Spirited Travelers, bite-sized travel stories.

Sun and snow ~ yes, snow! ~ in Sicily

Plus great food, Sicilian wine and sunshine.

A mid-May day on Mt. Etna, 2900 meters above sea level. The strong, freezing wind had an upside: it provided good visibility by keeping the peak clear of clouds. During our week-long visit, Mt. Etna was frequently obscured by clouds.

The driving wind made my hands so cold I couldn’t use the camera. 

We woke up that mid-May morning to a sunny, warm day. There was only a whisper of a breeze. We met our tour guide at Taormina’s Porta Catania, hopped into his ever-so-comfortable Mercedes sedan and began our tour. Four hours later, we were on Mt. Etna, 2900 meters above sea level. Shivering in the freezing wind, we wondered if the people in shorts were crazy or just numb.

This was the best day of a very, very good vacation.

Italian fabulousness

The entire trip was filled with Italian fabulousness: sun, warmth, red Sicilian wine with every dinner, delicious food, beautiful surroundings and just a smattering of history. Just our idea of a great vacation. Keep reading for photos and a few details.

From Catania to Taormina, Mt. Etna overshadows everything on this part of eastern Sicily. We would travel up this side, the southern face, of the volcano.
Our tour of Mt. Etna went past lava fields from prior eruptions. This house seven-meters tall house was buried in one of those lava flows. Now, only the roof is visible.
Yellow Broom are the first plants to reappear after a lava flow. This typically takes about 25 years.
Mt. Etna’s lava flows cool and harden into basalt. The basalt is harvested in quarries (the grey stripes seen here) and used for construction sand, stone blocks, countertops and other architectural products. Mt. Etna in the background.
A separate tour group braved the cold and the fierce wind to hike around the bus drop-off point. At 2900 meters above sea level, it seemed like we could see all of Sicily.
Mt. Etna is the highest active volcano in Europe. The brown cloud is evidence of some sort of volcanic activity. Not as impressive as spurting lava, but we still found it exciting. And safer.
To get to the top of Mt. Etna (without actually climbing), you board a funicular at the 1923 m altitude. The funicular goes to the 2500 m level, where you then board a bus, like this one. The bus takes you to the 2950 m level. From there, the crater, at 3320 m above sea level, is only accessible by hiking. On our visit, the wind was far too strong and cold to hike to the crater.
After our trip to the (almost) top of Mt. Etna, we felt like we deserved a reward for enduring the cold and the thinner atmosphere of that elevation. So we skipped the next stop on our tour, a honey farm, and went straight to Gambino Winery for food and wine. Gambino winery is on the northeast side of Mt. Etna and has great views of the coast.
The first part of the tasting menu at Gambino Winery was a variety of olives, roasted eggplant, marinated sun-dried tomatoes, four different cheeses, and a bowl of couscous with caponata veggies mixed in. The second part was a small plate with two different salami. The final course was two sausages. The meal was paired with six wines ~ one white, one rosé, and four red. Sicilian red wines inspired this trip and Gambino’s wines exceeded our expectations. The wines were yummy and food-friendly, so we had a mixed case shipped home. This was the best day of a very, very good trip.

Going back to the beginning: Catania

This trip began in Catania, Sicily’s second largest city, located at the foot of Mt. Etna on the eastern coast. Our flight arrived in the evening, so we rented our car and went straight to our hotel.

After a good night’s rest, we spent the morning walking around Catania.
Catania was founded as a Greek colony sometime in the 8th c. BC. Since then, it has been ruled by the Greeks, Romans, Moors, Ostrogoths, Byzantine Empire, the Normans, House of Anjou (France), Court of Aragon (Spain), before finally becoming part of unified Italy. This amphitheater was built in the 2nd c. AD during Roman times. At the time, it was the largest amphitheater in Sicily. Today, only part of the structure is visible.
One of the things I love about Italy is that the ancient coexists with the modern. For example, mere blocks from the Roman amphitheater is an office of the Oby Whan travel company. If you book with them, then certainly The Force will be with you.

Syracuse (Ortygia)

After a quick tour of Catania’s old town and lunch (pizza) in the Duomo square, we drove south to Syracuse.

Warm, sunny weather and the sea, best enjoyed with a glass of prosecco. This is another of our favorite things about Italy.

We rented an apartment in Ortygia, the original part of Syracuse.

Ortygia is a small island barely separated from the mainland by a narrow channel. Therefore, it was easily defensible and was a natural choice to begin the city in the 8th c. BC. Today, it is known as the Old City and is filled with shops and restaurants. It was a perfect place to book an apartment.

Our apartment overlooked this charming street.
This fountain is not only beautiful, it tells Ortygia’s founding myth.

Arethusa, Alpheus and the founding of Ortygia

Our guide told us this story:

Once upon a time in ancient Greece, the nymph Arethusa (the female figure at the foot of the standing female figure) took a bath in a river. She didn’t realize that the river she chose was actually the river god Alpheus (male figure lurking behind the standing female figure). Alpheus became smitten by Arethusa and wanted her, but Arethusa wanted to remain chaste to serve the goddess Artemis (the standing female figure). Long story short, Artemis helps Arethusa become a stream, breaks the ground open so Arethusa can escape Alpheus by flowing under the sea and reappearing in Ortygia.

Our guide finished this story by saying, “The Greeks who founded Ortygia were from Corinth (near the river that was supposedly Alpheus). So this is just a magical story invented to tie this Greek colony back to mainland Greece.”

The (real) Fountain of Arethusa

There is a real Fountain of Arethusa and it’s probably what inspired the myth.

It’s a natural, freshwater spring mere yards from the sea. It’s also one of only two places in Europe where papyrus grows naturally.  

The Cathedral of Syracuse dominates the Piazza del Duomo. It’s a great place for dining, grabbing a gelato for dessert and an evening stroll.
And during the day, it’s also a great place to get married.
The Greek amphitheater in Syracuse is still in use today. This summer, three different plays are being performed over a two-month period.
Ancient Syracuse also had a Roman amphitheater. The Greek and Roman amphitheaters had different shapes because their performances had different requirements. The Greek amphitheater hosted plays and such, so a semi-circle was the best shape for spectators. Who wants to see the back of an actor’s head? The Roman version, by contrast, hosted gladiatorial matches. An enclosed shape was necessary to keep the animals from escaping and to see the action in the round.
Our tour ended with a lunch in Ortygia’s market. Fresh produce and meats were accompanied by a yummy Sicilian red wine (Nero d’Avola).
Ortygia’s fresh market is popular with locals and tourists.
The market has a great selection of fresh produce, spices, meats and fish.

A street of flowers: Infiorata in Noto

A short, 25-mile drive to the southwest took us to the town of Noto. For 40 years, Noto has held an Infiorata, a festival of flowers, where for one weekend one of the main streets is covered with floral mosaics. We were lucky that our trip coincided with that weekend.

Climbing to the top of the Chiesa di Montevergine (a local church) gave us a great view of the Infiorata. Granted, we were seeing it “upside down” since the viewer is supposed to start from the other end. Nonetheless, the size is impressive.
The infiorata seen from the “correct view,” the starting point. The Chiesa di Montevergine is at the end of the flowers.
A detail shot of the Infiorata as seen from Chiesa di Montevergine. Every part of the mosaic is made from flowers. However, the blue paths are carpets.
The floral mosaic is made entirely of flowers and flower petals.
In addition to the Infiorata, there were also artists selling their art, vendors selling food and beverages, and displays of local clubs, such as the Vespa Club of Noto.

Taormina

The last stop of our trip was hillside town of Taormina, just north of Mt. Etna.

Taormina is even older than Catania or Ortygia. The Sicels (the people who inhabited eastern Sicily during the Iron Age, roughly around 1000 BC)  lived here long before the Greeks arrived in the 8th c. BC.

We rented an apartment less than a half block from the main tourist pedestrian zone, Corso Umberto. And we even had onsite parking. Score!

Taormina’s main square, Piazza IX Aprile, offers great views up into the hills…
… and of the coastline.
Taormina’s Greek amphitheater is cut into the side of a hill and offers spectacular views of the city below and the coastline. It also hosts performances during the summer.
The lovely balconies along Corso Umberto are a welcome respite from all the tourists window shopping and eating gelato.
Speaking of tourists who window shop and eat gelato: of course we did! Some of the shops were tacky, some were nice but expensive. The two ceramic head-shaped pots behind my delicious chocolate + strawberry gelato cone refer to an old Sicilian legend, called “Testa di Moro” (or The Moor’s Head).

Legends and food from Moorish Sicily

The Moors ruled Sicily for over 250 years and their influence can still be seen.

Testa di Moro (Moor’s Head)

The legend of the Moor’s Head (Testa di Moro) is from the 11th century when the Moors ruled Sicily:

“One day, a beautiful young woman was taking care of plants and flowers on her balcony. A Moorish merchant walked by, saw her, and immediately fell in love with her. She immediately returned his feelings.

They started seeing each other and all went well until she discovered he already had a wife and children in his native land.

Angered at his betrayal, she cut off his head and decided to use it as a vase to grow basil. When people saw how her basil flourished in the head-pot, they made colorful, ceramic pots shaped like heads, hoping that their plants would flourish, too.”

Our guide in Ortygia told us this legend. When he finished he said, “That woman taught that cheating man a lesson. She was the first feminist!”

Testa di Moro pots in Ortygia. Even though only the man had his head removed, today the pots are usually sold in pairs like this.
Testa di Moro are actually used by the locals. There are several designs and many things, not just basil, are planted in them. Frequently they are accompanied by ceramic pinecones. In Italy, the pinecone is a sign of fertility and regeneration.

Arancini, food from the time of the Moors

Arancini are rice balls that are coated with bread crumbs and then deep fried. The most common type has meat in tomato sauce, rice, and some kind of cheese. There are many other varieties available.

Arancini are thought to date from the 10th c. when the Moors ruled Sicily. Rice was used by the Moors but not by the locals.

The conical shape of the Arancini supposedly references Mt. Etna. We tried a couple of different types of Arancini and thought they were OK.
A sunset like this while having pasta and a red Sicilian wine: we really enjoyed our visit to Sicily.

Lessons learned / reevaluating our travel techniques

As we travel, we try to adjust and hone our techniques so that we will be better organized for future trips.

Fewer places, more enjoyment

One lesson we are taking to heart is to not do so much. For this trip, we only visited four cities (and one volcano), instead of trying to see the entire island. By spending less time traveling between places, we can spend more time enjoying the places we visit. For this trip, that meant forgoing the western part of Sicily. That just means we’ll have to go back someday!

Rent an apartment or stay in a hotel?

On this trip, we spent one night in a hotel and the rest of the time in rented apartments. Which way is better?

We’re not sure yet which is better ~ hotel or rental apartment ~ because they both have their advantages. For now, our answer is “it depends.” A hotel is turnkey, which makes it very convenient for a short stay: the check-in process is quicker, we don’t have to buy food immediately, etc. An apartment, on the other hand, is usually in a location that provides a “truer” experience, one closer to where the locals live. An apartment also has more space, which is nice for longer stays.

We’re still undecided about this. For now, we’ll go with “it depends.”

Rental cars or public transportation?

We are coming to a firmer conclusion about whether to rent a car or use public transportation: if possible, use public transportation. Public transportation eliminates parking hassles, toll roads and trying to navigate small, byzantine Old Towns in the driving rain.

We do realize that public transportation is not always an option. For example, our trip to Reims, Champagne and Verdun would have been a lot more inconvenient if we hadn’t rented a car. So again, the answer is probably, “it depends.”

Sicily is only 60 miles from Malta. How do they compare?

We went to Malta in the spring of 2018. Since it is only 60 miles away from Sicily, we were curious how they would compare.

The short answer is that they are both fabulous!

They both have been influenced by a long line of mostly-the-same rulers and it shows. However today, Sicily’s Italian influence is clearly dominant and in Malta, the centuries of English rule are most evident.

Sicily is bigger, so more room to explore, and it has a volcano! But Malta has a distinctly Italian vibe mixed with the English and the rest. So, if you can, visit them both; you won’t be disappointed. We certainly weren’t.

Where are Catania, Ortygia and Taormina?

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  1. This post was a surprise and I really enjoyed reading it. It brought back many memories – so thank you for that. Russell and I lived and worked in Sicily during our late twenties. We had jobs at the Priolo oil refinery just up the coast from Siracusa, Thanks to the EU’s freedom of movement we were able to work anywhere in Europe with no problems at all. We lived first in Siracusa, and then in an apartment in Ortigia. As such we knew all the places mentioned in your post. As I sat at my desk writing code in temperatures of 40 degrees (no aria condizionata in the refinery’s control room at the time), I could see Mount Etna out of the window.

    • I’m glad to have brought back memories for you two. And bravo! for working in that heat, sans aria condizionata. In that heat, I would’ve been a puddle on the floor.