By Karen Quinn-Panzer
Travel Matters
Karen Quinn-Panzer
We were excited to land in Palermo to start our Sicilian private land tour. Leaving the airport, our entry was initiated by passing Capaci, the monument dedicated to Judge Giovanni Falcone, who dared to investigate the mafia in the early 90s. The hillside was punctuated by the hand-painted sign, “No Mafia.” Our tour guide assured us that times have changed.
Visiting the Norman Royal Palace and Palatine Chapel with thousands of gold mosaics was a great place to start in Palermo. I was impressed with this beautiful island state where the Arab, Greek and Roman cultures weave a colorful tapestry of influence. Sicily has its own parliament, but with high unemployment, it also relies on the Italian government for benefits.
In nearby Monreale, we were fortunate to experience a beautiful Sicilian wedding at the cathedral there. Magical.
The next day, we went to the medieval hillside town of Erice with its winding stone streets, beautiful castle and vistas – on one side, the Tyrranian Sea, the other looking out to Africa only 150 meters across the Mediterranean. The ride up to Erice was not for the faint of heart.
We then drove to Menfi, stopping at the Trapani salt flats and learned how the sea salt is processed by techniques perfected over the last 100 years. In Menfi, we had a fabulous wine tasting dinner at Cantina Barbera. This vineyard has won a number of impressive awards and now exports 50 percent of its wine to America, including Connecticut. Its Lu Cori Nero D’Avola is top notch.
Visiting the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento was a special experience, especially the Temple of Concordia, one of the best-preserved examples of Greek architecture in the world. On the way to our next destination, Taormina, we visited Villa del Casale, the Sicilian version of Pompeii, with 3,500 square meters of floor mosaics.
Waking up to a gorgeous sunrise from our hotel on the Mediterranean, we proceeded to Mount Etna, the only continuously active volcano in the world. We stopped at a town in the path of the lava flow, Zeferana, which has been rebuilt 54 times. A cable car and jeep takes you within 500 meters of the top, where you can see blue smoke and hear the gases escaping.
We then went to charming Taormina with its Greek theatre where Andrea Bocelli performed last week.
Siracusa, founded by the Greeks in the eighth century, is arguably the most important city in Sicily. We visited the “Ear of Dionysius,” the Greek theatre, and dined and shopped on the Ortigia peninsula, stopping to see the Caravaggio at the Church of Saint Lucia.
The last day of our trip was delightful as we went to the quaint hillside villages of Savoca and Forza D’Agro, where part of The Godfather films were shot – Bar Vitelli and the wedding church. The crowning glory was the view from Castelmola, 500 meters high, and a wine tasting of the local almond wine, Vino Alla Mandorla. Bellissima!
Karen Quinn-Panzer is the owner and vacation specialist at Dream Vacations Quinn Panzer Travel.
Thank you so much for talking about my beloved Sicily in detail and through an only post. As a Sicilian, I had to found my blog Sicily On Web to do that! You wrote a comprehensive content about the main points of interest in Sicily. Also, thanks from the bottom of my heart for talking about Judge Giovanni Facone who investigated the Mafia. Of course, there are pretty monuments and villages in my island, but the mention of Sicily’s history has been very kind by your end!