Closing out the Sicily Loop: Last Stop Palermo

Because the Palermo airport is located some distance away from the city center, we did something unusual to start our Sicily trip. Rather than land in Palermo and start our trip there, we decided to pick up the rental car and leave to explore the island. This allowed us to avoid a trip back to the airport to get a car or starting our road trip by picking up a car in the city. (We try to avoid driving in larger cities in Europe when possible ever since we nearly left a rental car on the sidewalk in Madrid in 2007 when we couldn’t find the car rental return location.) It turned out to be a good plan. By the time we got to Palermo, we were very comfortable with Sicily and the “big” city didn’t seem overwhelming.

The Palermo airport has a nifty surprise – when you walk down the stairs from (or to) the plane you are greeted by terrific rock formations:

In Palermo, we stayed at a fabulous B&B right in the center of the city with a terrific rooftop terrace where we ate breakfast each morning. Palermo has taken a step many European cities are trying – it pedestrianized its two main cross streets, which makes the city easy to navigate.

Palermo is filled with churches, and we explored a few. The Church of Santa Caterina’s interior was overdone as one expects of a Baroque church, but its three-dimensional marble inlay decorations were intriguing. It was easy to recognize the story of Jonah and the whale, as well as Abraham’s near sacrifice of his son Isaac.

We took a city bus out to the Monreale Cathedral to see one of the most ornate churches you’ll find anywhere. The interior of the entire cathedral is covered in golden mosaics. Built by William II, Sicily’s last Norman king, between 1174 and 1189, the cathedral is a mix of Byzantine, Norman and Arab elements in a Romanesque building. The exterior bronze doors were made by Bonanno Pisano, the architect of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Inside are more than 68,000 square feet of mosaics, with Christ at the center looking down on everything. For perspective, in this mosaic, his right hand is over six feet tall.

The view down to Palermo from Monreale is spectacular.

Since Sicily was ruled by Spain at the time of the 1492 expulsion of the Jews, there are few remnants from the Jewish history of the island. In Siracusa, there is an ancient Jewish ritual bath that sits 18 meters below the city streets. In Palermo we discovered an old street sign written in Italian, Hebrew, and Arabic (which was apparently the norm prior to the end of the 15th century):

Palermo was an excellent way to finish out the trip. It has good food, interesting sites, and the best gelato (Dolce Capo). Sicily was a fabulous destination. Although we feel we were able to cover nearly all of it, we would definitely consider going back again.

This will be our last post of the year. Wishing you all health and joy as we put 2021 behind us. We hope that 2022 brings an end to the pandemic and new opportunities for adventure.

Ciao,

Shana & Jeff

Taormina and Etna

After leaving Catania, we checked in to a resort hotel on the coast north of the city. This became our base for four days that included some of the wine tastings described earlier, but also a hike on Mount Etna, a visit to the city of Taormina, and a long walk along the beautiful Mediterranean coast near our hotel. 

We dealt with a lot of clouds and rain during this part of our trip, which made driving difficult (especially while driving on Mount Etna itself), and also essentially eliminated our views of the mountain. It was almost like Etna didn't exist because we couldn't see it, but we did get a flavor for it nonetheless,

Our long walk along the coast near our hotel brought us to an old Norman fortress built on a rock that juts out into the water.

Farther along, there was a great location for Shana to show how rough the Mediterranean can get in the winter.

Finally, toward the end of our walk we came upon a group of really interesting natural rock formations (they look set up, but are not):

And, just beyond those rocks, a really cute little village, that appeared to be a resort town that caters more to Italians than international visitors (of course, it was mostly deserted in November):

All-in-all a very pretty part of the country that clearly is busy during the summer tourist season.

To the north of where we were staying is the city of Taormina -- clinging high on a seaside cliff, which required navigating an extremely twisty road to reach the giant parking garage on the edge of town. Although not very busy when we visited in November, Taormina is a huge resort town, which also sees many visiting cruise tours.

Taormina is a really pretty place, with great views of the ocean and beautiful narrow alleys befitting a city that is built on the side of a hill. But, unfortunately, because we were there on a very cloudy day, we missed one of the best parts of the city: the view of the very-nearby Mount Etna:

The town's main square is particulary pretty:

Taormina seems like a place where you could spend enjoyable days just sitting and drinking wine and contemplating the views. Oh, well, maybe next trip.

Finally, we really wanted to visit the volcanic part of Mount Etna, which is the most active volcano in Europe. However, since the clouds did not want to go away during our days in the area, we weren't sure it even made sense to go. But, we did get a day of slightly better weather and decided to drive up to the mountain's "base camp", which is at 6,300 feet above sea level. There, we were able to see a couple of the inactive craters in that area. As you can see, you can walk right up to them:

Unfortunately, the clouds (and, frankly, the cold) prevented us from considering a trip up to higher altitudes of Etna, but we were glad to get an opportunity to see the volcanic landscape up close.

After four days on the northeast part of the island, we drove to Palermo, Sicily's capital, which will be the subject of our next -- and final -- post about Sicily.

Hasta luego,

Jeff and Shana

Siracusa & Catania

As we navigated our circuit around Sicily, we continued to be impressed by the region's history and archeology. Siracusa (aka Syracuse) was probably our favorite place, and more specifically the little island of Ortigia – the ancient center of the city. Ortigia oozes charm and romance. We stayed in the old postal building (now converted to a hotel) with views of the sea.

The cathedral was particularly interesting as its façade is Baroque, while the interior includes the original Doric (Greek) temple columns, Byzantine arches, and Norman and Spanish details. This potpourri reflects the many civilizations that have passed through Ortigia.

The Piazza Archimede’s fountain is a delight in the evening.

While in Siracusa, we visited the Neapolis Archeological Park, which was overpriced and overrated, but the ruins of the Greek and Roman theater were interesting. The Greek theater dates from the fifth century BC, when Siracusa was the dominant military and economic power in the Greek world. Its population rivaled Athens in size. The theater had an original seating capacity of 15,000.

In contrast, the Roman amphitheater dates from the first century AD and hosted gladiator style events as opposed to the more theatrical experiences the Greeks preferred. 

Note that these two ancient theaters, from two different cultures and centuries are only a few hundred yards apart. Sicily truly has an amazing cultural history.

We saw yet another Roman theater in Catania. This one hides right in the middle of the city. From the street, you’d never know it was there because it’s been incorporated into the more modern surrounding buildings. This venue would have held up to 7,000 people.

Note the dark stones. Catania sits at the foot of Mount Etna, thus lava stone is incorporated into much of its architecture. The buildings that surround the main square are built with black lava stone and trimmed in white limestone for a unique look.

Catania has a lively fish market and is filled with churches. The highlight for us was the best lunch of the trip at Da Antonio Trattoria, where the staff was super friendly, and the pasta was divine.

Ciao,

Shana & Jeff 

Sicily’s Southeastern Baroque Towns

 

We enjoyed driving in the southeastern region of Sicily a lot. The smaller towns were connected by winding roads with beautiful scenery. This region experienced a catastrophic earthquake in 1693 that leveled everything. The cities in the area were rebuilt in the Baroque style that was popular at the time. We find Baroque to be a bit much, but when surrounded by a stunning landscape, it works.

We stayed in Ragusa, a city with an upper and lower town that overlooks a gorge and includes lots of stairs between levels. Our hotel was built into a hill. The San Giorgio Cathedral is beautiful, especially when lit up at night. We even found a street seemingly named after Jeff’s Dad – in fact, Don Minzoni was a priest killed by fascists in 1923.

From Ragusa we did a driving tour to three nearby towns. Modica sits in a river valley and is credited with making some of the best old-style chocolate. (Sicily was under Spanish rule when explorers returned with many new foods including cocoa beans.) Of course, we stopped into the oldest producer in town where we met a biking tour group from North America enjoying some well-earned chocolate. Having driven the roads, we were impressed with their determination. Modica also had a Cathedral of San Giorgio, designed by the same architect who did the one in Ragusa.

From Ragusa we went to Scicli, a smaller town with plenty of churches. Next was Donnalucata, a small fishing village where we enjoyed a fabulous seafood lunch. We even ate a traditional dish made with “baby fish,” which look like eels. Afterwards we took in the coastline.

We stopped in Noto on the way to Syracuse. Noto is the most Baroque town of all. It was rebuilt with a master plan, the first in Italy. The city is striking.

Some say Noto has the best gelato in Sicily. We tried two different places, and although both were very good, we found the best gelato in Palermo.

More Sicily posts to come,

Shana & Jeff

Villa Romana Del Casale

Villa Romana Del Casale is considered one of the finest remnants of the Roman Empire. It was specifically built in the middle of nowhere (then and now) around 300 C.E. during the fall of the Empire. At that time, the Roman elites, recognizing that the empire was falling, were building their palaces away from the center of the impending chaos. This villa was built with 37,000 square feet of mosaics -- essentially every floor in the place was covered. And, since the site is really in the middle of nowhere, and the area was sealed off by an earthquake in the 1300's, the villa avoided the fate of being looted and many of the mosaics remain.

There really is no way to adequately describe this location. It is really large and contains a lot of good explanations of the themes of the mosaics and guesses at the uses of the various rooms (based in part on the idea that rooms for servants only had simple, geometrical mosaics, while rooms for the owner/guests contain more elaborate mosaics). So, here are just a few pictures. Remember, that these photos are of mosaics, which themselves are formed from a large number of really small square tiles. Think about the time it took to design and create these!

The villa has an interior courtyard with a repeating pattern of animal mosaics all the way around:

In a giant hall, there is a 200-foot-long mosaic showing a hunt for wild animals, which has led experts to hypothesize that the owner of the villa was an importer of exotic animals:

Other mosaics include those picturing humans, including a room-size mosaic of female athletes competing in a variety of sports:

Others show mythical figures and events (here we seem to have cupids fishing, for whatever reason).

This is really a site that is much better in person than in pictures, and even though it is a bit out of the way, we definitely recommend a visit if you are in Sicily.

Hasta pronto,

Jeff and Shana

Valley of the Temples

The most amazing ancient sight to visit in Sicily is the Valley of the Temples near Agrigento on the Southern coast. What makes these ruins exceptional is the number of structures that are close together, showing the size of the civilization present in the fifth century BC. There were 15 Doric-style temples built here during an 80-year period. Each temple was dedicated to a different Greek god. What remains of these temples is impressive.

The Temple of Juno was built in 460 BC and was still intact in 1500. It crumbled due to earthquakes and was rebuilt in 1787:

We were fortunate to visit the temples while the archaeological park is celebrating its 100^th anniversary and to commemorate it there was a fascinating art display titled “Quantum Man: There is No Future Without Memory.” The contemporary pieces are inspired by quantum theory and sit alongside ancient Greek architecture to provide a thought-provoking juxtaposition. This one sits alongside the ancient city walls:

The Temple of Concordia was built in 435 BC and is one of the best preserved in the world because it was transformed into a Christian church. In 1788 it was converted back to its original state:

(That's me with a statue of Icarus, presumably after he fell out of the sky.)

The rest of the temples are in ruins but still a pleasure to see. The Temple of Olympian Zeus, which was the largest in the ancient world, is hardly recognizable as a temple now. One of its defining features was its decorative telamon figures that held up the roof. At the sight is a copy (lying down in the photo below), and at the Pietro Griffo Archaeological Museum is an original, along with a model of how it appeared in the huge temple structure:

The museum, which has the most difficult to find parking lot ever, had an amazing collection of Grecian urns along with other artifacts. But the best part was the view back to the temples:

We spent the night at a lovely hotel in the area that also had a view towards the temples:

Too bad it got too cool for a dip in the pool.

If you do get to Sicily, don’t skip the Valley of the Temples!

Ciao,

Shana & Jeff