Any Sicily surprises?

In Trapani, Pizzeria Calvino. I stilll think about how good it was. Unique, like nothing else in Italy nor anywhere else. Deceptively casual place but to die for! Also, couscous ala pesce is fabulous in Trapani. I particularly liked it at Ai Lumi. Polpetti di Pesce are another local specialty and delightful. “Meatballs” made from swordfish or fresh anchovies. Yum!

Laurel Thank You! This is exactly what we were hoping for. We will check out your suggestions while in Trapani. Pizzeria Calvino sounds perfect for us.

When staying in Erice, I went off for a day-long driving day trip. I started by visiting the Greek ruins at Segesta (absolutely wonderful, amidst the greenery and overlooking the sea), then went to visit the ruins at Selinunte (more extensive, but less wonderful, I thought; too much of a good thing, maybe). Both very easy to locate and visit. Then my plan was to drive up the coast to spend time visiting first Marsala and then Trapani. I had visions of small towns in my mind, but found first Marsala, then Trapani, to really be very congested small cities. Without local street maps, I never was able to find a parking space in either city, and ended up never stopping in either, considering myself lucky to just get through them and return “home” to wonderful Erice on the hill. Surprises: (1) Marsala and Trapani, and other places, are larger and more congested than you might suspect, and (2) make sure you have a street map before driving into any city, whether that is a paper map or online.

Trapani - Gelateria Liparoti, best ice-cream I've eaten in my life ( and live in Italy)!!
As regards the post about parking above May isn't going to be high season so i shouldn't worry too much. In Trapani there's a large car park in Piazza Vittorio Emanuele which more or less divides the oldest part of Trapani from the newer area and we've always parked there, you "have to" give a euro to the unofficial "parkers"....
Corso Vittorio Emanuele at Tenuta Adragna you can buy wine directly from the barrel good zibbibo, cataratto
Trapani beach isn't anything special but if you drive walk or bus a couple of kilometers along the coast in the direction of Erice the beach at San giuliano is very pleasant and clean (we were there early October) for swimming or sunbathing.
Day trip to Favignana by catamaran, 45 minutes, Favignana is beautiful...............
https://slowtravelitalyspain.blogspot.com/2019/02/west-coast-sicily-day-2-favignana-east.html
When in Palermo go to Mondello if you like swimming - the beach and water are amazing, incredible so near to Palermo, but true...

On the north coast east of Cefalu is a small town called Santo Stefano di Camastra. We found it accidentally just driving along the coast on our first day or two in Sicily. Along the main street were many ceramics shops, each one a little different, but all had ceramics in colors we had never seen before. Colors we happen to love: hot orange, bright red, and blue-green. We thought "Great! This must be what Sicilian ceramics are like!" and bought as much as we could carry, including a giant platter and giant bowl and what became my husband's favorite coffee cup. We thought we'd buy more later in another town.

It turned out that the town was unique in its color choices and we have never seen such ceramics again anywhere in Sicily or the rest of Italy. This was 18 years ago, so maybe you'll see the colors in nearby towns now.

Look at Google Images for the town's name plus ceramics or "ceramiche" and see if you like this pottery, too.

Thanks for the replies. We are staying in Trapani with parking (which I'm sure will cost) so that shouldn't be a problem. Should be able to walk from our hotel, I hope, to see Trapani itself. Gelateria Liparoti sounds great! We will definitely stop there.

In Ortigia, grab lunch at Caseficio Borderi (Via Emmanuele de Benedictis) for the best, high quality sandwiches and a heck of a show!! Also attend a traditional Sicilian puppet show at the Museo dei Pupi - though only in Italian, the show and the puppets were unique. In Piazza Armerina I ate at Ristorante Pizzeria Teatro - very local, best hot antipasto I've ever eaten. Two restaurants I'd recommend in Palermo are Buatta Cucina Popolana and Cagliostro Ristorante (both on Via Vittorio Emanuele). And another vote for Pizzeria Calvino in Trapani.

Thanks everyone so far for the tips. Keep them coming!

If you also go to Noto, I recommend the cafe Picnic. They have wonderful salads and sandwiches, as well as pasta. They had nice outdoor tables. It was so nice to have tasty fresh vegetables.

Thanks Becky. We are definitely going to Noto, so we will check out Picnic.