We are about halfway through our journey - but about 2/3 through our time in Sicily (the rest will be in Barcelona).
And we love it!
Many thanks to those who post on this board giving such helpful advice. It's been a great resource the whole way.
For those needing a recap: I am here in Sicily with my 17-year old daughter and 8- and 4-year old sons. Unlike most Americans I seem to meet here, we have no family ties to the island, but it just seemed like a different sort of place to go and we needed different this year.
I have been
blogging about the trip - but really haven't blogged the half of it. Just highlights - and just a certain type of highlight. I have been journaling - by hand in an actual journal - every night, and hope, over time, to offer more detailed, substantive reflections.
But in brief: We began in Scopello, where we stayed for three wonderful days at the Pensione Tranchina, using it as a base to go to the beach at San Vito La Capo, as well as Erice and a very brief visit to the salt pans of Trapani.
We did a morning tour of Monreale with a guide, then drove on down here to Caltanissetta, where we are at Silvia Sillitti's agriturismo, which is WONDERFUL. We leave tomorrow and head to a B & B on the southern coast. (I am circumspect about exact destinations until we're about to leave - I'm a woman traveling alone with 3 kids including a teen daughter. Not going to be blasting my itinerary ahead of time to the general public!)
In the week we have been at the agriturismo, we have really enjoyed the hospitality, the food and the general atmosphere - it is quiet and beautiful, and my children have been welcomed as part of a family - especially by the dogs.
From here, we have visited Agrigento, Piazza Armerina and the mosaics at Villa Casale, Mt. Etna, Cefalu, the castle at Mussomeli and several other quirky places. I just enjoy driving around these back roads, into random towns and seeing what's there.
Tomorrow we move south for a few days. We're sorry to leave the farm, but given our experiences so far, confident that we'll be heading to something good.
Just a word on Sicily as a destination: I have not traveled much in Europe at all, and not at all in more rural areas - in fact, my only past European travel involved Rome, twice. That's it. So I don't know how this compares to other areas of Italy. All I can say is that if Sicily suffers from a bad reputation as a travel destination, it doesn't deserve it. I only speak the very basic - barely get by - of Italian, and I have done fine. about 2/3 of those I've encountered and needed to speak with have spoken enough English, and those that didn't were quite content for us to communicate in whatever way we could - not ill treatment or rudeness directed at me on that score. I've felt safe the whole time - what I've encountered in the cities - not much, admittedly - just a bit of Palermo and Catania so far - has been chaotic, but no more daunting to me than either NYC or Chicago. The autostrada is superb, the roads in the country are winding and challenging from that score but in very good shape.
There are tourists here of course - lots of Italians, many Germans and not a few Americans and Brits.
This time of year I have found the famed tourists sites - Agrigento and Etna, for example, to be at about 1/4 of what would seem to be capacity, judging from the available parking. We've been to several places where we were the only people there - but I do tend to go off the beaten track. But even the Villa Casale this past Sunday was pretty empty. We were four of maybe 15 other people on site on a Sunday afternoon. A chunk of the mosaics were closed for restoration, which might have something to do with it, but we did see a lot and really felt that we got our money and time's worth.
But remember, I am traveling with two small children and have different standards. I don't need to see everything, and if my kids are satisfied with what they've seen, have been engaged and intrigued - that's good.
When I return I will have more to say, and will do trip reports, but I just wanted to drop in and say thanks and encourage everyone to consider Sicily as a destination!
Below:
A photo expressive of the kind of tourism we do: My son with a statue of the Sicilian writer Sciascia in Racalmuto, which became a random destination earlier this week when I discovered that Carrefour doesn't open til 2 on Mondays - I just kept driving down that road, and we ended up there...
(He's trying to figure out what Sciascia has in his hand - it's a cigarette)
