Day 155- Sicilia

It has been days since we've been back from Sicily and Carlos and I still can't stop talking about the food we ate. After all, where else would you get better seafood than on an island?

We were up and ready last Monday, excited for the trip...and after the minor blip of having to throw out all our shampoo and sunscreen at the airport (completely forgot about that rule), and only about 40 minutes in the sky, we arrived on the sunny southern island of Italy: home of perfectly juicy oranges, unbelievably fresh fish, white Grillo wine, Marsala, and of course-the Mafia.

Off the plane, we caught the train from the airport to Palermo, soaking in the views from our cabin.  Already there was something intriguing about the island, and we couldn't help imagining scenes of The Godfather  coming to life outside our window. From the station, we walked a few blocks to our hostel, where we barely made it to our room up the steep marble stairs, dropped off our things, and were off for our first Sicilian meal. Since it was a little late in the afternoon for an Italian lunch (normally between 1-2:30), a lot of places seemed closed for the afternoon...but we finally saw a little restaurant with a few tables still set up, basically right in the middle of a busy sidewalk. The old man running the place, also our waiter (old people here are my favorite),offered us the last of what was in stock, and I quickly decided on the swordfish. Simply garnished with cilantro, lemon and olive oil, and perfectly cooked, our lunch seemed to be a good first taste of Sicilian cuisine, and start to our stay.

After lunch, the bustling Monday streets quickly became overwhelming without a map, so our first task was to find one. Once we came to a tourist point, and after a particularly helpful man gave us a map of Palermo, we began our tour of the city. At first the streets in town almost seem a little ugly, pretty hard around the edges...a little run down, not one building matching the next. But after a while, after cooling down with a lemon granita (with actual lemon in it) and going inside the Cathedral, catching the end of a double twin wedding (a little weird) and standing in front of Teatro Massimo; looking at the details and watching the loud Sicilian people, it grows on you and the story behind it all shines through. The mixed architecture from the different rulers over Sicily are definitely clear...in one building you can see the Arabic or Norwegian influence, then around a corner and you could easily be in Paris. We were definitely non-stop that day and by the late afternoon we were definitely feeling it. When we reached the port, we barely had the energy to look for somewhere to eat, but when we saw a few places with signs for fresh fish right in front of the coast in the distance, we had to try one out. So we picked one, and we picked right. We both went for pasta dishes, mine the classic Spaghetti con Vongole (spaghetti with white clamsauce), and Carlos a more adventurous Fettuccine with shrimp and pistachio sauce. They were both amazing. During dinner we also discovered the very refreshing and crisp Grillo wine, and never stopped ordering it from then on.

The next day our plan was to go to Mondello, the nearby beach, so we got our stuff together, including our "we are tourists" white towels from the hostel, and caught the bus our trusty guide had told us to take. Once we were there, the strong sun reminded us our sunscreen was in the airport garbage, so we were forced to buy a professional 20 euro sunscreen in the only place selling the stuff. But at least we didn't get burnt. The beach was a small little strip, with a diverse crowd, the best of which were the tanned, Speedo-wearing 40-50-year old men, that seemed to all belong to the same gym a long time ago. From the waist down it was all toned muscle and then suddenly, robust bellies, which seemed to hold all the beer and pizza from the last 10 years. It was very amusing to watch them chatting while watching their kids or grandchildren, but almost impossible to understand anything they were saying in the strong Sicilian accent, so beyond my Italian skills.

After a while we were hungry so we had lunch, more great seafood...and then indulged in typical desserts, a Sicilian connolo, and what can best be described as a literal ice cream sandwich. But I don't mean the ice cream sandwich with chocolate cookie on the outside and vanilla ice cream, I mean an ice cream sandwich. Ice cream inside bread. You would think it's a little too much, but even the chic and lean Italian woman were lining up, leaving with the dripping three-scoop sandwiches in hand. So Carlos had to go for it.

We went back to the beach for some more sun and time in the warm sea, listening to the food vendors- "Ciambelle!" "Cocco...Cocco Bello!" While swimming I tried so hard to memorize what everything looked like standing in that water...

The next day, before leaving Palermo we decided to see the last few things on the map, a great market along a few small little streets in town, one of the most representative churches of the city-San Cataldo, and got distracted by the one and only H&M. I was very impressed by our speed shopping because by 1 we were headed back to get our things and went to the train station to go to Trapani.

Ballaro Market

"Don't forget Palermo"

A few hours later, the train pulled up into the station and we got off to what looked like a ghost town. There were barely any people and everything seemed closed...I wasn't sure if it was just because it was lunch time (Everything closes from 2-4 except for places to get food), but it seemed like no one was even out eating. But, niente da fare, nothing we could do...we found our hostel (after walking past it a few times we finally noticed a tiny business card stuck next to the doorbell) and after more stairs, arrived at a little apartment at the top of the building, with a few rooms, a kitchen and a bathroom...and air conditioning. The lady waiting for us explained the deal with breakfast, which we could get at the cafe on the corner of the street, and we left to look around. We got a map, and quickly found that what we thought might be disappointing, was a beautiful port city.  We stopped at the things marked on the tourist map...a park, some fountains, many "palaces" scattered along the little streets...and had dinner on the main street, Vittorio Emanuele. Our waiter, who spoke 6 different languages, recommended I order homemade busiate pasta with grouper eggs, which I did, with no regrets. And more Grillo wine. So so so good.

Thursday, we decided to go to Erice and the nearby Egadi Islands. To get to Erice you can either go by bus or take the funivia, or cableway, up the mountain. We chose the latter, so we took the bus to the cableway and arrived in aerial Erice in about 20 minutes. No matter how small, the town is definitely worth a visit...the narrow streets, weaving up and down, with flowers popping out of corners, and the cliff-side castles are very romantic. It's made me try to imagine what it was like living there years ago, when you could probably only get there by donkey or something. Like an unreachable fort floating in the clouds...

After a while, since we wanted to catch the hydrofoil to the first island, Levanzo, we left and headed back to the porto. It turned out the half hour boat trip brought us to a little paradise we were definitely not expecting. We got of the boat and looked around what was almost a mini Santorini. Blue and white houses, perfectly turquoise water...a little jewel plopped in the middle of the Mediterranean sea. We quickly found somewhere to have lunch (at the only place open on the island at 3), and headed to the little cove where we saw people swimming. For a while we had the whole "beach" to ourselves. Really, what can I say?

Later, we gathered our stuff and went to the port to catch the boat to another island as planned...buttt we got stuck behind a guy that had some issue with his ticket and got in a fight with the girl at the counter. By the time they stopped fighting, the hydrofoil was leaving, he quickly hopped on and left us on the island, with no ticket. So, we bought one for the next boat, and went to find another beach. Past a corner, there was a path to another little cove, even smaller than the last, where what seemed to be only locals lay tanning into the late afternoon.I'm looking for the right adjectives to describe what it was like being there, but it seems impossible to avoid being cliche...so here's a picture.

I guess that's the difference between resorts and a small beach tucked away on an island. Resorts seem so ordinary. But we were in this tiny little unknown part of a tiny Island in Italy. I wonder what would have happened if I just stayed on Levanzo forever. I wonder if anyone would find me.

Even though it was later in the afternoon, the sun was still strong, so I just lay in the water for a while.  For a minute I put my head underwater, and with all the sound blocked out except for the sea...it was actually like thinking about nothing....which if you've ever tried is quite difficult.

Until of course I looked up and saw a hydrofoil coming in the distance. We hadn't look at our watches for a while...but I was sure that couldn't be our boat, the last boat, back to Trapani. But of course it was. So that meant we had at most 8 minutes to catch it. I still can't believe we made it. Still in the water, we realized it was in fact our boat, jumped out, wrapped towels around us, grabbed our things and sprinted back to the port. We were the last ones and as we barely got on, the guy checking our ticket looked at us strangely and told us we would have to put clothes on once we were on-board. "Si si, certo!" Of course! Haha...It was crazy.

We both slept on the way back to Trapani, then showered and headed out for our last dinner in Sicily. The next morning, we wanted to fit in San Vito de lo Capo, a beach an hour away that we heard was one of the best beaches in Italy. We couldn't pass it up. So we caught the 8:30 bus, spent a few hours in the sand (great beach, but crowded), and went back to Trapani for our things before going to Palermo Airport.

More than a lot of places Sicily has been one where it still surprises me that I was actually there. The existence of Sicily has always seemed so distant...whenever I've seen or heard of it, I always tried imagining it and thought I'd maybe go in the future, but never so soon.  It was beautiful.  It's definitely worthy of much more time than I spent there...for wine tours, and visiting ancient ruins, and exploring the little towns further in, like Corleone where the roots of the Mafia are from... But go. You can't go wrong with the seafood, for that, Trapani is not to be overlooked. It's romantic, and you might be able to actually escape the heat of summer a little.

Not like here in Rome. Not like this suffocating, completely abnormal city heat. Since we got back we have been non-stop, all around Rome...I have been revisiting some of my favorites and have finally done the "big ones"- I went into the colosseum which surpassed my expectations after everyone said it wasn't worth going in (of course it's worth going in)....I toured the Roman Forum, went to the vatican museums, saw the Sisteen Chapel, had a picnic in Villa Borghese. I know it would be impossible to see everything, but my list has finally gotten shorter, and the amount of wonderful things I've seen seems like a pretty respectable number. And I'll be back to do the rest some time.

Today Amalfi. We stop in Naples to get the train to Sorrento, and then to Positano, Amalfi. My last trip in Italy...