Arriving around 8pm at night, we boogied to some 80s tracks at a random happy-hour event we stumbled into at the hotel before getting out of Palermo the very next day. This trip certainly wasn’t about museums, sightseeing, hitting Sicily’s famous beaches, or gluttonously gorging on pizza. It also wasn’t about getting off the “beaten path” so to say with an itinerary of activities in hand.
Considering tickets were purchased and hotel reservations made barely a week before departure, we knew we had to go with the flow to avoid unnecessary stress during our 13 days in Sicily and Malta. And so, it really was about hopping into a rental Peugeot hatchback, armed with our own GPS unit (thankfully), and going where Sicily chose to take us…despite the GPS unit.
And boy, did she take us deep into her interior. Through the Madonie Mountains along harrowing cliff-side roads to the relatively remote village of Gratteri. There, we would unplug and hide out for three days; wandering empty narrow streets, hearing the occasional middle-aged lady yell in Sicilian Italian across a clothes-strewn balcony to her neighbor’s. Most of Gratteri’s 1000 inhabitants were away and so we had the farming village to ourselves…along with old men and their walking canes who gathered every evening at their watering hole – Bar La Villa – to eat gelato, drink coffee, and chat boisterously.
They never tired for gist on a daily basis as we greeted them Buongiorno. I always wondered what they chatted about. What they’ve been chatting about for decades. The same stories, I reckon, from different angles.
We did gorge on pizza topped with the freshest Gorgonzola cheese and salty prosciutto in Gratteri. Because here in our off-the-travelers-track find, a small car winds through narrow roads to home-deliver bread, the vegetable guy rolls his truck through town every couple days, the main square consists of 4 gelato kiosks that moonlight as bars and a post office, and we can’t order pizza off the menu until the pizza guy comes.
We continued along Sicily’s touristy coastline hitting Cefalù, Milazzo, Taormina, Giardina, constantly missing Gratteri the rest of the trip. Ditching our car for two days, we ferried over to the Aeolian Islands to see Stromboli occasionally spurt lava. The islands rewarded us with 7 shooting stars in a single starry night. Eyes locked, we beamed shyly, falling in love all over again. Barely three days later, after leaving Lipari, a 4.5 magnitude earthquake would injure a handful of people and cause several rock slides, bringing us back to earth once more.
Gradually making our way down to Siracusa with its heavy Greek influence stamped across sprawling countryside, we would dig into whole squid, fresh fish, and fist-sized prawns in Ortygia before going in search of more baroque in Noto and Ragusa. Deep within Siracusa’s hilly province, snaking across mountainous switchbacks as the only car for kilometers, gaping silently in reverence at 22-km long stonewalls, listening to the sounds of cow bells, is where we would find a softer side of Sicily.
Away from suntanned barely-clad crowds, distracting technology, and constant ambient noise, we remained fully aware of each other and are much closer for it.
View Photo Gallery from Sicily, Italy
Photo shot with Nikon D300. Vignetting added in Lightroom.
those photos were absolutely stunning. your photos alone make me want to see this place (sigh).
@Everyone – Thanks for your comments!
@Adrienne – Thanks! We hope all 7 wishes come true 🙂
@Renelda – Hopefully we can connect next time! I’ve been to Milan many times. Can’t remember about Venice though. My dad worked for an Italian company for 3 decades so we were always there when I was younger.
@Audrey – Absolutely. Yes, Sicily isn’t as pretty but it’s got its own rugged beauty.
Gorgeous photos! We were just recommending Sicily to some friends yesterday and they responded, “But isn’t Sicily a dump?” I almost choked on my lunch. It’s a beautiful, beautiful place. Sure, it’s not polished and spiffy like some other places in Italy, but there is so much history and character to the cities, countryside and even beach resorts.
So this is Sicily. Sweet. Too bad our path did not cross in Italy. Have you ever been to Milan and Venice?
Ohhh, Sicily sounds lovely – and delicious! I’d love to try the Gorgonzola cheese and salty prosciutto pizza. And a volcano named Stromboli. I must go there.
outstanding is the only response i can think after seeing these pics.The insight in the city and its life is refreshing.
I can just taste the gorgonzola and salt -washed skin! I never saw a place in Italy that I didn’t love and this looks like a trip that I would revel in.
Gorgeous! Excellent Photoshop work as well.
a good example of a photo made more beautiful by removing detail and focusing the eye on what matters. keep them coming.
Wonderful photos. The landscapes are stunning and the food–oh, the food–but I love the slice of life photos the best. You do such a fantastic job of capturing that.
Beautiful photos and love the writing as always. I especially like the moment with shooting stars. :))
Gorgeous photos as always Lola! It took me way way away….and made me want to hit the road again. Love the one of the two old men seated and laughing together, such an authentic scene. And I love that last line about disconnecting!