Escape to Sicily

Medusa's head in the middle of the Trinacria (triangle) is the symbol of Sicily.

An old Sicilian proverb says: Frivareddu è curtuliddu, ma nun c'è cchiù tintu d'iddu. (February may be short but it's the worst month.) * From my experience, this doesn't ring true.

Fishing boats, yachts, and sailboats are moored in Palermo's harbor on the
Tyrrhenian Sea.

This winter we look to Sicily to provide a respite from the cold soggy weather in France. Mother Nature cooperates and we see no rain for the whole month of February. We've taken an apartment in Palermo in the heart of the Mercato del Capo. In addition to having a daily market literally on our doorstep, we are just a few blocks from the main sites including Teatro Massimo, Quattro Canti, and the Cathedral, whose Norman clock tower we can see from our terrace. This incredible view, in fact, makes the trek up 76 very steep steps to our sixth-floor apartment, worth the effort.

Our apartment door in Palermo is next to a barbershop where Ken becomes a regular.

We spend a lot of time enjoying this view from our terrace in Palermo.

Each day, we wander the streets, discussing our next meal, avoiding dog poo, and dodging cars, motor scooters, bicycles, and pedestrians to whom we seem to be invisible. In the evenings we venture out for gelato and people-watching. It seems as if the entire city strolls up and down Via Maqueda: little children wearing superhero and princess costumes, teenagers glancing up from their phones to check out the shop windows, and elderly couples holding hands. 

Provocative statues adorn Palermo's Fontana Pretoria,
sometimes called "the fountain of shame."

Fontana Pretoria was designed for the garden of a Florentine villa and was
later installed in Palermo. 

Quattro Canti (Plazzo Vigliena) is located at the intersection
of two of Palermo's main streets. 

Palermo is a big city of more than 650,000, and although the hustle and bustle of a metropolis is initially exciting, by the end of our month here, I am firmly a small-town girl. Some native Sicilians tell us that the island has changed tremendously in the past 20 years, but it has yet to catch up on basics such as recycling and efficient mass transit. Nor can we find any English-language films in their original version.

We make shopping trips to at least one of the Palermo's street markets every day.

Sicily has a rich and complex history, as seen by its eclectic architecture.

We've opted not to rent a car during our visit, and it isn't hard to figure out how to get to some places — Agrigento, Monreale, Cefalù, Catania — by train or bus. Other areas, particularly towns in the center of Sicily or on the west coast, prove to be too much of a challenge, so we don't bother. For example, driving to Trapani from Palermo would have taken less than an hour and a half; the bus takes about five hours.

This statue is located in Villa Giulia in Palermo.

We spy this enormous mural on one of our aimless walks
in Palermo.

Ken is wishin' he was fishin' at Palermo's harbor.

It's just another beautiful day in Palermo.

Midway through the month we spend a week in Catania, where we stay in one of the best Airbnb apartments we've ever had. Needing a break from logistics, we treat ourselves to a small-group guided tour of Noto and Siracusa. Catania is in the shadow of Mount Etna, Europe's highest volcano and one of the world's most active. We spend a really enjoyable day on a slow train ride around the volcano. On another day, we take a bus to the beautiful hilltop town of Taormina. We're lucky and smart to be in Sicily in the off season, as we have avoided the crunching mass of tourists and the summer heat. 

The calendar and clock are accurate in the Giardino Bellini in Catania.

Mount Etna can be seen from Catania's main street, appropriately named Via Etnea.

I'll be sharing details of our Sicilian experience in the next five blog posts. Until then: Ciao!

An accordionist plays along the sea on beautiful Ortygia Island.

We stumble across what we think is a Carnivale Queen pageant in
Palermo's Piazza Verdi.

Ancient ruins such as Panormus in Piazza della Vittoria in Palermo
can be found throughout Sicily. 

Nearing the end of a long day of touring southeastern Sicily,
Ken enjoys the Ionian Sea view from Ortygia Island.

*The quote that opens this article is courtesy of: Filippo, Michael San. "Sicilian Proverbs and Sayings." ThoughtCo, Feb. 11, 2020, thoughtco.com/sicilian-proverbs-2011649.