Wrapping Sicilly up!

 My husband has been doing this for a long time - a deep naval gazing look into how the trip went.  After this particular trip it seemed like a good idea to me as well.  What did I like or dislike about this trip and how can we make it better next time.

Timing of trip and weather

We left home in mid-October and returned in mid-November on this trip.  The last week was pretty miserable with rain -sometimes very heavy - almost every day.  It also got cooler than I like.   But weather is fickle and it also depends on the location we are traveling to.  End result - I would like to leave mid to late September and return at the very latest by the end of the first week of November. 

How organized do we need to be?

In the past - before Covid-19, we would have all rentals locked down before we left home.  Because we weren't sure if the trip would have to be canceled because of Covid, we only planned the first few rentals.  Daughter Alexis and family met us there several days after we had arrived.  We chose that house based mostly on the cancelation policy.  There were a lot more nicer homes that basically said you can cancel up to 2 hours after we approve you or we get at least 50% of the rent even if you don't come.  

We waited until a week or so before our trip to book our first hotel - and didn't look closely at the terms and didn't get what we expected.  From then on we booked for the next week or so ahead of time.  This meant much time was spent looking at rentals while traveling and adding stress and more mistakes.  End result:  Planning the whole trip ahead of time is much less stressful.  But also acknowledging that this trip was during covid and pretty much had to be handled this way.  Neither of us liked doing it this way.

Can we still travel in our usual manner at our age?

Maybe not!  We usually have 2 large suitcases, 3 backpacks, and a camera bag on wheels to start with.  Then add large bottles of water, bags of groceries and extra sacks of dirty laundry and unpacking and repacking things into your car every few days can be very exhausting and physically difficult.  Add in a couple of flights of stairs in the rental and it gets crazy.  

We take about 14 changes of clothing each trip - that's a lot of stuff.  But still getting the laundry done when you are moving around is a problem.  Europe doesn't do dryers - so everything has to dry naturally.  If the weather doesn't cooperate you can be left carting around wet clothes.

What about Driving a rental car?

Michael said he enjoyed driving in Italy.  But we definitely had some scary moments.  I myself was not comfortable driving there.  While Michael is behind the wheel, he counts on me to notice things that he doesn't have time to notice.  Most of the time, especially driving in towns and cities I am doing a constant monologue:  See that person jay-walking in front of you, I think that traffic light is turning red, SLOW DOWN, don't turn there, its a one-way, etc.  The last week or so of the trip I realized that I was feeling a lot of pressure in my chest that just would not go away.  After a few days at home it all disappeared.  It's nice to know that it was caused by stress and not a medical issue.   But I would definitely like to avoid or at least lesson that feeling.  

Touring with a Guide

I think we are going to have to change how this works for us.  We did two different days in Palermo with the same guide.  Guides are expensive - so they want to give you your money's worth.  But I ended up so exhausted and physically sore, especially after the first day.  When we tour by ourselves, we go at our own pace.  We can stop when we need a rest.  We can take our time taking photos and just enjoying the area.  Guides do provide a lot of history and local information.  They can take you to great areas of a city that you would not be likely to visit and generally make the experience more enjoyable.  We may have to find a compromise somehow. 

Is it still enjoyable to travel?

A resounding YES from me.  I still love going new places and seeing new things.  But I don't need to see every Roman Bath that still exists.  We can slow down and make wise decisions to cut some things out of our usual ambitious agenda.  Here are some of the things I love about travel:

Wandering around and exploring a town

Really getting into taking images

Finding a great restaurant or gelato place

Wandering into a great experience - like the parade in Taiwan, or the train experience in Japan

What's Next?

We would like to try living in Europe for an extended time.  We explored getting a Golden Visa, perhaps in Greece, but have decided that buying a home and all the accompanying repairs and problems would be too stressful.  We lately discovered the Digital Nomad Visa.  Portugal has an exciting one and we have a trip planned in late April - May 2022 to explore options in Portugal.  Our thoughts are that we would use it as a base to explore other countries in Europe.  Travel from one European country to another would take less time and money.  We could stay less time - maybe a week and so take a smaller suitcase.  

We would also get to know a country or at least an area of it much better.  We are looking for an experience like we had in Cefalu, Sicily, living in an area within walking distance to grocery stores, restaurants and the beach.  We are hoping to find something like it in Portugal.  Here is hoping we are successful next Spring!

November 13 - A detour on the way to the airport - Aci Castello

 This is the day we head home.  The trip will take 50 hours - a ridiculous amount of time - to get to Albuquerque.  This is because Turkish Airlines canceled the flight between Catania and Istanbul on our original schedule and we had to leave Catania a day earlier leaving us with a long-long layover in Istanbul.  We decided to pay for a hotel in the Istanbul airport, even though we wouldn't get there until around 1:30am and they kicked you out at 8am the next morning.  

We left Taormina around 10 - 11am and decided to take the toll road.  But to get to the toll road we had many windy roads.  We had a lot of time to kill so decided on one last adventure - a stop at Aci Castello.

We had a bit of driving adventure getting to this spot - but we did find a good parking spot near this scene.  You can see the Norman castle off in the distance.  We didn't notice at first how many cats there were playing around these boats.  See the cat in the first boat at the bottom of the photo?

The queen of the harbor!

This fishing village is quite close to Mount Aetna and has been destroyed many times by the volcano - leaving behind mounds of volcanic basalt.

To the right of this scene were the supports for a road as shown below and steps up to the upper town area.

You cannot escape the heads anywhere in Sicily!

Scenes from the village.

There was a large plaza to the left of the castle and a walkway along the cliffs leading away from the castle.

The plaza is in back of Michael.  We had set the GPS to take us to the center of the town.  This is where it took us.  Since most of the roads in the village are about this wide - they are usually one way.  Our route took us in a zig-zag pattern through town to this spot.  We drove right up to the plaza before we realized that it was a dead end.  There was another car right behind us.  Finally that car backed up - and we did too.  Michael kept hitting the curb in his efforts to not damage the cars!  So we got out of there in fits and starts.  About a block back there was a wider area where we were able to turn around.  I though Michael was handling the whole thing very calmly, but later he declared that this was the most stressful driving experience of the trip.  

We stopped at a restaurant for lunch and enjoyed these views.

There was a misunderstanding when we ordered lunch.  I thought I was asking if the potatoes that came with my fish were French fries - it turns out the waiter thought we wanted a big plate of fries.  My fish was the best of the trip to Sicily.

November 12 - The Last Day!

 This is our last full day in Sicily.  Tomorrow we check out of our apartment and head for Catania and the airport.  Tomorrow night around 6;30pm we will fly off to Istanbul.  And from there on to Chicago and then to Albuquerque, arriving on Monday midday.

The morning arrived grey-white and then the floods started.  We were thinking we would have to drive back to Taormina to the lab because we have herd nothing from them. But them Michael had a brain storm and said lets ask our hotel manager to help us.  And he did.  He called the lab and was able to get our info and then print it out!!!!! We would not have to drive up the steep hill to Taormina, park, and then walk to the lab and try to communicate what was needed.  He did it all and printed out our negative covid results so we were all set!  

So around 1pm the skies finally lightened a little.  We decided we wanted pizza one more time.  Our hotel manager had recommended Pizza Regina to us so we decided to drive there.  Finding parking was a little iffy - but we did find some close to the restaurant.  Only to find out the small seating area was closed.  They were only doing take-out.  Michael eats an Arancini the rice ball thing while we wait.  Back at the apartment, we enjoy the pizza.  Then the skies lighten and the sun comes out!  Will it last?  Do we want to go out once again?  Michael decides to take a nap and I am trying to catch up on accounting.  

We both managed to get some photos before the sun disappeared and the clouds took over again.  And the rains started again.

This last photo shows my setup for powering up my devises.  Here is Sicily they do not use the European plugs, but there own.  So it gets a little complicated.

November 11 - Castiglione di Sicilia

 Today we are heading towards Castiglione di Sicilia which is one of the most beautiful mountain towns in Sicily, according to our guide book.  But, again it is a grey/white sky day.  And it will most likely rain.  But we want to see this - so off we go.  It is about 40 minutes away.  At first it is just gentle ups and downs and very slow drives through towns.  Then I look up and see the village - way, way above us.  So - you know what the roads will look like!  I wanted to take a video, but I have not done it with my phone before.  And before I can figure it out - we are there - and we find parking, just as it starts to rain.  We sit in the car, and Michael tells me stories of some drama that is going on in Ghana.

The rain lets up and we head up the hill.  but it is cold.  This is the first time I have gotten out my winter coat.  This high up - when you are in an open area - the winds can be nasty.  

I believe these are blood oranges.  This area is known for growing them.

Then we head up to the castle and take many village views.  We are both having a lot of fun.  It has not rained yet.

I think this is the first time I have taken a picture of laundry from above - it is different!

Small villages have many picturesque churches.  This could be Chiesa Madre, or San Pietro or Chiesa delle Benedettine - there were a lot of churches.

We were taking photos here when the bells in the bell tower on the right startled us by ringing very loudly.  It was 1pm.

So maybe that is what it was!

This village is very much built into the mountain.  The castle is at the top, but some buildings along the way seemed to be built into the rocks as well.

Then - on to the castle.  

You had to climb up these steep stairs/slope not sure what it was, but on loose rocks.  I did not feel safe.

The steps leading into the castle itself.

They had an exhibition of Medieval clothing.

Views from the castle down to the town.

I am very nervous about getting down those steps!

After we made it back down to the parking area we found a restaurant that was rated OK for the area.  It was very mediocre - but at least we were fed.  We then headed home.

I have figured out how to do videos on my phone so will try it on the way down the hill from Castiglione di Sicilia.

Here are some videos of us driving down the hill from the city.

Here is another link to a video.

We were following a big semi truck for a good ways.  I have no idea how he made that big truck turn around those tiny curves.  Later we went through a town where we had to stop behind him many times because he could not make the corners - and then another truck came towards us.

So now all the videos are working - but the narrative is not quite attached to the right vidio.  Sorry I am a newbie at this.