Travelling outside the main tourism season is quite a fascinating experience. The weather is unpredictable, there are only a handful of other tourists. The downside is that hotels, restaurants and shops are not necessarily open.This gives a different perspective, but if sunshine is not an absolute must, there is no reason not to do it!
1. ERICE
The early evening flight from Genoa to Trapani was only 1 1/2 hours, so no huge stress. Trapani itself is about 100 km from Palermo. But this time we decided to skip Trapani altogether and headed up to the mountains to a small town called Erice, 750 metres above the sea level.
As soon as the taxi reached the small and narrow road leading to Erice, we were suddenly surrounded by sea of mist. It came from nowhere. The driver could barely see the road, the fog and darkness surrounding us was pretty spooky. When we finally arrived to the hotel, Il Carmine (,www.ilcarmine.com/en/ ) it was raining heavily too.
It was already 8 PM and we had to find a place to eat after dumping the bags at the hotel. Exploring a medieval stone town for the very first time in pitch darkness, rain and pratically no street lights was quite interesting. Practically no people about to ask directions. But Erice is a tiny place, so we did find a restaurant, which has to be the best in Erice: Monte San Giuliano.
Warm and welcoming, the kitchen produced a mouthwatering meal, the first taste of Sicily, so fresh and delicious that the rain, fog and darkness simply vanished.
Unfortunately the fog was still there the next morning, but it was kind of pretty too. Different, definitely. We decided to explore Erice and walked around its small and compact city centre.
Lively in the summer months, I am sure! And apparantely it is nice and cool too in August, thanks to the altitude.
This town is famous for mosaics and the entrance to a well known, - must visit - Pasticceria Maria Grammattico, was just one example of this.
Don't even think about being on a strictly calory controlled diet while in Sicily... There is a tiny connection with Genoa too - a sweet piece of pastry called "Genovese con crema"... YUM!
The main attraction in Erice is Castello di Venere, where the Temple of Venus is located. In 12th and 13th centuries Erice was the centre of a cult celebrating Venus, the goddness of love. Sacred prostitutes lived in the Temple of Venus and revealed all the secrets in elaborate rituals to their customers. There are remains of bath houses inside the temple. On this cold, winter day I had an Umberto Eco - moment. This castle was just like the one I imagined when I read "The Name of the Rose" and if you have read it, you know what I mean.
The weather did not do justice to Erice, but it is a place to which I would like to return one day.
2. PALERMO
The journey continued by road to Palermo. We had a local guide (worth having if time is short), Francesca, who drove us from Erice to Palermo. On the way there we managed to cover a wide range of topics, stretching from ancient history to current Sicilian politics and the fight against the mafia (a subject impossible to avoid). In between we stopped in Segesta, a 5th century temple, sitting on top of a hill.
This temple was built by the Elymnians and it has 36 columns. It is said that on a windy day the columns produce an organ like effect and if you listen very carefully, it could even be called music.
Palermo was not bathing in sunshine either, but the weather did not really matter as this is a city buzzing with life at any time of the year. The best way to see it all, is to walk around. The number of byzantine and baroque churches, statues and palazzos is staggering. Combine that with lively street markets selling everything from food to vintage stuff, busy traffic, unexpected taste sensations of cheap and delicious food sold in the streets.... wow. It takes some time to take it all in.
There is art and historically important sights everywhere you go.
Paintings and mosaics in the churches are well preserved.
Palermo is also a fascinating mixture of arabic-jewish-italian culture. In some parts of the city street signs are in Italian, Arabic and Hebrew.
We came across this very sad scene in the centre of Palermo, in the cathedral square. Some people were protesting against unemployement and saying that they are desperate enough to kill themselves. The fire brigade was at the scene, ready to rescue anyone who might jump from the roof.
Guess what this building is? No, it is not an ancient temple. It is the Palermo Post Office, built by fascists. It is so pompous and grand, that it took me several minutes before I recovered after collapsing with laughter.
3. BACK TO GENOA BY THE NIGHT TRAIN
After four days in Sicily, it was time to return back to Genoa. I decided to take the scenic route back as there is a direct night train from Palermo to Genoa. It would have been far too much of a hassle to fly anyway, as my suitcase was full of olive oil, pasta sauce and all kinds of little things, totally above the tiny weight allowances passengers are offered by airlines these days. Besides, I don't like flying and try to avoid it, if I can...
The train left Palermo at 12.57, on time.
I had a cabin for two ladies, booked in advance through the Trenitalia website. Even though the train had clearly seen some better days, it was not too bad. At least it was clean. It was still daylight and the train followed the coastline. Big waves and beautiful sea views.
I had luckily bought some food and water before leaving Palermo, as it turned out that there was no dining car or even a simple coffee cart on the train. I had the luxury of having the whole cabin to myself until we arrived three hours later to Messina, where my travelling companion joined me to share the cabin all the way to Genoa, She was very nice, so we rattled along fine.
At Messina, the train was loaded onto the ferry. Passengers stayed on the train during the 40 minute crossing. The whole operation was very smooth and efficient. The only problem was that passengers were not told that the toilet will be closed in Messina for the duration of the crossing. I was pretty desperate by the time we arrived to the other side an hour later. But as soon as we arrived to the port and rolled on to the station, the toilets were opened. Wish I had known about this in advance, though.
The train journey took about 19 hours. The train was fairly full, there was also a conductor for each carriage. He gave everyone orange juice, a bottle of water and a sweet pastry thing for breakfast.
In the morning he knocked on the door 15 minutes before the train arrived to Genoa Brignole. On time. The journey was pretty painless and I was happy I chose to travel by train - fine ending to a great trip!
Warm and welcoming, the kitchen produced a mouthwatering meal, the first taste of Sicily, so fresh and delicious that the rain, fog and darkness simply vanished.
Unfortunately the fog was still there the next morning, but it was kind of pretty too. Different, definitely. We decided to explore Erice and walked around its small and compact city centre.
Lively in the summer months, I am sure! And apparantely it is nice and cool too in August, thanks to the altitude.
This town is famous for mosaics and the entrance to a well known, - must visit - Pasticceria Maria Grammattico, was just one example of this.
Don't even think about being on a strictly calory controlled diet while in Sicily... There is a tiny connection with Genoa too - a sweet piece of pastry called "Genovese con crema"... YUM!
The main attraction in Erice is Castello di Venere, where the Temple of Venus is located. In 12th and 13th centuries Erice was the centre of a cult celebrating Venus, the goddness of love. Sacred prostitutes lived in the Temple of Venus and revealed all the secrets in elaborate rituals to their customers. There are remains of bath houses inside the temple. On this cold, winter day I had an Umberto Eco - moment. This castle was just like the one I imagined when I read "The Name of the Rose" and if you have read it, you know what I mean.
The weather did not do justice to Erice, but it is a place to which I would like to return one day.
2. PALERMO
The journey continued by road to Palermo. We had a local guide (worth having if time is short), Francesca, who drove us from Erice to Palermo. On the way there we managed to cover a wide range of topics, stretching from ancient history to current Sicilian politics and the fight against the mafia (a subject impossible to avoid). In between we stopped in Segesta, a 5th century temple, sitting on top of a hill.
This temple was built by the Elymnians and it has 36 columns. It is said that on a windy day the columns produce an organ like effect and if you listen very carefully, it could even be called music.
Palermo was not bathing in sunshine either, but the weather did not really matter as this is a city buzzing with life at any time of the year. The best way to see it all, is to walk around. The number of byzantine and baroque churches, statues and palazzos is staggering. Combine that with lively street markets selling everything from food to vintage stuff, busy traffic, unexpected taste sensations of cheap and delicious food sold in the streets.... wow. It takes some time to take it all in.
There is art and historically important sights everywhere you go.
Paintings and mosaics in the churches are well preserved.
We came across this very sad scene in the centre of Palermo, in the cathedral square. Some people were protesting against unemployement and saying that they are desperate enough to kill themselves. The fire brigade was at the scene, ready to rescue anyone who might jump from the roof.
Guess what this building is? No, it is not an ancient temple. It is the Palermo Post Office, built by fascists. It is so pompous and grand, that it took me several minutes before I recovered after collapsing with laughter.
3. BACK TO GENOA BY THE NIGHT TRAIN
After four days in Sicily, it was time to return back to Genoa. I decided to take the scenic route back as there is a direct night train from Palermo to Genoa. It would have been far too much of a hassle to fly anyway, as my suitcase was full of olive oil, pasta sauce and all kinds of little things, totally above the tiny weight allowances passengers are offered by airlines these days. Besides, I don't like flying and try to avoid it, if I can...
The train left Palermo at 12.57, on time.
I had a cabin for two ladies, booked in advance through the Trenitalia website. Even though the train had clearly seen some better days, it was not too bad. At least it was clean. It was still daylight and the train followed the coastline. Big waves and beautiful sea views.
At Messina, the train was loaded onto the ferry. Passengers stayed on the train during the 40 minute crossing. The whole operation was very smooth and efficient. The only problem was that passengers were not told that the toilet will be closed in Messina for the duration of the crossing. I was pretty desperate by the time we arrived to the other side an hour later. But as soon as we arrived to the port and rolled on to the station, the toilets were opened. Wish I had known about this in advance, though.
The train journey took about 19 hours. The train was fairly full, there was also a conductor for each carriage. He gave everyone orange juice, a bottle of water and a sweet pastry thing for breakfast.
In the morning he knocked on the door 15 minutes before the train arrived to Genoa Brignole. On time. The journey was pretty painless and I was happy I chose to travel by train - fine ending to a great trip!
