trash. Maybe it was navigating all this and then finding our planned visit to the highly regarded 1700’s Villa Valguarnera thwarted by a “temporary closure.” Anyway, this wasn’t our favorite place.

We settled on a quirky second choice Villa Cattolica (only a second choice because it had parking). The nearly 200 year-old Villa Cattolica stands in front of what appeared to be an oil refinery, or similar industrial facility, and is mostly an art gallery today with “neo-realist art”, including lots of nude women and a separate gallery of old movie posters. One area is also devoted to the art of Sicilian horse/donkey carts from the 1800’s.

Santa Flavia has one of the larger marinas in Sicily. We explored one end, where working fishermen sell their catch right off the boats. One after another, we watched fishing boats motor in, quickly set up scales and retail displays on the back of the boat, and them work the gathered crowds.

That wharf looks interesting. A real slice of fishing life, as compared to most of us seated at a nice restaurant ordering fish.

We had been to Cefalu before, but we decided to return this time to base here for 5 nights. Cefalu is the whole package. One of the most beautiful places in all of Sicily. A medieval village with a great beach. Nice shops, restaurants. Pristine. A perfect film location, from the classic Cinema Paradiso to the upcoming newest installment of Indiana Jones.

We quickly re-traced our time there 14 years earlier. The landmark Norman Cathedral was the only thing we recall where things were out of place in our first visit, ancient construction materials at the top of the front stairs and along the side aisle inside. Now, everything seemed perfect, even the medieval laundry.

This was a real life moment, on looking back at the photo, frozen in time with the water droplets coming from a fish tray. We got odd stares while trying to photograph this, since, for those there, this was just a simple daily routine.

Whitehall, This is the ultimate trip report! If you made this into a book, I would buy it in a heartbeat! Thank you so much for taking all the time to write and post it. I am grateful and appreciate all of the effort involved. Your photos are wonderful. Your written descriptions are so personal and really take us to the places.

We took an early morning walk in Cefalu before the tourists wake up, and, as we watch the small beach crew at work, we realize how this often crowded place looks so clean. Although very busy, this really is a small town, as you see locals catching up on the morning news and the elderly fish crier trying to find some buyers. The famous Cathedral that stands tall above much of the town is only seconds from our apartment and is full of visitors much of the day. We were the only ones there at this hour, and we quickly pulled up photos from 2008 on our phone. And, yes, the Cathedral looked in need of restoration then, and there were piles of ancient columns, tiles, flooring, inside and out. Today, the remainder are a few old columns neatly lined up against one wall inside the church.

It is Friday the 13th, so we are reminded that we need to be extra safe today. Two speed traps in our first few miles heading out of town are a huge exception. In fact, this is the only stretch of road that we saw hand held radar in our couple thousand miles of Sicilian driving. And, we saw them there more than once. Nearly all speeding in Sicily is regulated by little camera boxes on the side of the roads or overhead devices, and, if you pay attention, you usually are warned that you are approaching them. After this day, we also partially abandoned use of our GPS on some back roads, as we were taken on short cuts too narrow, even for our small car. The scenery, however, made it worth it as we were hoping to see one or two castles in the mountains.






























Cefalu Cathedral November 2008

We took a scenic mountain road up to Caccamo that has one of the largest castles in Italy. Other than a school group from another mountain town, we were one of only a handful of tourists there on Friday. The castle was an important place 1,000 years ago and a site where enemies of the baron were lured with a fine dinner and other niceties. After dinner, the guest would kneel in the chapel, while the wicked baron would unsuspectingly pull a lever to a trap door underneath, sending the enemy to his or her death on a row of swords in the dungeon 100 feet below.

At the lowest level of the castle, near the street where we parked, there is a pizzeria that, although had great food (including Caccamo’s famous sausages) was more museum than restaurant.

The school group apparently sees few Americans, so they gathered around us to hear our English, giggle, take our pictures and treat us like rock stars. They pointed at us and teasingly called us “turistas”. We shot back with our finger and mockingly reminded them that they too were “turistas.” After all, they were on a school trip from a more remote mountain town called Caltanissetta, which they motioned, with thumbs down, for us to scratch off our list (and we did). Ironically, toward evening that same group shrieked when they saw us again in a crowd watching the sunset from the beach in Cefalu.

We walked to the top of the old town of Caccamo, which unusually sits above the castle, but found nothing but quiet streets, with many owners busily scrubbing this very clean town.

Sassafrass : This is a forum, as you know, with many wonderful supportive posters. What a compliment, especially from a poster with some of the most direct/succinct, yet helpful, posts on Fodors. Wishing it were easy to get a free trip for just writing and taking photos. Ironically, your suggestion about a book comes as I literally am trying to wrap up a book, after years of procrastination, about an earlier part of our lives as struggling entrepreneurs dealing with a cast of interesting and some well known people. Probably not publishable; sometimes you just write stuff to get it out of your system. Thanks again.

We looked forward to seeing one more castle in the Madonie mountains on this day, but it turned out to be more about the beautiful drive there. Fortunately, we didn’t have “tracks” on the bottom of our vehicle or we would have been forbidden to use the road. (Makes sense but never saw that kind of sign or prohibition before).

Gratteri had some perfect looking medieval streets, very quiet ones, and a few caves in the distance. We had read about a castle, but, at the spot where it was supposed to be, there was no sign of a castle, other than a staircase and a tiny wedding courtyard with plastic chairs.

After seeing a much busier Cathedral upon our return to Cefalu, we headed to the beachfront for the daily sunset observance. When it’s over, everyone heads to local restaurants, either in the old town or in the newer pedestrian only section across from the extended beach promenade.

Cefalu looks wonderful.
I wake up in a boring suburb, not looking forward to going to work….and you’ve transported me somewhere else…thank you!