Reflections on Sicily, Siricusa, and Ortigia

When Doreen and I try a new recipe, one of the things we always ask ourselves is if we would serve it to guests.

When we travel to a new place, we always ask ourselves if we would recommend it to friends.

With Sicily, I think the answer is "Yes, some"

There are some things that are great fun and extremely interesting.

The Sicilian Flag

It was a easy place to stay, at least Ortigia. Easy to get around (construction and missed exits notwithstanding). Good food. Very friendly people. Good coffee.

The island of Ortigia put in mind of Venice in a couple of ways. Narrow alleys, walkability, easy to get turned around but hard to get lost. An amiable chaos that made waiting in line both frustrating and unbelievably entertaining.

But it was a Venice without tourists. There were few Americans. We saw more Brits and Germans, a few French, and a lot of Italians who were on vacation.

The history of the island is critical to understand its appeal. As I mentioned below, the book Sicily, An Island at the Crossroads of History by John Julius Norwich is a great way to understand the people here. Follow that with The Leopard by Giuseppe Di Lampedusa, a very famous novel set in Sicily (mostly) in 1860. While it is really about the transition from a feudal government to a republic, there is much, much more there. 

From the history side, it starts withe Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Carthaginians, Arabs, and goes on to the Normans, The Bourbons, and what the heck, let's throw in the Hapsburgs as well. Or the Pope. The Germans. Then the Garabaldinis, the Fascists, and more. What a history.

Cornerstone of  the apartment building where we stayed

People take their history very matter of factly. The historic parks were not overwhelmed as they are in Rome and Florence (and, of course, Venice)

Not too many people

Not many here, either.

We like going places where there are not many people. Doreen accuses me of cultivating a sense of eccentricity. (She may be right) One of the characteristics is that I like to be different. And if being different means that we see the Temple of Concord in Agrigento before we see the Acropolis in Athens, well, I suppose you can count me in.

When I write about these expeditions, they always seem to be well thought out. And they are. By Doreen. I hate planning (see that eccentricity thing) but I love to see and do things. (at least until we finally see Cairo) Doreen enjoys the planning (or at least that is what I tell myself) and is very good at it. Sometimes we overplan, but there is always tomorrow.

So here is my advice about Sicily:

If you have time, go.

Expect to be amazed by some mundane things, and to run across things that you would not have expected to find on this island. But read the books mentioned above. They will make your stay much more enjoyable. And if you can, stay where we stayed. Or at least some place similar where you can have some down time and enjoy the wine, wind, and sun.