Travelogue Sicilia 2015

SAT 13.07.13

A midsummer holiday weekend drive from Zurich to Genova. We happily avoid all traffic jams and arrive there in the early afternoon. Park our car in a parking block at the port. Food stalls, pedestrian malls, an old pirate's vessel, Genova's harbour is safe and lively. Crossing the road you enter the old town with cathedral somewhere in the maze of streets. Not really exploraholic, we just spend the time and wait on our turn to hit the sea.

4:30 p.m. drive to the ferry port. Check-in is quick and then a long long waiting time on the pier. The ship lands. Offloading takes more than an hour. Can't imagine how many containers fit in this thing. Two hours late we move into our cabin. Have a drink; never had such a tiny Aperol Spritz. Have something for dinner; not really an Italian food highlight. It was a ferry, not a cruise liner.

SUN 14.07.13

We spend a night and a full day on the ship. The entertainment and food on the ferry is not first class at all. Nevertheless we are happy to get forward and be able to move around from cabin, to deck, to restaurant and leave hundreds of miles behind us. We even spot dolphins.

Arriving late at Palermo. Deboarding takes quite some time. After nearly an hour we touch ground in Sicily. Sunday late evening, not much traffic, lucky us. We get to the hotel Casena Dei Colli and watch out for a restaurant. We walk quite some distance to find something to eat, but finally have pizza and beer.

MON 15.07.13

One day in Palermo. We buy a day-pass and take the bus to the city center. We deboard at Teatro Massimo and start a walking tour. Impressive are the giant rubber plants at Piazza Marina. Somewhere in la Kalsa, a district which has been bombed heavily during WW II we discover the roofless Chiasa di Santa Maria dello Spasimo. Back in the city center we visit Byzantine church La Martorana furnished with mosaic tableaus. Crossing piazza Pretoria and its fountain we reach Quattro Canti, the most famous road junction of the city.

We walk to the cathedral and finally sit down and have some gelati in the heat of the early afternoon. We now know why Italians don't eat ice-cream during day time. The scoops smelt away and soil fingers and cloth. The highlight of the day is Convento dei Capuccini, catacombs with hundreds of mummies. All these dead people are nailed to the wall in upright position. They are staring at their visitors, a real chamber of horrors. We take the bus to go back to the center and stroll along Foro Italico, a boulevard along the seafront. Since downtown is not very busy with people we return early to the hotel.

TUE 16.07.13

After having a cappuccino which does not fulfil my demands of an italian coffee, we hit the road. Completely stuck in Palermo's morning rush hour. To get forward, you have to change lanes like a snake. If we do not close the lines, another car or bike immediately fills the gap. The traffic jam ends in a roundabout which is probably as wide as the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. I close my eyes and change from the inner to the outer lane without giving right of way to anybody else. As from this moment I am a Sicily certified driver.

Monreale is situated high above Palermo. We visit the world famous cathedral. Its interior is completely covered with mosaic paintings. The Old and the New Testament are visualised on the wall. We take our time and try to discover each painting. Leaving Monreale behind us, we take the road to Corleone. We thought the cradle of the mafia was a small village. In fact it is a city built on top of a hill. Eat arancine, a kind of meat pie in a corn pastry at lunch. Not a single Mafia gangster seen, we leave Corleone behind us and arrive at the Southern coast of Sicily.

The place is called Eraclea Minoa. We take a small bungalow at the campsite. Eucalyptus trees, limestone cliffs and beach. We enjoy the evening hours on the beach and have a perfect italian dinner at restaurant Sabbia de Oro right at the beach. Their cozze are devine. We walk back along the beach under a starry sky. A good time to finish the day. But the non working aircon doesn't let us sleep.

WED 17.07.13

The Eraclea Minoa camp site is situated on a phantastic spot, its restaurant is lousy. The quality of the breakfast corresponds to the dusty place. Then, excursion to Sciacca, a city at the sea. We walk through the alleys of the upper town and take the stairs down to the sea. The seafront is somewhat abandoned. Sciacca does not really attract us. A few kilometers outside from Sciacca in direction to Eraclea Minoa is a place called Castello Incantato. A crazy guy has carved hundreds of heads into stone. They are scattered around in a park.

Back in Eraclea Minoa we visit the ancient Greek site on top of the cliffs. A theatre, a small museum and a few pillars. We spend all afternoon at the beach, exploring the cliffs.

THU 18.07.13

Tonight we change bungalows, coming to the conclusion that the aircon does not work. All it does is producing warm air. We wake up the entire staff and move to another place with drums beating and trumpets sounding.

Today we visit the valley of the temples in Agrigento. The temple of Concordia is one of the best conserved of the ancient world. Interesting are the lying giants called Telamons. Agrigent is a city built on top of a hill. We walk to the cathedral on top. The building is under construction and closed. On the way back to Eraclea Minoa we stop at famous Scala dei Turchi, a white limestone cliff at the sea and hundreds of people bathing there. We prefer our beach at Eraclea Minoa.

FRI 19.07.13

It's time to leave Eraclea Minoa. We drive along the coast road and arrive at Ragusa around lunch time. We park near the Cathedral S.Giovanni and walk all the way down in direction Ibla. The sight to the hill which is covered with buildings is stunning. We enter the maze of Ibla and walk the other side up to the Piazza del Duomo and Giardini Ibla which are situated at the end of the hill.

Modica is another baroque town not far from Ragusa. It is built on a hill as well as many other cities in Sicily. We stroll around for about an hour. Back in the car we take direction Lido di Noto.

It is high season, but we do not have any problems to find a place to spend the night. Il Girasole is a friendly B&B quite close to the beach.

SAT 20.07.13

We start the day with an Italian breakfast. Food is wrapped in cellophane bags and the cappuccino is made from a real Italian coffee machine. We go early to the beach. Italian families arrive with bag and baggage, baby in the buggy, grandmother on wheel-chair. Guess we are the only foreigners in Lido di Noto. Guess there are some more strangers in the stabilimenti area, but life is taking place on the public beach and that's where we are.

3 p.m. time to get prepared for a city trip. We decide to visit famous baroque town Noto in the evening light. It is said to be the most impressive place in terms of baroque art. Indeed everything fits, cathedral, churches, palaces, piazzas, an ensemble of art. The evening light is turning the facades in ochre-red colours.

Back in Lido I go for a beer in the super market. The vendor advises me in beers according to my liking and budget. We have dinner at ristorante Alta Marea at the beach front. A live band is playing. It is packed with people, some are eating and drinking others are just sitting at the table without consumption. Not everything is driven by profit.

SUN 21.07.13

Cava Grande del Cassibile is today's target. The canyon is not far from Lido di Noto. After an hour's drive curving on a mountain road we reach the parking lot of the park. We are on top of a deep canyon. We walk down to the ground and swim in the refreshing water of a river which is forming various pools. The place is famous and we are not the only ones. Nevertheless we enjoy sitting in the natural whirlpools and let time lapse away. The walk back to the top costs us liters of sweat. Now we really need a swim.

Back at Lido de Noto we spend the last evening at their folkloric beach.

MON 22.07.13

Time to leave Lido di Noto. Our first stop on the way up North is Siracusa. The ancient site is called Neapolis. Impressive is Teatro Greco with a natural water provider behind the top ranks, a waterfall which is supplying the audience with fresh water. Most impressive is the Ear of Dionysus, an immense natural entrance to a cave.

The old town of Siracusa, called Ortigia, is located on an island which is reachable over two bridges. Interesting is Fonte Arteusa, a fresh water fountain on the island. It is a water pond with papyrus plants, ducks and fish.

Giardini Naxos is the famous beach resort at the foot of Taormina which sit enthroned like an eagle's nest on the flanks of the costal ridge. We find a room in a hotel close to the beach, not far from the Nike statue. We have a swim in the evening hours on the overpopulated beach. The area is covered with stabilimenti. The public beach is packed with people, mostly tourists from the North. Even the water is litterd with waste. At least there is no lack of restaurants to go out for dinner. Nevertheless it takes us time to find the right place. Steak and chips is on the menu tonight.

TUE 23.07.13

Mount Etna is covered with clouds. Today as well as yesterday. Nevertheless we get our gear ready to do some hiking on Italy's most famous volcano. With the help of our navigator we find the Mareneve road and reach the station from where they do excursions with trucks. Too touristy and the excursion rates are outrageous. We drive to another parking lot from where we start walking on a trail through birch forests on black lava soil. We reach the top of a krater, not the top of Mt. Etna, we are far below it. It feels like being on a black sand dune. Instead of walking back on the trail, we run down the slope. The rough-grained lava soil feels like sand and our shoes get filled with gravel. It is foggy and cool, not more than 16 degrees celsius, we can't see the top of the mountain but we enjoy the unreal volcanic world.

Back in the tourist Mecca of Giardini Naxos we spend some hours at the beach together with thousands of other beach cumbers.

WED 24.07.13

The worst coffee I've ever had. Do Italians think foreigners do not know what a good coffee is? I get a cup of hot water for breakfast. I drop a hint and ask, tea or coffee? The waitor says, coffee.

After having a real coffee at a bar we drive to Taormina. We visit famous Teatro Greco. The views from here are breathtaking. Surprise, mount Etna is free from clouds. Only a wisp of smoke comes out of its cone. Having seen the ancient site we walk through Corso Umberto, the main street of Taormina. It is packed with tourists. Nevertheless Taormina is enchanting.

We drive to San Marco beach in the afternoon. It is said to be less populated. Now we know why. You can't nearly walk on the pebbly beach. Stay here? Fat chance. We end the day at notorious Naxos beach.

THU 25.07.13

It is time to go back home. After having the last watery coffee at hotel Porto Azzurro, we hit the road. At the ferry-port in Messina we look for a long queue of cars. Surprise, no queue at all. We quickly buy tickets and board the ship. A short hour later we touch the continent. We planned to stay somewhere around Napoli but as it is still early afternoon we keep driving and change the plans. Why not arrive at home a day earlier. Taking that decision we drive as far as Orvieto, stay somewhere in the old town and have a tasty dinner.

FRI 26.07.13

Another day on the road. The motorway between Firenze and Bologna is as scary as always. Overtaking trucks on the narrow and winding lanes is a nightmare. We are glad not having done the same route both ways.

So, this was the story.