I have dreamed about a vacation in Sicily, Italy for about 10 years. I have a long, detailed bucket list of vacations, and Sicily was always number one. When I was younger, the family was trying to piece together the family tree. My grandma told me that my Grandpa’s mother, Concetta, was from Ragusa, Sicily. I googled “Ragusa” and beautiful pictures of a village in the cliff side popped up. Right then and there I knew I would go there someday.
That someday is now, or two weeks ago at this point. I can’t believe that something I have looked forward to for so long is now over. But I have the memories, the souvenirs and all 2,500 photos!
We spent six days with a tour group and guide. Ragusa was on the itinerary, but we would only be there for a few hours. I asked my Aunt and Uncle, who were coming with us, “Could we please spend some extra time in Ragusa, separate from the tour,” to which they obliged. They said it was my dream trip, and I needed to make sure I got everything I wanted out of it.
We flew to Rome on a Thursday night. It was the longest flight I’ve ever been on. It was thrilling to hear the flight attendants and the captains speak in both English and Italian. We then had a connecting flight from Rome to Catania, Sicily. The flight to Catania was a short one. When we crossed over the coastline, I cried. And I cried some more. I was on the left side of the plane and I had a perfect view of Mt. Etna, the volcano, out of my window.
We spent Friday and Saturday in Ragusa before joining up with the tour. As I mentioned previously, the old town part of the city is in a limestone cliff. Ragusa is split into two sections, the modern section, called Ragusa Superiore, and the old section, Ragusa Ibla. We stayed in Ragusa Ibla. Our hotel, San Giorgio Palace, was literally in the cliff. Because of this, there were different levels in which to enter the hotel. Our GPS did not understand this. She must have gotten quite mad at us when she recalculated 4-5 times! We actually drove past the one entrance multiple times, but missed the small gold plaque designating the place. Ragusa Ibla is less than a mile wide, and getting lost in that half hour’s time, we saw most of Ibla. One we finally figured things out, we were ready to explore to our hearts content.
I had a list of five main things that I wanted to see while in Ragusa. We were able to see all of it within a few hours. It could have been quicker than that, but we got lost so many times! But I think getting lost is the best way to see things.
The best thing that we did in Ragusa, was not even expected until a week before we left on the trip. My Aunt Susie called her cousin, who then called another cousin, Sal, who was born in Ragusa, and immigrated to the U.S. when he was 30. Sal remembered that he grew up at 16 Via Sant’Alberto, and his mother (Josephine, Concetta’s sister) and his grandmother, were born two doors down. Wow! I had set out to find out as much information about my Great Grandma Concetta as I could, but I don’t think I could have been hopeful enough for an actual street address.
Now, Sal did not remember which direction two doors down Concetta lived in, but that was okay! I just took pictures of two doors down in each direction just to be sure! Just being on the same street was enough.
The best part was that we think there are still distant relatives living on that street. Sal’s last name is Ferro, and all the names listed on the intercom for #16 were: Ferro, Ferro and Ferro! We did not knock on the door, but an old woman next door peered out at us, probably wondering why Americans were leering nearby! A younger woman who spoke English helped translate for us, and from what we understood, the woman said she knew and remembered Sal, and she was related to the family by marriage.
In the main square of Ragusa, with the Duomo San Giorgio behind me, we took photos of me posing with a photo of my grandpa on his wedding day with his mother, Concetta. That, and me on Via Sant’ Alberto, are perhaps the most special photos I will ever get a chance to take.
We explored many churches, scenic overlooks, and shopped to our hearts content. Again, because Ragusa is on a cliff, most of the streets consisted of stairs. We visited one church, Saint Maria delle Scalle, which translated into English, is Saint Mary of the Stairs. It was on Via Scale, which means Stair Street! By the end of the day, my iPhone had calculated that I climbed 38 floors!
By the time we drove into Catania to meet up with our tour group, we all commented how we all felt so fulfilled, and we couldn’t believe there was still a whole week left of the trip.
I have never done a trip with a tour guide before, and while I enjoyed it, I can’t say that I would do it again, unless if maybe I’m in a country in the future where I would feel safer with a local guide.
Our tour guide Placido was knowledgeable, and funny too. We were in a small group of about 15, and we all got along well with everyone. It was an English speaking tour, so half of us were Americans, the other half Australians.
My one fear about being on a tour was that I would feel rushed. If you know me at all, you’d know that I want to take tons of photos of a place we’re in, as well as a GoPro video, and still have plenty of time to take it all in with my own eyes. This was never a problem. Whew. We were given plenty of free time in each place we visited.
The biggest downside to the trip (which wasn’t that bad after all) were the dinners. The booking site said a “fixed menu” for dinner. We understood that to mean maybe 3-4 choices. However, we realized that we were given a plate, and that is what we had to eat. Each meal was two courses and a dessert. Sometimes I only liked what was on one plate, but then I was full enough so that the second plate did not matter. Most meals were seafood, due to being in the Mediterranean, so we asked if there was an alternative meal we could have, which was usually pasta. Aunt Susie and I are not always okay with seafood, but we are always okay with pasta! I did have one mild, white fish called Dentice, which I really enjoyed.
Another downside to being with a tour, if you’re an introvert like Derek and I, is just being around a large group of people ALL THE TIME. Some of the best times of the trip were when we had the free time and it was just the four of us. By the time we had dinner at the end of the day, which was really late for us, I was not really in the mood to converse with anyone!
My two favorite things we did on the tour were the climb up Mt. Etna, and the day in Cefalu, (pronounced Che-fa-loo).
We were told to bundle up for the time on Mt. Enta, but we did not expect it to be that cold and windy! Most people on our tour did a quick walk up the crater and then said, “nope, I’m done” and went back inside the bar to have a cup of hot chocolate. I don’t tolerate cold well, but I was in Sicily on a volcano, damnit! I am going to stay out as long as I can, and walk around the entire crater! It felt like we were walking on the moon. We went 1,900 meters up, or about 6,200 feet. We learned that there are five different craters of Mt. Etna. Two days later, one of the craters erupted! Mt. Etna is an active volcano, and this happens quite often. I am glad it waited two days!
Cefalu is a town on the northern coast of Sicily, and where I first dipped my toes in the Mediterranean. I cried tears of joy! The water was a clear shade of turquoise – one of my favorite colors in nature. We stayed on the beach for about an hour, and aside from my time in Ragusa, this was my happiest moment of the trip. Cefalu is also where I had my best meal, a plate of gnocchi for lunch.
Other highlights and random musings from the trip:
We spent a lot of time on the coach bus traveling from city to city, however, Sicily is a beautiful country, and we did plenty of sightseeing from the bus windows.
Sicily is the land of the lemons, especially in the Mt. Etna region, due to the fertile soil. Sicily is also known for blood oranges, almonds and olives.
We saw many beautiful churches. One of my favorites was the Palatine Chapel, in Palermo, the royal chapel of the Norman kings of Sicily. It dates back to the 1100s! It was amazing to be able to walk through something so old. The inside was all gilded gold with mosaics. Another interesting church was La Martorana, where an nuns at an old covenant invented marzipan! I have always loved marzipan, and I never knew it was a Sicilian specialty!
We also did a bunch of food tastings throughout the tour. My favorites were the almond granita, which is like sorbet, and brioche, which is a sweet bread. We also had a cheese and sausage tasting in Ragusa. I ate everything on my plate, it was delicious, including a piece of donkey sausage! We also watched a small cooking demonstration, where a chef showed us how to make the different types of pasta, which we then enjoyed afterwards.
Also food related, we got the chance to walk through a few food markets, which was an experience in itself. I wish we had time to purchase some of the goods!
We saw many different Greek ruins, first at the Selinunte Archaeological Park and then the Valley of the Temples. We also visited Villa Romana del Casale, a well preserved 4th century AD villa, which was buried for many many years due to a landslide. My favorite piece of architecture was the theater in Taormina, with a view of the sea down below.
What I found to be the most interesting about Sicily’s history is that it was conquered many times by many different groups of people. It was fascinating to be in Italy, and yet see just as much Greek and Arab architecture as Roman.
I am sure I am forgetting many details. I could go on for many more paragraphs, but I’ll end it here. In short, it was a trip of a lifetime!
Texas Tales 