American Girl in Sicily
July 17, 2008 11:26 AM Subscribe
Touring Sicily this summer. Please help. :-)
At the beginning of September I will be spending a few days in Taormina and Palermo (with stops in Piazza Armerina and Agrigento) and then a full day in Monreale. I'd also like to stop in Cerda.
Does anybody have any recommendations or tips? Especially regarding food and accommodations but site-seeing tips are also appreciated. I've never been to Sicily and have pretty much no idea what I'm doing.
Thanks all!
At the beginning of September I will be spending a few days in Taormina and Palermo (with stops in Piazza Armerina and Agrigento) and then a full day in Monreale. I'd also like to stop in Cerda.
Does anybody have any recommendations or tips? Especially regarding food and accommodations but site-seeing tips are also appreciated. I've never been to Sicily and have pretty much no idea what I'm doing.
Thanks all!
Best answer: Ooh, you should go see the temple at Segesta in the morning and then go to the Baglio Pocoroba for lunch. It's a fixed price, several course meal of some of the best food you'll ever eat. Giuseppe, the owner, went out into the fields between courses to pick fresh peaches for our dessert when we were there. The lamb was out of this world. We went two years ago when they had just opened and we still talk about the meal and the location regularly. Giuseppe and his father are delightful, and his sulky brother/cousin (he didn't want to wait tables the day we were there) was just amusing.
As far as Palermo goes, it's worth spending the money to stay someplace convenient and nice. It's a beautiful city, one I am completely in love with, but it's a challenging place to get around and you'll probably appreciate having a retreat at the end of the day.
posted by katemonster at 12:08 PM on July 17, 2008
As far as Palermo goes, it's worth spending the money to stay someplace convenient and nice. It's a beautiful city, one I am completely in love with, but it's a challenging place to get around and you'll probably appreciate having a retreat at the end of the day.
posted by katemonster at 12:08 PM on July 17, 2008
If you can get to the interior, do. It is one of the most amazing landscapes I have ever seen. We spent some time in Enna, and toured a nearby Roman villa in a nearly perfect state of preservation. (I'm sorry this was 3 decades ago, can't remember the name of the villa, except it was near Enna.)
posted by nax at 2:17 PM on July 17, 2008
posted by nax at 2:17 PM on July 17, 2008
Because of its size, geography and culture, Sicily is one of those places that you can really truly comfortably go without a plan. Land in Palermo (eh, it's ok), rent a car, stay one night and check out the city, but in the morning get up and go. Follow the map, groove with a guidebook that matches your sensibilities, don't worry about hotel reservations (we went for 3 weeks, had no rezzies, and never had a problem finding a delightful place to sleep) hang in one place for longer than expected, skip the touristy things, ask the locals where they're going (Italians love to play in August). Hit the moutains (Gangivecchio, Erice) hit the sea, just follow the road. Buona fortuna!
posted by thinkpiece at 6:05 PM on July 17, 2008
posted by thinkpiece at 6:05 PM on July 17, 2008
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posted by unknowncommand at 11:45 AM on July 17, 2008