Day 12: Our Day in Palermo

Palermo, the capital of Sicily, was the only part of our trip that we went to out of necessity.  Originally we had talked about making our way back to Rome to head back to the States, but while researching our options, we realized it'd be easier and cheaper to fly out of Palermo.

 By the time we arrived in the city we were in our fourth hotel (not including the night on the ferry) and had traveled hundreds of miles.  We were ready to go home.  The trip had been amazing but we missed our pup and our couch.  Luckily there was not much we felt a need to do in Palermo so we could just relax.

After a lovely breakfast at the hotel we retrieved the car and returned it.  Driving in Palermo was a lot less stressful in the daylight but I was still glad we were finally dropping off the Panda.  I have never been so happy to see an Avis sign.  

After the car was finally taken care of, we decided to head to the local market.  A real Sicilian market was the one thing my husband really wanted to see while we were there.  It was everything we imagined.

While wandering the streets through the market, we found a little bakery where I was able to get a fresh cannolo.  It was awesome.

From there we continued our meandering and saw some of Palermo.  First we came upon the Palermo Cathedral.  We didn't feel like waiting for the next tour so we didn't see much of the inside, but it's a beautiful old building.

We kept moving through the city and I was struck by how many abandoned buildings are still damaged from the Allied bombings.

The other thing my husband really wanted to try was Sicilian street food.  He had read about a restaurant that served only street food.  We tried a little bit of everything, including several variations of their rice balls called Arancina and a spleen sandwich!

Most of the rest of the day was spent wandering through the shopping district and getting gelato.  That evening for our last real meal in Italy we went to a restaurant that we had seen on Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown.  He had done an episode on Sicily right before we left that we of course had to watch.  It was good food and a busy restaurant.  The husband ordered pasta with ink of the squid (as seen on the show) which is something for which Sicily is known.  We also had fresh seafood as an appetizer and the Sicilian Cassata which is made from ricotta.

As seen on Parts Unknown

Fresh off the boat

Real squid ink

Cake made from cheese-- yum

After we finished our last meal in Italy we headed back to our hotel to pack and head back to reality.

Day 11: Trek Across Sicily to Agrigento

Thursday morning the 21st we woke up and got ready to leave Taormina.  We were sad to leave, since this had become one of our favorite parts of the trip.  We lingered over our Sicilian breakfast on the terrace before calling a cab to take us to the rental car company.  The only part of our trip we did not plan out before arriving in Italy was getting from Taromina to Palermo.   We had several options and after talking to the concierge in Palermo, we decided to rent a car and spend the day sightseeing.  Sicily has several sites with Greek ruins with the most popular being Agrigento which was about three hours southwest of Taormina.

View from our balcony

Of course being in Europe meant that it was much cheaper to rent a manual.  Since I have regularly driven a stick most of my driving life, I became the designated driver.  We rented a little European car, the Fiat Panda.  The car was easy to drive but I was white knuckled driving down the mountain on a little two lane road from Taormina.  Once we got on the highway I was able to relax a little and start enjoying our adventure.  And it was definitely an adventure.  The little rental office in the town square of Taormina did not have a GPS and our phones weren't set up for data so we were depending on paper maps and the Sicilian signage, which we quickly discovered stunk.

Side of the highway

Sicilian countryside

 After a few hours we reached the town of Agrigento but we were struggling to find the Valley of the Temples.  We decided to stop at a gas station to fill up on gas before trying again in a new direction.  The pumps were automatic and the husband put in a 50 euro bill to fill up the car.  The Panda took about 35 euros so he went in to get change from the attendant.  The guy finally managed to get across that the pumps were separate from his store and the guy in charge of gas didn't come in until 2.  At that point it was only 11.  The husband asked if we could go back to the station after we finished at the ruins since we were due nearly $20 in change, I laughed and said there was no way we'd ever find it again.  

The quick gas break seemed to help us reorient and we finally found the Valley.  We made our way through the ruins at the bottom of the hill, which was the corner of the Temple of Castor and Pollux.  From there we reached the a road running through the temples and stopped for a quick, greasy lunch that was mostly Sicilian street food.  At this point it was getting late in the day and I was worried about reaching Palermo before dark.

Ruins of the Temple of Castor and Pollux

We made our way through the Temple of Hercules and stopped to admire the Temple of Concordia which is one of the best preserved Greek temples.  At that point it was getting late and we decided to head back to the car instead of trekking to the Temple of Hera which we were able to see out in the distance.

Temple of Hercules

Temple of Concordia

Temple of Hera

Once back in the car we were turned around several times trying to find our road to Palermo.  It was stressful for both of us trying to find the signs and determine which way we wanted to go.  And then all the sudden, the husband yells, "There it is, stop!"  Yes, we had inadvertently found the gas station.  The husband marched out and found a guy with a money apron, who I can only assume was in the mob.  I could see in my rear view mirror that he was arguing with the guy, I could tell the guy was trying to get out of paying him but the husband came back with every penny of his change.  I still don't know how we ended up back there, I would've sworn it was miles from where we were.  

We set out again and finally found a road that hugs the western coast of Sicily.  I did not get to enjoy the sunset as much as my passenger did, but he did take some pictures for me to see later.  After the sun went down we had about another hour to Palermo through the mountains.  The roads were not as well lit as I would've liked, but that may have been for the best since I'm pretty sure we were hugging the side of the mountain and there wasn't much between us and a sheer drop down.  Eventually we found our way to Palermo and we realized we would not be able to return the car before the Hertz closed.  We had paid for the car for 24 hours and decided to just head to the hotel and return in the morning.

Sicilian sunset

In Palermo things got a lot worse before they got better.  The hotel we were staying in is a small boutique hotel and we passed it several times because the sign was small and we were stressed.  The drivers in Palermo make DC drivers look nice.  There were motorbikes weaving in and out of traffics and lanes would just end.  Once I stalled at a light because a motorbike startled me so badly that I lost the clutch, which of course set of a chorus of horns and cursing behind us.  I was mentally exhausted and near tears by the time we finally parked illegally outside the hotel.  The husband went in and found the owner who offered to park the car for us, which I gratefully accepted.

We checked into our super modern hotel room at the Palco Hotel with a view of the Opera House.  The owners were lovely people who went out of their way to make us feel welcome.  By the time we got settled in, it was late and we were ready for dinner.  The hotel owners recommended a restaurant in a little pedestrian alley a few block away.  The weather was nice enough that we could sit outside with our jackets and enjoy the musicians playing in the streets and the atmosphere.  The food was authentic Sicilian and there was no English on the menu so we ended up just selecting a few items and we enjoyed all of it.  We ordered house wine of course and after a few glasses and the food the stress of the drive melted away.

Antipasta

Squid

Honeymoon Day 10: Greek Theater and Giardini Naxos

The only thing that in Taormina that was a must see for me was the teatro greco, the ancient Greek theater.  A lot of the theater is brick so they think the Romans rebuilt on Greek foundations.  Either way I wanted to see it.  After a Sicilian breakfast on the terrace at the hotel, we headed to the town center on the shuttle and walked to the theater which is just outside of town.  It didn't take long to walk through the ruins but it was definitely worth the time and admission fee.

Sicilian ruins

Greek theater

View from the theater

After exploring the theater we wandered around the downtown area of Taormina before sitting down for lunch.  Over lunch we discussed what to do with our afternoon.  We had made reservations at the hotel for dinner, hotel Villa Ducale does not have an actual restaurant but for guests they offer dinners by their chef.  We decided to take a bus down to the beach since the day weather was warm.

Meats and cheeses

Penne for lunch

The bus terminal in Taormina is a short walk from the town center.  We asked the surly attendant at the ticket office and he suggested we go to Giardini Naxos, the buses ran about every hour.   Once we got on the bus our adventure started.  The bus was a city bus what went to another town and the beach was just a stop along the way.  There were only a few of us on the bus and the stop for the beach was not as obvious as we thought it would be.  In fact we never saw anything that looked like a beach.  After about 20 minutes I was getting worried that we were on the wrong bus.  An elderly woman at the front of the bus noticed we were on it and said something to the driver.  He stopped the bus and told us to turn right and we would find the beach.  I assumed we were a block or so from the beach.  We started walking through a neighborhood that was clearly not touristy or near the beach.   At this point it was getting close to 2pm, when shops start closing.  We found a small bakery where the guys there spoke very little English, but we finally communicated to them that we needed a taxi.  After about 20 minutes a very sketchy cab driver arrived at the bakery and offered to drive us back to Taormina but we convinced him to take us to the beach as originally planned.

Needless to say after all that we were grouchy and still unsure how we were going to get back.  I was starting to think we were going to have to shell out 100 euros for a ride up the mountain.  We finally were on the main street of Giardini Naxos and able to appreciate the view of the Ioanian Sea and Taormina from below.  Since Giardini Naxos is a beach town and it was November, there was not a lot open.  We stopped in dirty little beach front pub to get use the bathroom, get a beer and formulate our plan in that order.  The expat who owned the bar told us there were buses to Taromina that stopped along the main street but she didn't offer much more help then that.  We decided to walk along the beach for awhile before finding our way home.

View from the beach

The beach was surprisingly dirty

We waited awhile at a bus stop and miraculously a bus stopped that was headed where we needed to go.  This entire adventure was less then two hours but it was the most stressful part for me of the whole trip (other then the train ride on the Circumvensia.

Once we made it back up to Taormina unscathed I realized we were leaving in the morning and hadn't seen the main square of Piazza IX Aprile.  We did yet more shopping and bought some Christmas gifts before catching a cab to head back to the hotel.

View from the Piazza

Piazza IX Aprile

 We arrived back at the hotel in time for the hotel happy hour.  Every evening the hotel provides free appetizers to go with drinks.  We enjoyed our appetizers and drinks on the terrace before feasting on a homemade Sicilian dinner of seafood with fresh cannoli for dessert.  It was the perfect end to our two days in Taormina.