Sicily, Another Part of Italy by Art Netzer

July 20, 2008

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Sicily, Another Part of Italy by Art Netzer

Our friend Art Netzer from the Photo Information Booth recently took a trip to this beautiful locale, one of his favorite in the world.

Article rating: 8.20

We have traveled to many fabulous places around the globe but we have to admit that one of our favorite places is Sicily. We can’t put our finger on what made it so special to us but we fell under it’s spell when we traveled there with a small group last December. The cities, the small villages, the people, the food, the wine, the history and all it’s cultural diversity conspired to capture our hearts, our imagination and our stomachs!

Right from our arrival in Palermo, the Sicily’s capital city, we were welcomed warmly wherever we ventured either on our own or with the group. Palermo is said to be one of the most conquered cities in the world, thus the great diversity which adds to its multifaceted charm.

The twelfth century Cathedral of Palermo amazed us with it’s beauty and sites of religious history, among them the Royal Tombs of the Norman Kings and the Chapel of St. Rosalia. The Palatine Chapel and the Monreale Cathedral with their ornate, golden, Byzantine mosaic walls and ceilings were absolutely mind boggling! We were introduced to Sicilian culinary delights by a local chef where we learned about fennel and anchovies! Some combo!

That same night we had our first (of many) encounters with the local vinos! We ate, we drank, we laughed and we learned. We were off on a new adventure!

Palermo has grown into a modern city and has become a big tourist area but you don’t have to go very far to see some of still existing destruction from World War ll.

Cefalu is a medieval seaside town situated on the northern side of a rocky mountain overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea. Walking up and down the very narrow streets you could frequently see the very blue, sparkling water off the coast. On the Piazza del Duomo is the Romanesque Cathedral, Duomo de Sera which was built around 1131-1240 AD for the popular King Roger II. All around the Piazza are little shops and cafés and bakeries. The palm trees felt out of place in such an old neighborhood. The town featured many local craft shops including many jewelers selling gold and local red-orange coral.

There was a cheese shop with incredible carvings made from their many types of cheeses. From Cefalu we went to a local farmhouse restaurant set upon a rolling hill with a distant view of Mt. Etna. There we consumed a variety of the local specialties, where we drank the locally produced wines, and were entertained by costumed musicians and dancers. This is referred to as Agriturismo. As we were leaving the farmhouse there was a sudden, intense hail storm that we will never forget !

Next stop was Corleone a small town made famous by the book and movie, The Godfather. Most of the people we saw were elderly well dressed men in groups all around town, drinking espresso and smoking cigarettes. The street markets were active and the most prevalent vegetable seemed to be fennel! There is a lovely church with interesting statues and paintings. We roamed a lot of winding narrow lanes one of which brought us to the Mafia Museum. It is run by a few young people who have collected everything they could find relating to the Mafia. Books, letters, trial records, family histories etc. Their main intention is to spread the word that Corleone has cleaned up it’s act although there are still a few local relatives in prison. We were a bit nervous being in their headquarters. Luckily we survived it. The afternoon was topped off by another delicious local feast.

Next stop as we headed south across the island was Agrigento (strong accent on the GEN). We arrived in town at sunset. Most of the ancient ruins are up on a tall hill and had just been illuminated for the evening. It was a stunning sight and a fabulous way to first view this very historical town. I heard somewhere that there are more classical Greek and Roman ruins in Sicily than anywhere else on earth.

The days spent in Agrigento took us through the maze of ruins. The skies were crystal clear and reflected in the beautiful navy blue of the Mediterranean Sea. Pindar, the poet said that Agrigento (Akragas to the Greeks) was "the most beautiful city built by mortal man". We were escorted through the ‘Valley of the Temples’ where we saw five Doric Temples dating from the 5th century BC! The food and wine we had continued to be excellent. The Linguini ala Vongole (Clam Spaghetti) with it’s tiny sweet clams and fresh garlic and some radicchio sautéed in olive oil was outstanding!

Next stop on this amazing journey was the Piazza Armerina where we visited the Roman Villa del Casale that had been built by Tunisian craftsmen in the 4th century. The villa has 63 rooms, central plumbing, thermal heating and some of the most beautifully preserved colored floor mosaics in the world. The villa was buried in a mud slide in the 12th century and was uncovered in the 19th century by a local farmer digging a well! Scenes depict every day events, religion as well as mythological subjects.

Another incredible site is the ancient city of Siracusa , located on the south eastern coast of Sicily is another bustling city where there is a World Heritage archeological site. It is said the semicircular amphitheater was carved out of the local rock and was used for local plays and other forms of public entertainment. In Siracusa we were introduced to the fine and precise art of making papyrus paper! A fascinating place and once again we were regaled by a locally run restaurant where the food and wine were plentiful and delicious.

Our final destination was Taormina, a waterfront town which sits upon the rocky coast of north eastern Sicily. Because of it’s strategic location this beautiful city has made it a very desirable location to many different powerful nations and cultures over the centuries.

We were there the week before Christmas and the ancient narrow streets and all the shops and churches were decorated to the hilt. There were also preparations going on for a gigantic bonfire that would be lit on Christmas eve to warm and welcome the baby Jesus into the world. Taormina is famous as the site of the ruins of the Greco-Roman amphitheater which sits up on it’s promontory offering another fantastic view of Mt. Etna.

We stayed at a lovely hotel with a fabulous view of Mt. Etna from our balcony. A visit to Mount Etna itself was another day trip through the beautiful, lush, fertile countryside. The still active volcano frequently bellows smoke and is snow capped for most of the year at 10,000 feet. We were only allowed to go to a point to about 7,000 feet and it was cold and icy. Surrounding us were houses literally buried in lava with just their roofs protruding through the snow. We learned that once the lava cools it becomes a very sturdy building material and many of the homes we passed were constructed from this deep gray lava stone.

Castelmola is a small village about 5 miles high above Taormena. It was once used as a lookout point for Taormina and the Ionian Sea and the Italian mainland The photos show the view up to Castelmola from our hotel day and night and from a rooftop restaurant down to Tormania and the sea.

But the high point of our stay in Sicily was having lunch in a small village with a local family.

There were three generations represented during our lunch and although we couldn’t understand Italian we were treated to a very understandable feast of all locally grown delicious food and wine. Olives, oranges, huge lemons, homemade pasta with rich fresh red tomato gravy, crusty bread, home squeezed olive oil and more! Agritourism at it’s finest! It was the perfect ending for a visit to this warm and wonderful island known as Sicily!

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