2025 - Three Weeks in Italy
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The Hendersons 2025 - Three Weeks in Italy - Sicilia |
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2025 - Three Weeks in Italy |
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Thursday, April 10 This trip has been one of
the most challenging we've ever planned. The difficulty arose from trying to
coordinate son Tom’s trip to France with Tom and I going to Italy meeting up
turning out to be right around Holy Week
so there were some disruptions. But after a
lot of work we came up with a plan and Tom and I left Dallas on April 10th
arriving in Rome the next morning, then flew to Palermo. The flight from Dallas to Rome was fairly uneventful.
It was fully sold out but we had opted for premium economy so it was a
little more comfortable than in steerage. We had a layover at Fiumicino in
Rome and flew to Palermo on Ryanair; our first experience with Ryanair and
it was not a positive experience because the cabin crew members seemed to be
spending most of their time trying to sell us something. We had a layover at
the airport in Palermo waiting for Tom to fly from Toulouse via Frankfurt,
but eventually we all met up and the host of our VRBO picked us up at the
airport and drove us to our accommodations. We rented a two bedroom flat in an area close to
major attractions. It is well appointed and convenient and we are very glad
we hadn’t rented a car because parking is impossible.
After so much travel we were pretty tired and walked
to a nearby restaurant and had quite decent dinner pasta in various
configurations, then returned to our apartment and had an early to bed. Saturday, April 12 Son Tom and I had purchased supplies for breakfast, so we had a simple breakfast and then walked to the center of town and met in front of the Teatro Massimo, the largest opera house in Europe. The tour we had booked with Addio Pizzo begins just outside the Teatro. Addio Pizzo is a company that has put together tours and tried to put an end to a system of collecting money from shopkeepers for ‘protection’. I think we were all surprised at how violent the Mafia is and how many people they have killed, including some very famous personages. Falcone and Borsellino are the first that come to mind, but there are many others and their images are painted on a long wall called The Wall of Legality. Andrea Camilieri is also portrayed although he was not killed by the Mafia, rather his famous series “Inspector Montalbano” has many episodes where the mafioso are portrayed.
The tour also took us to the City Hall where the corruption
of the city government was described by the tour leader and the Fountain of
Shame which is a large fountain with several statues carved in Carrera
marble – it was built at great expense when the Teatro Massimo was supposed
to be closed for six months for renovation, but actually took 24 years to
complete. Seems that government inefficiency isn’t solely a problem in our
country. After the tour we had lunch at an outdoor restaurant,
our long awaited arancini, rice balls with various fillings breaded and deep
fried probably not exactly health food but yummy. Tired after a lot of
walking and standing we went back to our lodging, rested a bit then son Tom
and I went to the Antonio Pasqualino International Puppet Museum of Palermo.
Large puppets are part of the culture of Sicila, but the museum has puppets
from many other places. We bought tickets
to the puppet show not realizing that it was preceded by a long monologue in
Italian about Charlemagne, Orlando, Rinaldo and bloodthirsty Saracen
warriors. We only understood the odd word here and there. But the puppet
show was quite enjoyable with wonderful puppets battling out the evil ones.
I could understand why children would love the action and heroics.
We had dinner at a family restaurant not too far from
our apartment. We knew it was family because there was a six week old baby
who was the center of attention for the staff. We each had a pizza and it
was very good. Some observations after a short time in Palermo: The
traffic is terrible! Cars, motorini, scooters and pedestrians. The streets
and sidewalks are poorly maintained, so walking requires a lot of attention
to avoid trip hazards. There are a number of women who frequent restaurant
areas while they are carrying young children as small as just a few months
old up to about two years old. They are begging for food for the bambini.
There is a lot of litter and graffiti. On the positive side, the food is
excellent and very reasonable and for the most part people are friendly and
courteous. Sunday, April 13, Palm Sunday Breakfast and shower then
off to Palm Sunday service at Holy Cross Anglican Church.
The
church was built in 1872 and is quite artistic and beautiful. It is very
small and services are offered in Italian or English and in some cases
Italian and English sprinkled in together. It was similar to services at our
home parish although there were differences, for example the prayers of the
people were read by the priest and there were no responses to each of the
petitions. The sermon was very short because gospel reading was the entire
story of the trial and crucifixion of Jesus Christ and it is quite long and
parts were
read by four different people. The order of service is printed but is not
displayed on screens like it is at Saint Phillip’s and there is a hymnal of
sorts which only has the words of the songs but doesn't have the music
printed. The attendees seem to be a mix of Italians and British and at least
three Americans. After the service we walked to the Teatro Massimo and
had lunch in the garden on the theater grounds. Lunch was good but not
great. We took a tour of the Teatro Massimo, given in
Italian and English by the same tour guide and after the history of the
particular part of the theater was told we had a few minutes to walk around
and look at the area then move on to another part. It’s pretty apparent that
the maintenance of the theater is neglected as there are quite a few areas
where there has been wear and tear. I remarked to my son that there was a
lot of dust on the various wooden decorations and he reminded me that
dusting is my very least favorite cleaning task so maybe the cleaning staff
hates it too.
Our host left a list of recommended restaurants and
shops which we’ve found useful. We tried one that wasn’t on his list and the
food was very good. I had a pollo Milanese and some oven roasted potatoes,
Tom had veal and potatoes and our son had gnocchi with sausage and cheese in
a tomato based sauce. We all agreed the food was very good but a family of
about six adults and two children at one of the tables was very noisy, the
children screaming when they didn’t get their way. The only quiet time was
when they were playing on their tablets. Monday, April 14 Son Tom and I did a little shopping for breakfast and
quite enjoyed going from the paneficio (bakery) to the fruttavendolo
(produce stall) and the salumeria (meat and cheese shop). Whereas in the
tourist areas the shopkeepers instantly recognize us as Americans, in the
small shops the shopkeepers address us in Italian and we are generally able
to respond as long as it doesn’t require a very complicated response. We
bought supplies for breakfast today and tomorrow: cornetti, formaggio,
proscuito cotto, e fragole.
Back at the flat we took advantage of the washing
machine and got our laundry caught up. The flat doesn’t have a dryer but
does have a couple of balconies and a stendino (clothes drying rack). It
took a bit of jostling but eventually all the laundry dried so we are set to
pack up and head to Siracusa by train tomorrow. Tom was rather wiped out from all the walking we’ve done the past few days, so son Tom and I did the sightseeing. We headed toward the Palazzo dei Normanni, stopping on the way at the anti Mafia museum. The museum is small, mostly photos with placards explaining the events in the photos. That said, it is very sobering, we hadn’t realized how many people have been killed by the Mafia in the last 50 or so years. The anti-Mafia movement seems to be growing. Let us hope so.
We stopped at a street food kiosk for lunch and had a
hot sandwich of prosciutto and cheese, then went to the Palazzo. It was
over-priced and crowded and I was upset that one was expected to pay to use
the loo when we’d just paid €38 for admission. The Cappella Palatina was
quite beautiful and reminded us a lot of the beautiful cathedral at Monreale
which was constructed shortly after the chapel and in the same style.
Apparently the cathedral at Cefalu was also constructed in the same style.
We decided to skip the Royal Apartments, and made a
brief stop at the Cathedral. It was surprisingly light and rather
unornamented for an Italian cathedral.
Walked back to the flat and started packing for our
train trip to Siracusa tomorrow. Tuesday, April 15 Because we had decided not
to rent a car we opted for trains to get us around Sicily.
This
morning we made our way, courtesy of our host, to the Palermo train station.
The route was east to Messina, where we had a two hour layover and ate an
indifferent lunch, then boarded the train to Siracusa. There really wasn’t
much to see as the area we passed through was typical of rail routes, some
industries, many abandoned buildings. We had reservations at the Hotel alla Guidecca, where
Tom and I had stayed on our last trip to Sicilia in 2018 when we were joined
by our friend Deborah Anderson. The hotel is interesting for several
reasons. It is in the former Jewish quarter to where after the Spanish
Inquisition Jews immigrated. The building is old, perhaps 500 years, and the
neighborhood is walled off, with tiny streets that in the UK would be called
snickelways.
We didn’t do any sightseeing as by the time we got
settled in it was around 17:00. We spoke to the woman in reception and she
told us about the bus system in Italy. Turns out it is cheaper and faster
than trains. We explored the website for the bus system and concluded we’d
save time and money by cancelling our train from Catania to Palermo, which
we were able to do with a small cancellation fee. The very well informed receptionist gave us names of
restaurants she’d recommend in the area so we walked to one not too far from
the hotel and had a nice dinner. Wednesday, April 16 Today was our day for sightseeing. We had breakfast
at the hotel then toured the Jewish baths adjacent. The owner of the hotel
discovered the baths quite by accident in the mid 1980s when she was working
on an excavation and found an arch in the wall that appeared to be very old.
The Jews had abandoned the baths when they were expelled from Spain (which
controlled Sicilia at the time) and they were filled with dirt and rubbish.
It took several years to complete the excavations, but eventually it was
discovered that these baths are the largest Jewish ritual baths in Europe. After our tour we explored historic areas of Ortigia, the historic island connected by a bridge to Siracusa. The patron saint of Ortigia is Santa Lucia. I remember with fondness the song for this beautiful saint. I find it interesting that she is so revered here in Sicilia but also in the Nordic countries.
After looking at her church we went to the Duomo.
It is surprisingly light inside and the most interesting feature is the
ancient Doric columns which predate the church but are incorporated in the
structure. They likely don’t have any function other than beauty as they
probably are 2500 years old or older.
This is Holy Week and the school children are on break now so they are being shown around the city in large groups. At the same time, there are hundreds of tourists so there are crowds everywhere.
We had lunch at an outdoor café. It was acceptable,
not great. Tired after walking on rough cobbles for what seemed like miles, we made our way back to the hotel, then son Tom and I had our first bus experience in Siracusa. We took the smaller city bus to Siracusa proper from Ortigia, then transferred to a city bus to go to the Archeological park. There are lots of ruins, both Greek and Roman. The Greek amphitheater is shaped in half circle with graduated seating looking toward the stage. The Roman amphitheater is oval with seating around. I had much longed to see the Ear of Dionysius, and we had the pleasure of being able to walk around it. Quite amazing.
What wasn’t amazing were the modern sculptures that
were supposed to look authentic and ancient scattered all over the park.
Fake ruins. Sorry, we don’t appreciate such garbage.
While walking from the bus stop to the grounds we had
a chat with a young man from The Netherlands. He is traveling around this
part of Europe on his own. He is hard to miss as he is really tall. He told
us that people here in Sicilia stop to get a photo with him because he is so
tall. Pleasant man and a good conversation. Back to the hotel via bus. We had a bus change where
the bus goes to Ortigia. While waiting we were amused to see a woman who had
apparently rented a motorized scooter to take her around. As she rolled past
us we heard her saying, “Oh God, Oh God” and rolling along precariously. A
moment of amusement for us. We had dinner at a restaurant that specialized in
seafood, called La Mareggiata. It was wonderful. Tom had a wonderful pesce
spada (sword fish) Palermitana, that is in the style of Palermo. We’ll have
to find a recipe when we get home. Our last night in Siracusa. Ortigia is beautiful,
historic and interesting. The food is wonderful. The traffic is terrible.
That’s Sicilia for you. Thursday, April 17 Early breakfast at the hotel then off to the train
station for a trip to Catania. Again, nothing particularly interesting in
the trip, although the woman in the seat across the aisle from us had the
strangest outfit we’ve ever seen. The front, both top and bottom, were pink.
The back, both front and bottom were leopard pattern. Molto straino. We took a taxi to the hotel, a Best Western. Oh, was
the traffic ever awful. We were fortunate that our room was ready despite
early arrival. We checked in, then went to lunch, a somewhat indifferent
meal in a restaurant that was very busy. We have been reading about, and looking at
documentaries about Operation Husky, the allied invasion of Sicilia before
the more well-known D Day invasion in France. We hadn’t known that Operation
Husky was ever bigger in terms of men, material and scope than Normandy.
Having learned this we wanted to visit the museum about the war in Sicilia
and we were very impressed with the layout and displays. My moment of
surprise came when I walked into the bunker display and triggered the
audiovisual of soldiers defending the bunker. Machine guns, rapid fire. This
museum is very well done except that not all of the displays have English
translations. As it turned out the museum is located in a complex
with several other museums, some of which we would have liked to see. We’ll
be returning to Catania on Easter Sunday, so doubtful any will be open. The receptionist at our hotel recommended a
restaurant nearby where we had dinner. I Due Pistacchi or the two
pistachios. We had one of the meals we’ve had yet: son Tom and I had a pasta
with pancetta, pistachios and cream, Tom had tagliatelle with porcini and
cream. The best part, though, was conversing with the manager. He was very
pro-American and wanted to know about our lives in Texas. We’ll be going
back upon our return. Friday, April 18, Good Friday We had breakfast at the hotel, then took an Uber to
the Catania airport for a flight to Malta. What a mess at the airport. It is
a state holiday and lots of people traveling. Our flight was on Ryan Air which we really dislike.
The baggage check, security and boarding lines were long. Surprisingly, we
were only 1 minute late for our arrival. We didn’t have to go through customs since our flight
originated in the Schengen zone. We took an Uber to our digs but the agency
emailed that we couldn’t check in until 3 pm and couldn’t even leave our
luggage. They emailed us that we should check in with their portal, which
doesn’t work. Tom called the agency and it turned out that a cleaning woman
was in the apartment, so after some discussion the agency must have called
her to tell her to let us in. The apartment isn’t as advertised especially the
bedroom for son Tom which is down a very precarious flight of spiral stairs.
He shared his lodging with a ping pong table. I don’t often write reviews,
but once we are checked out I will write an honest review about this
so-called elegant apartment. Son Tom and I walked up to Valletta to the shopping
streets. Dio Mio! What crowds since it is a holiday for Good Friday and many
shops are closed. We bought breakfast supplies and walked back to the flat. Dinner involved another long walk to a pizzeria. I
think we are all a bit tired of pizza and didn’t finish what we ordered.
Uber back to the flat. Hopefully tomorrow to Gozo. Saturday, April 19 Today was frustrating and unsuccessful. After breakfast we walked to the port where the fast ferry to Gozo was supposed to depart. It was chaotic. They had two lines, one for passengers who had pre-purchased tickets, the other for those who hadn’t. No employee of the ferry company was visible and the line barely moved. After realizing we’d be unlikely to get on the ferry because we hadn’t purchased tickets, we walked along the waterfront until we found the Hop On, Hop Off bus and bought three tickets. There are two routes, we chose the one that went further outside Valletta.
The bus was behind schedule, but eventually showed
up. The driver gave us small ear buds so we could hear the narrative, but no
explanation of how to use them. We noticed on the map a Malta Aviation
Museum, so thought that would be interesting. The bus stopped for a pickup
at the Mosta Church, the stop immediately before the museum. A lot of people
boarded the bus so there was standing room only and we couldn’t see out the
windows opposite our side. We got to the museum, it is tiny, but has a few
interesting planes, especially a Spitfire that was used in Operation Husky,
the campaign to free Sicilia. There was supposed to be a café on site, but
it was a couple of vending machines, almost empty. There was a bus scheduled so we started to the pick
up point but the driver didn’t see us or ignored us as we were a few hundred
yards from the point. The bus just zipped past the pickup point. After that
we decided today wasn’t our day so we called an Uber to take us back to the
flat. The only fun part was that our ride was a gray Fiat
with a license something like DRN 264 and another Uber showed up just ahead
of ours – a gray Fiat license DRN 246. What are the odds????? We returned to the flat, had lunch then son Tom and I
walked to the shopping area to buy supplies for dinner and tomorrow
breakfast. The scene was just as chaotic today as yesterday. I’m sure
everything will be closed tomorrow as it is Easter. Tomorrow we return to Catania via the dreaded Ryan
Air. Sunday, April 20, Easter Sunday Not much to record today.
After breakfast we took an Uber to the airport in Valletta. It was clean and
reasonably efficient. There were a couple of things of note: the young
people (teens usually) were pushy and rude; we have never seen so many
morbidly obese anywhere before; the ‘high fashion’ of wearing jeans with
tears in the legs is really popular (I’m always tempted to ask the wearer if
he or she got them while dumpster diving because surely no one would pay for
such rags); we saw the strangest looking person in the airport, we couldn’t
tell if it was male or female, from the
voice I think male, but heavy makeup, a lot of large pieces of jewelry,
extra long fake fingernails and the obligatory torn pants. I was glad it
wasn’t assigned a seat near us. The flight was so short that the cabin crew didn’t
have time to try to sell us anything. We took a cab to the hotel where we
stayed last week, checked in then walked to the restaurant we’d had dinner
at on Thursday. Fortunately, despite the holiday they were open for dinner,
so we made reservations. We hadn’t had lunch so we needed something to tide
us over. We thought we were just going to get a couple of sandwiches, but
the server brought out two large plates plus olives, peanuts and chips. Then
another server brought out a huge tray of cold cuts, cheese and who knows
what else. We managed to convince them we hadn’t ordered that and they took
it back. We had enough sandwiches left over we’ll have them for breakfast
tomorrow. Monday, April 21 A new experience for us – we opted to take a bus from
Catania to Palermo. I had envisioned a depot like the Greyhound in Tacoma
many years ago. Instead it was a parking lot with different areas indicating
arrival or departure to/from different cities. No amenities at all. Since we
were early we walked around a bit and found a small bar where we bought
water for our journey and a cup of coffee for son Tom. Shortly after, the bus pulled into the designated
area, quickly loaded and we were on the road only one minute late. We took
seats in the upper level. The bus was full and poor Tom had to lean against
the window as his seat mate was all arms and elbows as he spent time with
his cell phone. I checked the news while we
were in route and learned that Pope Francis had died. Speculation is that
the funeral will be Thursday or Friday. Hmmmm. We fly to Rome on Saturday.
On the bright side, though, once we got out of
Catania the scenery was quite lovely. There were a lot of abandoned
buildings, but large fields of wildflowers. The area is hilly and the hills
appear to be solid rock. There were stretches without any sign of human
habitation. Our B and B was close enough to the bus station that
we were able to walk. It was in a very lively neighborhood with a fair
amount of traffic, unbelievable heaps of trash and a lot of graffiti. I
wonder why these people don’t care enough about their city that they ignore
the squalor. Since it was Monday and the day after Easter many
businesses were closed. We found a bar and had a snack, then returned to our
digs. Tom got an email informing him that our homeowners insurance was due
the next day. A real lesson learned. The Hartford wouldn’t let us logon to
our account, presumably because it recognized a server in Italy. Thank
heavens for our sons. We did a WhatsApp to Matt and he emailed the broker to
get help and son Tom helped set up a VPN that told The Hartford we were in
Dallas and Tom was able to make the payment.
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