by Jane Parlane

Sicily is synonymous with sun, history, lemons and the mafia. But don’t let the mafia scare you into staying away – they aren’t interested in tourists. Instead you’ll get a warm welcome from most Sicilians who are more interested in showing off their treasures than depriving you of yours.

There are plenty of reasons to visit Sicily, the Mediterranean’s largest island, including gorgeous towns, fascinating archaeology from ancient Greek, Roman and Norman times and delicious seafood, wine and cassata.

The ancient city of Palermo, Sicily’s capital city, is a great starting point for a seven-day tour by rental car. Having arrived early on an overnight ferry from Naples we taxied to the main railway station where we caught a local bus for the 15km journey to Monreale, famous for its grand Arab-Norman cathedral adorned with colourful glass mosaics dating from the 12th century. The Roman Catholic and eastern orthodox cultures blend splendidly and there’s much to admire including the cloisters and bronze doors.

The bus back dropped us at the Piazza Indipendenza, the site of one of Europe’s most beautiful castles. The Royal Palace of Palermo, dating from the ninth century for many centuries housed Sicily’s rulers and even today it’s the seat of regional government. Local politicians are lucky enough to govern from such an architectural gem with its beautiful mosaics, painted roof and marble walls.

In 1599 a local nun was mummified in Palermo so all could still pray to her. Today her body has been joined by thousands more, all lined up like paintings in walls at the Capuchins’ Catacombs. There are bodies in their original clothes centuries old, skeletons and even children. It’s an eerie sight and afterwards we embraced fresh air, bright sunshine and a Sicilian light lunch of pepperoni, salami, olives, fried eggplant and polenta.

Ancient fishing village

In our rental car it was an easy one-hour drive east to Cefalu, originally a fishing port. Now it’s an attractive cobblestoned tourist town with a sandy beach – not completely lined with recliners. Our accommodation was in an old stone house just a minute from the cathedral and main square. It was easy to find a restaurant table overlooking the sea and over a chilled Sicilian wine watch the bright pink sunset explode while families paraded past.

Next day, after a croissant and cappuccino in the piazza, we chose the coast road as far as Tindari where we stripped off for a refreshing swim. Afterwards we headed for Taormina on the autoroute, through tunnels and past Messina until we climbed up the steep hill where the town spreads out. It took a while until we found the entrance to the main car park and its lift took us close to our hotel in the Corso Umberto, the pedestrian-free main street with its lovely alleyways and views down to the Ionian Sea 250 metres below and up to Mt Etna – Europe’s tallest active volcano which was gently blowing its stack.

Sicilians promenading

Taormina has many bars where you can sip a Marsala or Campari martini and just people watch. Most evenings you’ll see Sicilians decked out in their finery strutting the streets. Alternatively book an opera or concert at the Ancient Theatre dating from Greek and Roman times – sadly the opera was cancelled during our stay. But the swordfish at a trattoria washed down by a local wine and tiramisu to follow eased the pain.

Two days later we arrived at Syracuse, on Sicily’s south-eastern corner, once the most powerful city in the Mediterranean. We stayed at Ortigia island, the oldest part of the city, which is linked to Syracuse by a bridge. With its mix of splendid medieval buildings, including a cathedral dating from the 7th century, and Greek and Roman amphitheatres on the outskirts, it’s no wonder UNESCO has listed the entire area a World Heritage site.

It was an easy day trip the next day to the ancient limestone towns of Modica, Ragusa and Noto, the latter famously rebuilt in 18th century in the baroque style after an earthquake destroyed the town in 1693.

After two nights in Syracuse we drove through olive tree and vine-covered countryside to find the world’s largest collection of late Roman mosaics in situ at the Villa Romana del Castale near Piazza Armerina. Also UNESCO protected, the large villa was once owned by Emperor Maximian. Its mosaics are in such good state today because they were covered by a landslide that occurred in the 12th century.

A valley of Greek temples

Our final destination for the day was Agrigento, famous for its Valley of the Temples. It was exhilarating to look out of our hotel window and see Greek temples standing there. This once ancient city, Akragus, was dominated by seven great Doric Greek temples built in the sixth and seventh centuries BC. Today several are still wonderfully preserved making the area one of the world’s most important archeological sites. It’s easy to spend two hours with a guide wandering the site, especially in late afternoon when the sun lights up the temples. A bonus for us was the spectacular exhibition by world-renowned Polish sculptor Igor Mitoraj cleverly placed among the ancient structures.

We planned to spend our last night in north-eastern Erice. I’d read that it was a medieval town near the coast but did not realise, until our ‘sat nav’ directed us up a hill, that it was situated on top of a mountain with a dramatic view 750 metres down over the wide plain and city of Trapani. Our hotel swimming pool seemed to be on the edge of a precipice and the town was hidden by an old stone wall. Erice, with its slippery polished flagstones, also tumbles down the hill, with bars offering tempting icy fruit granitas and excellent restaurants like the Monte San Giullano tucked away, vines concealing their stone entrances.

It was an easy drive on the autoroute to catch our flight from Palermo airport the next morning – just over an hour.

Our week in Sicily gave us a great taste of the place – its food, wine, fascinating archaeology and gorgeous medieval towns – we hope to return for a second course another day.

Wine Tasting and Sicilian Lunch at a Winery in Agrigento

2-hour Private Valley of the Temples Tour in Agrigento

If You Go:

By air:
You can fly into Palermo (Raisi Falcone Borsellino), Catania (Fontanarossa Vincenzo Bellini) or Trapani (Birgi “Vincenzo Florio) international airports with Rome and Milan being the most popular places for connecting flights.

By train:
There are many rail services to Sicily with the trains going on a barge for an hour over the Strait of Messina.

By sea:
Ferries and hydrofoils depart from several cities along the coast of Italy. A hydrofoil service from Naples takes five hours. Several ferry companies offer overnight trips and some will accommodate cars. Ferries go to Sicily from Naples, Citavecchia (Rome), Genoa, Livorno, Salerno, Calabria, Malta, Tunisia and Malta. One of the most popular ferries is from Villa San Giovanni in Calabria to Messina, in eastern Sicily. We traveled overnight on a Tirrenia ferry from Naples to Palermo (www.aferry.com/tirrenia.htm). The cabin was clean and tidy, the restaurant onboard canteen style. Arriving at 6.30 AM gave us a day of sightseeing in Palermo before we collected our rental car in the afternoon and drove to Cefalu on the coast for the night.

By car:
If you are an independent traveller, driving around Sicily is a great way to go, but because of some of Sicily’s narrow village streets, I recommend renting a small car. We rented a car from Europcar.

Our timetable:
Day 1 – Palermo and night at Cefalu
Day 2-3 – Taormina
Day 4-5 – Syracuse
Day 6 – Agrigento
Day 7 – Erice
Day 8 – flew out from Palermo

We stayed at the following hotels and booked most of them online at www.booking.com
♦ Palazzo Maria, Cefalu (Our accommodation was in an attractive old stone house)
♦ Hotel Taodamus, Taormina
♦ Hotel Gutowski, Ortygia, Syracuse
♦ Coleverde Park Hotel, Agrigento
♦ Hotel Belvedere, Erice

Restaurants we enjoyed were:
♦ Trattoria Don Camillo, Taormina
♦ Trattoria Archimedes, Syracuse
♦ Ristorante Monte Sa Guillano, Erice

About the author:
Jane Parlane is a freelance writer. She is author of ‘Wonderful Waiheke’ – a pictorial book about Waiheke Island, 30 minutes by ferry from Auckland, New Zealand, where she lives. She is also a published short story writer.

All photos are by Jane Parlane.

Palermo, Sicily, Italy

by Raluca Maier

Palermo is a playful mix of traffic, tiny streets full of motorcycles and cars trying to make their way through the crowds walking up and down, people of all colors, noise, parties in the street, loud music, markets where all sorts of smells mix together, sellers trying to market their products by shouting out loud, like in old times, but also many hidden treasures, like: Palazzo di Normi, Santa Caterica Church, Capuchin Catacombs, Santa Maria Assunta Cathedral, Capella Palatina, Massimo theatre and many others.

Situated in the northwest of the island of Sicily, Palermo has architectural and cultural influences from Northern Africa, Greece, but also Spain and Italy – although in Europe, makes you realize since the first moment you step on the Palermiam ground, that this is not typical Europe at all and not even Italy, the way we knew or imagined it.

It’s the kind of place where the multiculturalism becomes so obvious, that even the names of the streets are written in three different languages: Italian, Hebrew and Arabic.

The city was founded by the Phoenicians, but named by the Ancient Greeks as “Panormus”, which then became “Palermo”, with the basic meaning of a place “always fit for landing in.” This aspect becomes pretty clear once to see all the people coming from Tunis and Northern Africa, for whom Palermo represents a way to make some of their dreams come true and the Tyrrhenian Sea is their only escape to a better world.

These poor people coming from the Third World are making a living nowadays in Palermo, through selling jewelries and souvenirs or washing windows of cars in the city centre – Piazza Centrale.

One of the Tunisian men selling jewelries in this Piazza was actually a very good marketer. He told me that the jewelries were good quality, real silver, because he wouldn’t sell some material that is not good and that would affect his reputation as a seller. He told me, “You, as a client, will tell someone else and I will lose a client. But if the product is good, you will tell someone else about it, to a friend or to your family and I will get more clients.” This seemed practical advice.

What to visit / What to do?

In Palermo, you can enjoy a refined trip, full of culture while walking on the magnificent streets in the city centre and visiting the most important treasures left by the ancestors. At the same time you can have an exotic trip, full of shocking discoveries. It all depends on which side or quarter of Palermo you choose to visit.

If you want to visit the most well-known “tourist places” in the city, I would suggest you don’t miss out on Palazzo dei Normanni, one of the most beautiful Italian palaces and a notable example of Norman architecture. It also houses the famous Cappella Palatina, which you’ve probably seen in many pictures by now. Zisa and Cuba are are magnificent castles, which served as hunting places for the kings of Palermo in the past. Palermo Cathedral is the main church of the city – a blend of different, if not opposed architectural styles. The cathedral can be found on Corso Vittorio Emanuele, corner of Via Matteo Bonello.

Another place of great interest for all tourists is the Capuchin Catacombs, with many mummified corpses in varying degrees of preservation. The main attraction is a little girl, who looks as if she was really still alive.

If you want to enjoy the seaside and get tanned, Cefalu is the best place for that. Palermo is right by the sea, but there aren’t any sandy beach in the city, just the port and heavy rocks. Cefalu is a half an hour away from Palermo and you can get there by bus. It has a beautiful cathedral, tasty restaurants and one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen.

If you want to see the more exotic side of Palermo, visit Ballaro, one of the really poor quarters of the city, with huge markets. Here you can see the way sellers market there products right in the street. Ballaro is also interesting during the night. It’s full of street parties, pubs extending on the street with chairs and tables next to the cars that drive close, scaring some of the tourists. People of all colors and nationalities mix together and dance in the middle of the streets. Drinks are sold in small plastic glasses that cost around €2 to €3. A beer can be €1.50, depending on the brand, and you can find mostly any brand from all over the world. I even noticed Guinness being sold in the market place.

Basic Precautions

You might have heard of Palermo as being a dangerous place to go to, with stories of all the Mafia present around the streets. I’ve walked all alone or with just one other companion in Ballaro, one of the most dangerous quarters in Palermo and never encountered anything scary or frightening.

Most of the Palermiam people and those who came to live in Palermo, are easy-going and friendly. The only thing that I would consider as a danger in Palermo is the traffic. There are many cars, but especially many motorcycles, making their way in the middle of the crowds or in tiny streets so you have to pay special attention when you are walking. The traffic lights don’t matter that much either, so whenever you want to cross the street, you’d better follow an advice one Italian girl gave me: just make sure they notice you out there and if you’re not sure they did, just hold one hand straight, directed to the left or right, depending where the cars are coming from. This will definitely make them stop and wait for you to cross.

Palermo 2-Hour Private Guided Tour

If You Go:

Palermo is usually a nice, hot place to go to, but there are times in the year when the weather is nicest.

Autumn tends to be the wettest time of the year, but you wouldn’t expect a lot of rain though, as Palermo doesn’t experience that much rainfall compared to other parts of Europe. Temperatures usually range between 11°C / 52°F and 17°C / 63°F.

Winter is quite short – between December and February and with temperatures that don’t fall under 10°C / 50°F, which makes Palermo the perfect place for Italians living in other parts of Italy, to escape from the cold winter.

Spring in the best time of the year to visit Palermo, as temperatures range between 10°C / 50°F and 18°C / 65°F.

During May and June, it’s even warm enough to take a bath in the sea and get tanned on the beach.

Summer can be a bit too hot, but it all depends on your preferences – expect high temperatures in July and August, starting at 28°C / 82°F and getting even higher. If you want to enjoy time by the sea, it’s the perfect time.

Have a great escape in Palermo!

For visitor’s information: palermo.com

About the author:
Raluca Maier is originally from Romania, with half-Austrian origins. She enjoys traveling a lot. She studied Journalism and Communication Studies and is an editor of a women’s magazine in Romania – Belva.

All photos are by Raluca Maier.