After our time in Bologna, we spent 2 weeks in Sicily. We rented a car for the first week since I travel with a wheelchair for distances. We landed in Catania and were pleased with our Europcar experience. Our car was upgraded and it came ith GPS. Our first night was in Giardini Naxos. It was before the season really started; we found a great b&b on the beach. We loved the views and ocean breeze. We had a wonderful dinner at Trattoria il Porticcolo. The owner was hosting special guests which may have impacted the quality of our meal. I had the best pasta vongole I’ve ever had. We drove up to Taromina (sp) but it was way too crowded with no where to park. We happily have drove back ti Giardini Naxos for a fun appertivo.
The next day, we drove down to Siracusa. We had been before, so our main goal was to see the Carravagio painting at Chiesa di Santa Lucia alla Badia. We then wandered around the old town and seafront. We spent the night and had dinner at Arrusti and Eat Siracusa. The restaurant has seafood, but also a big meat counter. Afterwards, we had great gelato at il Mastro Gelato.
The next day, we drove to Noto. We decided to stay 2 nights near the beach at a wonderful “resort “ Terra dei Limoni with small cabins and a great breakfast. We drove into Noto several times. The baroque architecture was wonderful. Our favorite meal was at a small cafe called Picnic which had a great avacado and blood orange salad. We wanted to eat at Trattoria Fontana D’ereola, but they were fully booked. One day we droveto Modica to visit the the historic chocolate shop. Antica Dolceria Bonnajuto. Of course we sampled chocolate and had great cannolli. We also drove to Ragusa, mainly to visit the photography gallery, Guiseppe Leone Fotografo. The photographer is world famous for his photos of Sicilian life. We even got to meet Mr. Leone, which was a special treat.
After Noto, we drove inland visiting Villa Romana del Casale, which has truly amazing mosaics in an Roman villa.we spent the night in Pergusa near Enna. We drove into Enna to have a special dinner at Tommy’s Wine restaurant. We had great crepes and beef stew.
The next morning, we drove into Cefalu for our final 2 nights with a car. We were there for the St. Guiseppe(patron saint of Sicily) festival. We were able to witness the parading of the St. Guiseppe statue from the cathedral through the streets. It was a very colorful local event. Our favorite meal was at Al Gabbiano where we had amazing sea bass with a creamy pine nut, raisin and saffron sauce.
We drove into Palermo the next morning. We dropped our car off at the Europcar office at the Notarbartolo train station. The GPS and my fearless husband made to journey with no mishaps. Driving in Palermo wasn’t as bad as we feared. We checked into our Airbnb near Teatro Massimo. We then spent 6 nights in a great apartment with an elevator and washer. We were definitely ready to do laundry!
Palermo turned out to be having a cold, rainy spell which we never expected. (felt like Seattle!!) but we still had a pleasant, memorable time. Lots if walking around, even though the streets were very bumpy and horrible for wheelchairs. We especially enjoyed our visits to Cappella Palatina, Santa Maria dell Ammiraglio and the Museum of Modern Art. Our favorite meals were at Trattoria da Pino (a very local spot with no printed menu, but luckily a staff member who tells you what they’re serving) and Ma Keda (a casual cafe and bakery which has very friendly, helpful staff, great coffee and decent food). We ended up eating at both places several times.
The next day we flew off to Rome. All in all, we enjoyed our time in Sicily very much!!!