Sicily

My husband Ken and I spent 17 days in Sicily in April 2008, beginning with a few days in Palermo and then driving all around this incredible varied island. I made this travel blog to be a resource to those planning a trip to Sicily and also for us, to have an account of one of our favorite destinations. When possible I provided links to hotels and restaurants.

Day 1 • Palermo

We had been planning this trip for months and we finally have arrived at Falcone Borsellino Airport, Palermo. An old man at the baggage carousel was angry that a small child was unattended and flailing about by the passing luggage, placing her hands near the moving belt. He turned around and gave a hand gesture in disgust to the mother who was standing a few meters away in disinterest.

We took a hot, steamy, slow, rickety train to the center of the city. The passing countryside was dry and mountainous with patches of greenery. A restless man next to us stood the whole ride and and each stop stuck his head out the window and looked up and down the platform. We got off the train at Palermo's central rail station and I asked a woman in my best broken Italian "Excuse me, where is Via Roma?" to be answered in absolute perfect English, "It's right over there."

It took 10 minutes to walk to The Hotel Ambasciatori but only after cheating death crossing a 6 lane road with no traffic light or crosswalk. A very cool old-school cage elevator took us up to the 5th floor reception, we checked in, and walked upstairs to the hotel's panoramic terrace that was a big selling point for us choosing this hotel.

the panoramic terrace at hotel ambasciatori

Our first taste of Sicilian food was gelati - pistachio and hazelnut - and we ate them while walking to the frenetic Vucciria market where we had our second taste: focaccia. We got them from a cart with an oven inside that heats them up so they are super crispy on the bottom before being handed to you in a square of parchment paper. We wanted to pay him before eating but he told us to relax - eat first, pay later.

focaccia seller

slow day for the fish guys

There are packs of stray dogs throughout the city. During the heat of the day they nap on the streets. It was shocking to see and we never got quite used to it.

yes, we will walk on the other side of the street, thank you

life on the streets

We walked and walked and walked and stopped at the Palermo Cathedral, built by the Normans who conquered Sicily from the Arabs in the 11th Century.

a dog sleeping at the entrance to the cathedral

We got a restaurant recommendation from our hotel called Sant'Andrea. The food was excellent but the service was extremely rushed NYC style and they were taking away plates with some food left on them and the antipasti was served before the wine came to the table. Certainly not the pace we were expecting for Sicily. Sitting in siberia with the rest of the tourists, we started with the antipasti misto which were street foods turned up a notch including fried cheese, sardine "meat"balls, panelle (chickpea fritters), pickled cauliflower, and caponata. For primi I got the pasta con le sarde which was amazing, served with breadcrumbs on the side. Ken's pasta con tonno was made with a long, curly, cork-screw pasta. We also ordered a secondi, mine was stuffed squid with sauteed beet greens and Ken got an amazing hazelnut crusted sea bass. We washed it all down with a Cusumano Nero D'Avola.

Day 2 • Palermo

We had breakfast at the hotel on the unforgettable panoramic terrace. (There was a pastry at the buffet that must be the inspiration for the American jelly doughnut). The city was so quiet and peaceful from up there, all you could hear were birds. Palermo lies in a dramatic natural setting, between mountains and at the sea.

traditional painted Sicilian carts

We saw posters around town for a Max Ernst exhibit at the Palazzo dei Normanni, a monument in itself, so we headed out and passed through the famous Quattro Canti, the intersection where four districts of the city meet. When we got to the Palazzo, there was confusion where to enter. Other tourists were wandering around as well, and a guard at a door told us we had to go around the front so about 10 of us meandered in that direction to be stopped by police blocking the street. One of our crowd asked in Italian "Why?" and I heard the word "Una bomba!" in the response. Enough said! Turned out the Sicilian parliament buildings are next to the Palazzo and there was a bomb threat. We never did make it to see Max Ernst.

una bomba!

We saw some other monuments today. The small Chiesa San Cataldo and next to it the magnificent Byzantine mosaics in Chiesa della Martorana or Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio.

La Martorana

We also saw the Fontana Pretoria. For the nudity of the statues, the people of Palermo called the square "Piazza of Shame" when first unveiled in 1575.

the scanadalous statues

fontana pretoria

Feeling a twinge of hunger (unheard of for the rest of this trip) we hit the Bellaró market, finding the absolute most perfect street food : fried artichoke hearts and sardines. Little pieces of fried heaven. Like the Vucciria, this market sold everything from socks to lamb hearts.

wild asparagus the width of a pencil

fresh anchovies

pyramids of Sicilian eggplants

artichokes sold on the stem

a man selling bread out of the back of his car

the tiniest, sweetest wild strawberries

The artichoke and sardine didn't cut it for a full meal so we went to a place recommended highly in all the guide books, Antica Focacceria San Francesco. Its a really beautiful place, with old fashioned marble counters and floors, and a high, wooden ceiling. In typical Italian cafe style, you tell your order to the cashier, pay, and take your receipt to the food counter where it is then prepared and given to you while you stand and wait. The place was packed and no one spoke English. Ordering was kind of crazy but I managed to get us a variety of fried, starchy, yummy snacks: panelle sandwich (the chickpea fritters again, this time in a soft squishy white bread bun), sfinciuni (focaccia spread with a concentrated tomato sauce, no cheese), and an arancino (baseball sized ball of rice coated in bread crumbs and deep fried with a filling of ham and cheese). Greasy and delicious, every last bite! Outside the restaurant was a police car and 2 officers. We saw them at the same spot yesterday, too.

outside antica focacceria san francesco

We absolutely fell into a food coma from all the heavy foods and dragged ourselves back to the hotel for a two hour siesta.

a little nero d'avola and a lot of joy

After the siesta, it was time for some Sicilian wine. We went out in search of a bottle to enjoy on the terrace before heading out for dinner because we were just about to get a spectacular sunset. We bought a Nero D'Avola from a local cafe/wine bar and sat on the terrace. After soaking in the atmosphere and watching the last light of day, we headed out to dinner.

little sense of the frenetic streets from up here

We had no reservation and managed a table at Casa del Brodo, around since 1890. The meal was incredible! We ordered the antipasto buffet to start. I went to the bar and picked a range of vegetables and fish: sauteed mushrooms, spinach, grilled radicchio, roasted cauliflower, cheese, rolled stuffed sardines, eggplant rollatini, and pumpkin agrodolce. So good!

For our meal Ken got bucatini with tomato sauce and anchovies and I got a short thick pasta with swordfish, mint, and eggplant. The Pugliese style bread was excellent which was not the case for many of the restaurants on the trip. I don't know why the bread at Italian restaurants is so...bad. Except for in Puglia. Pane Pugliese is chewy and porous with a thick crust charred from a wood oven. With the house white wine, the meal was overall really incredible. The experience was much better than last night at Sant'Andrea and it was half the price at 30 Euros!

Before heading to our room, we got one more look at the night sky of Palermo.

Day 3 • Palermo, Castellamare del Golfo, Segesta, Erice

We had another lovely breakfast with a view this morning before revisiting the Vucciria market then heading to the airport to pick up the rental car. Driving in Palermo is not recommended for visitors so if you are going to rent a car, do it from the airport so you can get straight on the autostrada. As we were approaching the train station, a bus driver said his plush, modern bus was going to the airport and that the fare was the same as the train. I totally recommend it - it was so much more comfortable and easier than the train and air conditioned! It took about 45 minutes to get to the main terminal.

We drove to Castellamare del Golfo for a quick stop, a charming fishing town on the north side of Sicily. The emerald green sea and colorful fishing boats made for a great photo op.

fishing cove at castellemare del golfo

We walked around the seaside and there were not many other people around. It was very quiet and not much was open but we were not there during siesta. We did find one cafe open and had panini at a small street side table.

waiting for the paninis

We didn't intend to stay here although if we had the time it would have been a nice overnighter. But today we (and busloads of Italian high school kids) had another destination - Segesta. Segesta was one of the major cities of the mysterious Elymian people, one of the three indigenous peoples of Sicily. It is one of the best preserved temples from antiquity, built sometime in the late 5th century BC and its location among wildflowers and green hills is striking. With not a modern sight in view, you can really feel transported back in time.

magestic segesta

There is also a well preserved theater which is quite a bit of a walk uphill. One can take the paved road or a natural path that is more direct and that is what we chose. The wildflowers were in bloom and the earth was teeming with what Sicilians call babbaluci, or snails. I stopped here and there to touch flowers and run my hands across the tops of the grasses. Big mistake because in the car ride after the visit, my hands were starting to develop a rash. The rash got progressively worse, and in about 48 hours were so inflamed that I could not sleep and had to go to a pharmacy for help. But there will be more on that later.

look but don't touch!

we had the place to ourselves until busloads of Italian teenagers rained upon us

theater at segesta

ken likes to get to shows early

After Segesta we drove a country road to Erice. It is a village on a mountain by the same name, and most of the year it is shrouded in mist. We could see it from a few miles away, covered in clouds. We followed the road up the mountain through pine trees and fog.

the approach to erice

the mist

Down below the sun was shining! We had a reservation at La Pineta, just outside the city walls. It was more like a summer resort, consisting of private cottages and open, public areas with lounge chairs and a bar. So we arrived way off-season and we greeted by the proprietor who did not speak any English. My smattering of Italian got us by without a problem. After checking in we walked just across the street into the walled city of Erice. The combination of the mist and the lack of people (being off-season) lended an eerie atmosphere. The stone streets were beautiful.

the stone streets of erice

We were feeling snackish and found a snack bar open. We ordered an arancine con melanzane, warm oozing with cheese an eggplant. And just up the street is the famous Pasticceria Maria Grammatico where we bought a small box of delicious pastries. We wanted a glass of wine but we didn't find a restaurant or cafe open so next door was a small market where we bought a bottle of Nero D'Avola and I asked the woman there if she had an opener. She handed one to me and I opened the wine to a loud "pop!" to which I said "La musica!" and we all laughed. It was now about 5pm and we wanted to rest a bit before dinner so we started to walk back down the labrynthine streets and got a little lost...

it is easy to get lost in erice

I decided to wear shoes tonight that had heels and my footseteps echoed through the streets on our way to find an open restaurant. It was so quiet and misty tonight, it felt as if this place only existed for us or like we were on a movie set. There were a total of 2 restaurants open! We chose the lower-key looking place as they always have the better food compared to the linen table cloth ones. And this was no exception! Ken got the spaghetti alla pesto trapanese and I could not resist the pasta con le sarde. After dinner we meandered our way back to the hotel - and got a little lost - again.

Day 4 • Marsala, Erice

We had a standard continental breakfast at the hotel, then got lost driving on a day trip to Marsala. It took twice as long to get there than it should have, maybe three times. As the navigator, I can't explain what happened although stopping first to see the Trapani salt fields may have had something to do with it.

trapani salt pans and medieval windmills

It was a sunny gorgeous day. We parked outside Marsala's city gate and walked in through the main drag. There were a lot of young guys posing with their cars in the parking lot. The machismo in the air was thick that day.

the ragazzi at marsala's city gate

It was time to eat lunch and we found a cafe/restaurant filled with local old men eating solo called Pasticceria E&N. It was scrumptious and a steal. We had risotto with zucchini and artichokes, timbale con sugo (like arancini), and carciofi gratinati (baked gratinéed artichokes). We topped off our lunch with gelato, and before heading out we walked to the seafront.

the sea at marsala

Back on misty Erice, we asked the hotel proprietor about the funicular down to Trapani because we wanted to make a visit and possibly have dinner there but we were told that due to the wind it is not running tonight and the buses have already stopped for the evening. So before the siesta we walked around Erice for open restaurants and chose Hotel Moderno Ristorante. We asked for 9 but they said they close early and haggled us to 7:30 but we refused and they made it for 8:30. We think the benefits of traveling off-season far outweigh in-season although some may fine tapered bus schedules and early restaurant closing to be a damper. After making the reservation we took a walk around the Venus Castle built on the ruins of an ancient temple to Venus and the Torri Pepoli, a medieval castle turned hotel. We saw about 3 other people on our walk.

the fairytale castle of venus clings to the side of the mountain



sunset on erice and view of egadi islands


view to monte cofano


la chiesa madre, erice

We headed over to dinner and only one other table was occupied but soon the other filled up. The room was brightly lit with florescent lights and yet the waiter lit a small candle at our table. The food was scrumptious. We ordered the antipasto and at the bar we chose raw tuna in olive oil, tuna cubes in agre dolce, eggplant with cheese and tomato sauce, marinated artichoke hearts, octopus salad, and mackerel marinated in olive oil. What a feast already and that's only the antipasti. We both ordered the region's specialty - couscous Trapanese. A dish resulting from the close proximity of Trapani to Tunisia. The dish arrives with the broth and fish separate from the fluffy couscous. It was a very aromatic broth, heady with garlic, tomatoes and cinnamon. After dinner we had a nightcap of Marsala wine at Cafe Nuovo Edelweiss to the sight and sound of "As Good as It Gets" dubbed in Italian.

Day 5 • Trapani, Caltagirone, Ragusa

After the hotel breakfast we checked out and headed to Ragusa where we would be staying for a few days as a base for exploring the southeast corner. Before leaving the province of Trapani we thought the capital city deserved a look. We tried to see it last night but public transportation thwarted us. We parked near a small market and got lured into a sales pitch for preserved fish. The table was loaded with a huge assortment of canned tunas of varying grades and sizes, bottarga, salted fish, pastas, olive oils....this was not a bad sales pitch to get sucked into. After trying some samples we bought a tuna "sausage", spicy with cracked black pepper which they vacuumed packed for us, two different grades of canned tuna, and a bag of pasta.

The old center of Trapani is quite attractive with its narrow streets and views of the sea. We had to get back on the road so we didn't linger long. The guys who sold us the fish waved to us goodbye as we pulled out of our parking spot.

trapani center

The drive into the interior of the island along the A19 was scenic with rolling hills, rocky mountains, and terracotta tiled farmhouses. No one but us heeded to the 40kmph signs although sometimes Ken does have a lead foot.



To break up the 5 hour drive we stopped in Caltagirone, famous for ceramics and the 142-step monumental Scala di Santa Maria del Monte. Each step is decorated with different hand painted ceramic tiles and from the top there is a great view of the city and surroundings.

la scala di santa marie del monte flanked with shops and homes

i like the fish detail

from the top step

We walked over the Ponte San Francesco, which is covered in ceramic tiles. On it was a curious entanglement of padlocks with love notes written on them.

locks of love

on the ponte san francesco

ken patiently waiting for me to take the shot

Next stop Ragusa. We booked an apartment for 3 days as a base for visiting cities in the Val di Noto: Ragusa, Noto, and Modica. The drive up to Ragusa Ibla was quite dramatic.

We booked an apartment called Residence Iusu and it was a trial finding it. We had a map but that was not very helpful as the streets were not well marked and so narrow that we had to pull in the side mirrors to get through. After a remarkably stressful experience, we gave up and parked in a lot outside the city walls, left the bags, and set about on foot to find it. I asked a man, in horrid Italian clutching my Google map, where the street is and we got a general direction. Halfway, we felt we lost the trail and wound up in a small piazza at the foot of a baroque church. Amped with adrenaline and a little sweaty, I asked two guys, who were watching us, amused, where the street was and very slowly and languidly they answered it was right in front of us. We were a source of amusement not only for them but also for a group of old men sitting on a bench enjoying the last rays of the sun.

the old guys

We found the apartment! We collected our bags and called the owner for meet us and in about 10 minutes he arrived. He was from Rome but had been living in Ragusa for a few years. We spoke broken languages to each other but got all pertinent information across. The apartment had a lovely little terrace with a view. The bed was comfortable and the kitchen a perfect size for making light meals. It was immaculate and had some character. We were given a permit sign to place in our windshield and were able to park just around the corner from the apartment.

After a rest we sought dinner. There was a large selection and in the end we chose a modern pizzeria called Antares. It was a cavernous place and not crowded. We started with 2 salads: tuna, blood orange and fennel / anchovy, mozzarella, olive, tomato. Then there were pizzas one with smoked swordfish and the other tuna and onion. We were stuffed after eating half so we got them wrapped to go.