Off to Experience the Pastiche of Sicily

Taormina
Siracusa
Noto
Ragusa
Agrigento
Palermo

I found this list in my phone today and delighted in the memory of how it got there - and how travel comes together.  Last November on my hotel’s rooftop terrace, I was quietly taking in the amazing view over Udaipur’s Lake Pichola and palace, lit up in the middle of the lake.  A man with a thick Sicilian accent asked if he and his girlfriend could join me for dinner.  Listing off places I should visit in Sicily, he patiently spelled each one out for me.  These towns in Sicily were completely foreign to me.  Now, after having plenty of time to prepare for our seven days in Sicily (we leave in a week), this list - our itinerary - is very familiar.

It’s easy to get swept away by Sicily.  If you love ancient sites, Sicily will blow your mind. If you don’t … there’s no better place to start.  Sitting in the middle of the Mediterranean between Europe and Africa, Sicily, the most conquered island in the world, has been a crossroads for cultures and civilizations for 8 millennia.  Its hodgepodge of history – Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, Arabs, Normans, Spanish Bourbons, and even mafia – make for a patchwork of beautiful and varied architecture draping the island.  It is old and the real deal.

What I find most alluring about Sicily is that it is what Italy used to be: “a preserved slice of old-world travel that is hard to find these days.”  As evidenced by the lack of touring details found on the internet, Sicily is not overly developed for tourism.  It is rugged and off the radar of most mainstream tourists.  The travel here is real.  It is where the Italian phrase “dolce far niente” is at its best, where all that matters is living the moment:  no stress, no pressure.  Nothing matters.

Compared to Italy’s mainland and even other areas in Europe, Sicily lacks crowds - but that won’t last.  With Rick Steves’ brand new Sicily Guidebook (published April 2019) and as more people find out what a great spot Sicily is, all of that is bound to change in the next few years. If Sicily is on your list, you might want to go now, before the cat’s out of the bag.  Don’t be surprised if, after finishing this blog, you start planning your trip.

Go before it’s too late. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tuscany Truffle Hunting and a Noble’s Estate

Image
Today we hit a whopping 5,000 steps with all of our strenuous sedentary activities. If the fit bit could count arm movement, with all of the drinking and eating, I'm sure we'd hit at least our daily trip norm of 20,000-25,000 steps. I can't wait for the scale back at home to confirm at least 5 pounds have melted off. Guess what, it is truffle season! So it was apropos to start our morning with a real truffle hunt! We met up with the dogs and the "Tartuffaio" (truffle hunter) and went into the forest that belongs to Castelfalfi, kept for cultivating truffles to use in their restaurants. For Matteo, our Tartuffaio, truffle hunting was a great passion that has turned into a job. The first step is to train the dogs. To the dogs, finding truffles is a game; the more truffles they find the more biscuits they get. Dogs love truffles! Matteo has to hold Gina back or she will eat the prize - a $75 gulp! Any breed can be trained as long as they have a great sens
Read more

Etruscan Volterra, City of Alabaster

Image
Tauck has been meticulously arranging the details of these five days for the past four years. Although there is very little physical activity (compared to our travel norm), almost every minute of each day is planned out - so when my head hits the pillow I am out cold until it is time to leave again. (Or maybe it's all the wine causing that.) Each day the 6 groups divide and conquer. Today, the only rainy day in the forecast, our group is assigned to Volterra. I recognized the name from Twilight, the vampire series, but I know we are safe because it's daylight and they won't kill so close to home. It is actually a super small walled hill town known for its production of alabaster, a very soft stone that can be carved till it is translucent. We spend 2 1/2 hours with a guide hearing about the town's legends, views, mysteries, and treasures. After a surprise private opera performance in the town's theatre, we are released for less than an hour to eat and wander the
Read more

San Gimignano and Farewell Dinner

Image
How do you say it? Pronouncing the name of today's town stumps many visitors, especially me. San "Jimmy-yawn-oh". Seems obvious enough but I still can't say it ten times fast. San Gimignano is yet another beautiful Tuscan hilltop town. It is a perfect portrait of the Middle Ages. What makes it unique are the amount of intact medieval towers. In the Middle Ages the place was an important stop on the Via Francigena – the ancient pilgrim route from Canterbury to Rome. So focused on our bucket-list item of the more famous pilgrimage, Camino de Santiago, we will need to look into this one as well. Home to a rich aristocracy, at one point San Gimignano had up to 72 towers. Today there are about 14. The only function of the towers was to show wealth and power. San Gimignano's medieval architecture almost looks like a line of skyscrapers since the town sits atop a hill. Everywhere you look there is another tower Our tour of the city included the Torre e
Read more