Posts Tagged ‘Sicily’
After our explorations of Lipari and Salina yesterday the weather was going to keep us on the island of Salina today. I woke up early at about 6 am and stuck my head out of the boat. A beautiful sunrise was in the making so I grabbed my camera and took in the pink, orange and peach coloured hues of this glorious sunrise in Santa Marina. Dark coloured clouds were hanging on the horizon. A catamaran had just pulled out of the harbour and provided an interesting anchor point for my photos.
Shortly after it started to rain and when we got up for breakfast our skipper Francesco explained that the weather forecast today may not be good enough for us to leave the island, so we have to have a briefing in the early afternoon. Two additional guests had arrived, Franco, another Italian teacher and the co-owner of Laboratorio Linguistico, and his friend Agnieszka, a young music student from Poland who was learning Italian since she was studying music in Rome. Our trusted four-cabin sailboat, the Solitaire II, now had passengers in every cabin, and there were seven of us traveling now.
Herbert, the German television travel journalist, was on an official location scouting trip for his travel show to gather intelligence for next year’s shoot which would feature the Italian learning experience on board of a sailboat, provided by Francesco’s company, Laboratorio Linguistico. Herbert needed to check out all the interesting spots, the lighting, the locations and the facilities so he would be able to make plans for the script and the camera crew that would come down from Germany next year to film the extraordinary experience of learning Italian on a sailboat while cruising through the beautiful Eolian Islands.
So in order to get to know the island better Herbert had asked Francesco to make arrangements with some local experts to take him to different spots on the island. Herbert graciously offered to take other people along on his island exploration, and Claudia and me excitedly agreed. Sure enough, Sabina Giuffré, who we had already met last night at dinner, and her local friend Giancarlo, came to pick us up in a rented vehicle to give us a tour of the island.
We were nice and comfy in the small Italian vehicle and after just a 10 minute drive, we had arrived at our first stop: the “Gola del Diablo”, a gorge cut into the black and brown volcanic rock, featuring an ancient Roman bridge. The stone formations were indeed impressive, and the layers of ancient lava flows were clearly visible.
We also stopped in the village of Lingua where we visited a local ethnographic museum that featured various exhibits, illustrating the ancient ways of life on this local island. An ancient millstone, various farming implements, even an original bedroom from a farm were exhibited in this museum. This small museum provides great insight into the traditional lifestyle on these islands. We then walked around the corner and steps away is the main square of this tiny town. Here at the Bar “Da Alfredo” we congregated and received free samples of granitas ? the semi-frozen Sicilian dessert composed of sugar, water and different flavourings such as strawberry, melon, peach, orange, lime, coffee, almonds and many others.
Similar to sorbets, granitas usually have larger crystals, and the locals often eat them in combination with a brioche. The black sky overhanging the mountains was ominous, but a bright ray of sunshine lit up the façades of the houses around the square. A big husky dog was snoozing contentedly on the floor and I was wondering how this poor dog with his thick fur would be able to handle the hot Sicilian summers. The locals were very hospitable and humorous banter was flying back and forth.
From here we drove back through Salina, dropped off Giancarlo and stopped at Sabina’s house which she has turned into a bed and breakfast . Salina’s dad came to greet us and I couldn’t help but detect a resemblance to famous actor Kirk Douglas. He graciously picked some “nespole” (loquat fruits) for us from his fruit tree. These fruits, originally indigenous to Southeastern China and grown in warm climates around the world today, are similar in appearance to apricots and are similarly sweet and juicy.
We appreciated this little roadside snack, thanked Sabina’s dad and continued our journey towards the next town on this island: Malfa, a small fisherman’s town. Along the way we stopped to admire the malvasia vineyards as well as patches of capers which are big export products for the island of Salina.
Malfa features a big church dedicated to San Lorenzo and incidentally was the hometown of our shipmate Lorenzo’s grandparents and a place that he was going to spend some time in. Sabina took us down to the fishing harbour and then back up the hill to a lookout point called the “semaforo”, a surveillance tower erected in the early 20th century which was also used during the Second World War. Sabina mentioned that UNESCO offered to buy this tower, but the local town turned down the offer. Today it is abandoned and blocked off.
Sabina stopped the vehicle and we walked out onto a lookout point which provided a gorgeous view of the Mediterranean with a great view of the island of Filicudi ? the “reclining pregrant woman”, so called because of its shape, featuring a head and what looks like a big belly, protruding from the sea. To our left was a deeply indented valley which Sabina explained is an ancient volcanic crater, half of which has broken off and disappeared in the sea. Today it is the location for the village of Pollara which has one main tourist attraction: the house where the movie “Il Postino” was filmed.
Of course we needed to check this out so we drove down some narrow winding roads, parked the car and walked up a short stretch on a dusty road to see a rather unremarkable simple and small pink-coloured house with some vines, which is one of the most famous locations on the island. Seen from outside, there was nothing spectacular about this house, and Sabina indicated that it is available for short-term rentals.
The weather was starting to clear up and the view from the northern tip of Salina was gorgeous. The distances on this island are tiny, but due to the narrow and winding road it definitely takes a while to get around. By 1 pm we were back at our boat and had a briefing with our captain: Francesco indicated that due to the weather forecast we were not going to sail today. So we had a comfortable on board lunch and I then headed into Santa Marina to walk around and make some phone calls back to Canada. Unfortunately the Internet café was closed since it was siesta time, which often lasts from about 1 or 1:30 pm to 4 or 4:30 pm. In Sicily you definitely need to time your shopping experiences carefully to make sure the shops are open.
From 4:30 to 6:30 pm Claudia, Agnieszka and I had our first Italian language lesson, provided by Franco on the outdoor terrace of a local bar. Now here is a concept: language learning on the terrace of a bar ? I definitely like it. It made the somewhat painful exercises dealing with the complexities of the Italian “congiuntivo” (the subjunctive) much more palatable. I have studied a lot of languages with different language schools, and Laboratorio Linguistico has definitely created a very unique language learning concept here.
After our intense lesson I took another stroll around Salina and this time the Internet café was open. So far I have found fairly good public Internet access in different parts of Sicily, and it’s always great to be able to connect with home. Our boat crew spent a quiet evening on board, we fixed up a lovely home-cooked dinner with potatoes, salad, sweet carrots, cheese and various sweets for dessert. Some of my travel partners played cards while I organized my photos on the laptop which was conveniently hooked up to the electricity supply provided by the harbour commission in Santa Marina di Salina.
It was nice to have a day of rest in Santa Marina, but I am definitely looking forward to exploring a new island tomorrow: Stromboli!
Related items
Today was Italian Labour Day, a big national holiday that presented the perfect opportunity to do a little out of town excursion: a drive around Mount Etna. So together with Jill, a co-student of mine from England, we rented a little two-door Lancia to go on a country driving tour. At 50 Euros the rental was not exactly inexpensive, but we figured it would be worth it to be able to explore the countryside around Taormina.
First we had to deal with fuelling the car: our rental car was essentially empty and we were supposed to only put about as much fuel into the car as we thought we would use up so we’d be able to bring the car back empty as well. The gas stations were officially closed on this holiday, and unlike in North America, there was no option to use a credit card for payment at the pump. The pump, however, did have a little slot where you could feed in bills and one of the local drivers patiently took his time to explain the system to me.
With enough fuel to get us a couple of hundred kilometers we set off on our country excursion. At Giardini Naxos we turned inland towards our first destination: the “Gole di Alcantara”, the Gorge of the Alcantara River which is cut from black basaltic rock. The signs on the country road pointed towards the parking lot for the Alcantara Gorge, so we parked our vehicle and entered the complex. A simple 20 minute tour to see the river and the strange rock formations would cost 3 Euros, while longer tours and wading tours through the river are available also. We descended several sets of stairs to get down to the riverbed from where we got a good look at some of the interesting rock formations. Unless you wanted to walk through the river, there was no other place to go than back up through another set of stairs.
Once at the top we found out that if we had taken this entrance we would have been able to view the gorge for free. We were a couple of hundred meters away from our parked car and by the roadside there was a little stand which actually was the tourist information booth for this inland area. Two ladies supplied us with a range of brochures and information about the villages surrounding Mount Etna, and I have to admit that the service was better and more knowledgeable than the tourist office in Taormina, which happens to be a much bigger tourist centre.
We decided to explore a few of the gorgeous hilltop towns which are patched up against the rocky outcrops, providing an amazing vantage point of the surrounding countryside. Following a sign for a village called Motta Camastra we turned into a winding narrow road that was slowly taking us to the top of this crag. At the bottom of the town there was a public parking spot and we figured it was better to park our car there and walk up than to try to navigate the unimaginably narrow roads that were snaking through this little hilltop town.
Just as we had parked our car a local resident in his fifties started shouting at us in Italian from his balcony and waving at us. It took us some time to realize that he was actually inviting us up into his abode for a beer. We graciously declined, and continued our walk. Jill commented that local Sicilians had been showing a marked amount of interest in her and attributed it to her noticeably pale English complexion. After about a 10 minute walk through tiny cobble-stoned walkways we reached the main square which featured a bar with about 20 older men sitting outside. Most of them were wearing caps similar to French berets and they were engaged in a very spirited discussion. Not a woman was to be seen.
Our walk continued to the ancient church and from there we followed a walkway past narrow houses to a lookout point overlooking the entire mountain area. Sleepy cats were lounging lazily on the pavement, here and there women were watering flowers in front of their apartments. The vista towards Mount Etna, the Alcantara Valley and various mountaintop villages perched precariously against different rocky outcrops was breathtaking.
After Motta Camastra we decided to explore another one of these hilltop towns and following a beautiful drive through a countryside full of vineyards we reached a place called Rocella Valdemone about 45 minutes later. We parked the car right next to the old town church and strolled across the piazza. At the other end of this public square we saw the obligatory bar which again featured about 15 to 20 older gentlemen fully engrossed in an animated discussion. My guess was they were probably discussing soccer. We got the definite impression that tourists don’t come here very often because we certainly stuck out like a sore thumb and the locals were looking at us a bit as if we were a novelty. Again, women were conspicuously absent, with the occasional exception who was sweeping the pavement in front of the house and then disappeared inside again.
Nature was calling and we asked at the bar if we could use the bathroom. One thing about Italy is that there are very few public washrooms, but fortunately local bars are quite easy-going about their facilities being used by non-paying strangers. This particular facility was in rather abysmal shape, though, and when I came out of it I instructed Jill to make sure not to touch any of the surfaces for fear of contracting a horrible communicating disease. The facility did the job, but it certainly was everything but a shining example of hygiene and cleanliness.
Our driving tour continued with a drive into the mountain area. Tree cover got sparser and all of a sudden we were in a mountain area that must have been about 1500 to 2000 m high with a beautiful 360 degree view northwards and eastwards down to the sea and southwards and westwards towards Mount Etna. Hundreds of local Italian families had their cars parked in small side roads that were leading onto what looked like pasture lands for goats and they were having picnics. We didn’t seem to see any tourists at all, and we realized that this is what Italians do on a public holiday in Sicily: they go for a picnic in the high mountain areas surrounding Mount Etna?.
We had come prepared ? before our departure we had picked up some prosciutto, cheese, fresh buns, fruits and drinks at the local supermarket in Taormina and this was our time for our very own little picnic. Due to the chilly wind that was blowing on this high mountain plateau we actually stayed in the car to eat our lunch, but nevertheless our view out the windshield was simply gorgeous.
After a very satisfying improvised meal we drove back down from the mountains towards Mount Etna, past a large number of parked cars whose owners had gone hiking somewhere in this mountainous terrain. At an intersection a local woman was selling home-made cheeses and sausages, evidence of Italian culinary craftsmanship. We neared a town called Randazzo, with the volcano majestically draped in the background which impressed us with its Cathedral of Santa Maria, which was started in the 13th century and rebuilt several times. The bell tower dates from the 18th century, an example of the various different styles composing this imposing church.
We started our leisurely drive around Mount Etna, at times right next to the Ferrovia Circumetnea, a small-gauge railway that encircles Mount Etna for about 90 km between Catania and Riposto. Terraced vineyards spread far in front of our eyes, and the drive through little towns like Maletto, Bronte, Adrano and Paterno was enjoyably peaceful. Once we approached the coastal side east of Mount Etna things got a lot busier. We started realizing that this was indeed a public holiday and all the locals were out and about. The traffic was starting to get crazy. Continuing through Nicolosi, Trecastagni, Zafferana Etnea (where saffron used to be cultivated, introduced by the Arabs), we continued through Giarre and Fiumefreedo di Sicilia towards Gardini Naxos, located right on the Ionian Sea.
The traffic in the coastal areas was now enormous and beside the road along the shoreline stretching north of Giarre, thousands of cars were parked, belonging to people who had been enjoying a sunny day at the waterfront. We continued through Giardini Naxos at a crawling pace. This resort town south east of Taormina was founded in 735 BC by the Greeks and represents one of the oldest Greek settlements in Sicily. We drove past Isola Bella and Mazzaro and took the northern entrance into Taormina and got into a major traffic jam where we sat virtually without moving for about 45 minutes, a distance that should have taken us about 5 minutes under normal circumstances. No doubt everybody was on the road.
It was a relief to finally have reached Taormina when we drove through the tunnel underneath town to reach the rental company on the western side of town. Just like the roads had been full of people, the town of Taormina was now packed with people strolling. Thousands of people were milling up and down the main strip, Corso Umberto, and we were literally rubbing shoulders with the other walkers. We decided we would have dinner outside of the city gates on Via Pirandello, where the pedestrian traffic was not quite as crazy and grabbed a nice table on a terrace at Trattoria Da Lino’s, a little restaurant where I had already had a couple of chats with the owners who recognized me and gave me a friendly hello. From the terrace we had a great view over the northern part of town and the Ionian Sea below us. After a filling pasta dinner we received a little free treat: a tasting of Amandola liqueur (made from almonds) on the house ? a great way to cap off an exciting day to catch a rest for another day of Italian lessons?
People who looked at this item also looked at…
Related items
So my latest travel adventure has just begun: three weeks in Sicily to get to know this beautiful historic island and to learn Italian in another cultural immersion experiment. My regular readers will know that I love to learn languages and in the last couple of years I have a chance to study Spanish in Havana and in two different language schools in colonial Cuernavaca, Mexico, all wonderful experiences. In the meantime my Spanish has become pretty presentable and I thought I would expand my linguistic and travel horizon a little bit and add Italian to the menu.
My brother and sister-in-law, both of whom live in Austria, regularly travel to Italy and just simply rave about this country, and I thought that it’s been a long time since I traveled to “Il Belpaese”, so it was time to venture forth and explore this beautiful country. I had seen a bit of northern Italy, but what I really wanted to explore was Southern Italy, and over the last couple of months I had been reading travel books for a variety of travel regions south of Naples.
What I settled on was Sicily ? I love islands, and for millennia Sicily has been at the confluence of many cultures. This was sure going to be an interesting place. So yesterday, after an extremely hectic day at work my husband finally took me to the airport in the early afternoon and I got off without a hitch on my flight with Alitalia to Milan. Ever the astute traveler, I had cashed in some Airmiles to get a free return
flight to Sicily, an excellent way to keep travel costs down.
At the airport I had a nice chat with a young Italian engineer who regularly travels to Toronto to look after client projects. He was telling me about the long working hours at his company in Milan, and I realized that not everywhere in Italy does “dolce far niente” (the “sweet doing nothing”) reign supreme. Despite the laid back atmosphere that the tourists are seeking, Italy of course is a modern industrialized nation, with the same economic pressures every other Western nation faces.
After a brief touchdown in Milan and another landing in Rome I was finally on the third and last leg of my trip to Catania, the second largest city in Sicily, after the capital, Palermo. All the formalities were quick and my suitcase arrived in no time, and just outside the airport I hopped into a bus that would bring me directly to Taormina, the destination for the first eight days of my 21 day trip.
Taormina is one of Sicily’s most popular and beautiful travel destinations. Perched on a mountain called Monte Tauro high above the Mediterranean, Taormina has been a popular vacation spot for over 100 years now. Its recorded history dates back to the fourth century before Christ. Naxos, a town close to Taormina on the seafront, was founded even earlier in 735 B.C. and is the oldest Greek settlement in Sicily.
I had read so much about Taormina, and several of my friends had already been there and all agreed it was a beautiful place – a definite must-see during a visit of Sicily. Well, when I got there the weather was starting to cloud over, and I checked in at my abode for the next eight days. Hotel Villa Nettuno is a two-star hotel located on the north side of Taormina with a beautiful view of the Mediterranean. I dropped off my luggage and started to stroll into town to look for the Italian language school where I would be studying Italian next week.
After a relaxing walk up Via Pirandello, past a variety one street vendors and several restaurants, I walked through the Gate of Messina past the large open space in front of historic Palazzo Corvaja, through a number of narrow winding side streets, and dodged a variety of Vespa riders who navigated the narrow passageways between the homes. Just seven or eight minutes after I left I had reached my destination, the Babilonia Language School, and met Angela, the school’s accommodation coordinator. She showed me around and gave me a variety of useful local tips. I was also able to use the schools computers free of charge to access the Internet and found out about the excursions that the school was offering in the next few days.
The school’s location is great, on the southern edge of town, overlooking some clay tennis court with, what I was told, a beautiful view of Mount Aetna and the Mediterranean coastline. At the moment the famous volcano was completely shrouded in an increasingly dark set of clouds. The schools rooftop computer room and terrace provide a beautiful place for the students to gather. After Angela gave me a tour throughout the entire facility it was time to head out and satiate my growling stomach. I found a little corner café called “Mambar” where I had a seat and enjoyed a foccaccia sandwich with cheese. From my comfortable spot on the outdoor terrace I was watching a variety of miniature delivery vans backing in an out of the narrow alleyway, all the while admiring their driving skills.
But now the nice weather had ended and the sluices of heaven opened up. I kept sitting on the terrace because fortunately a large awning was keeping the patrons dry, but huge drops of water kept pelting the pavement. I started a conversation with a retired German lady from Hamburg who has traveled to this area numerous times. She and her husband used to go to Tuscany many times until they decided to explore Sicily. So they loaded their car onto the train and traveled this way to Northern Italy from there they embarked on a driving vacation to Sicily. Unfortunately her husband had passed away recently and due to her poor eyesight she is unable to drive any longer, so this year she flew to Sicily. This conversation illustrated to me that even advanced age and failing eyesight can’t keep a real travel enthusiast at home, and this woman in her late seventies was still nurturing her quest for adventure.
Jetlag was catching up with me, and I started my stroll back to the hotel. On the way I stopped at an ice cream stand and chatted a bit with Claude, the owner. At 1.25 Euros, his ice cream was not just delicious, but also very affordable, and Sicilian ice cream is a real treat. Claude added that he would feel guilty if he charged more than his usual price. He said he’s never going to get rich as an ice cream vendor, but he definitely loves his job and enjoys interacting with the locals and the tourists.
Well, my first day in Italy was a success, I had arrived safe and sound with all my luggage intact, found my way to Taormina, liked me hotel and hooked up with the school the will be my second home all through next week. I can’t wait to start my discoveries?
This entire article including photos is located at http://www.travelandtransitions.com/stories_photos/sicily_taormina.htm
