We’ve been looking forward to our holiday in Sicily for a while now. We’ve been looking to go there for ages and ages, but never found cheap flights there. Recently, though, we realized that there are dirt-cheap Ryan air flights to Trapani in western Sicilty from Cuneo, located just on the Italian side of the border, in Piedmont. So, we booked our tickets pretty much straight away, and off we were.
The drive up to Cuneo is not the shortest one (a bit more than 2 hours), but it’s certainly a scenic enough way to start a holiday – a lot of the road goes through the scenic and mountainous Roya valley, where the Train des Merveilles goes through. The flight was standard Ryanair travel – which is not too bad in the end, all things considererd (especially the price). I like the fact that they operate out of small airports – which means less queuing, less delays, less hassle. The shopping ain’t the best, but hey, that’s not really my thing anyway ;-)
We arrived in Trapani pretty late at night, and took the taxi down to the hotel – or our apartment, actually. By the time we’d settled in, it was already time to have dinner – we decided upon the cozy-looking place just next door’s to our apartment with all the Guide de Routard recommendations – a good choice, it turned out. We went for fish (this is Sicily, after all) – I tried the local speciality, cous cous (part of the heritage left behind by the Ottoman Empire especially in the western parts of the isle). Our stomachs filled up, we then headed out to take part in the Passegiata, an Italian weekend ritual consisting of walking up and down the streets, looking cool. We liked the atmosphere, although I felt a bit out of place amongst those shamefully well-dressed Italians (and this ain’t Milan, even!).
The next day, we decided to head out to nearby Erice, a famous medieval village overlooking the coastline and Trapani, dramatically seated on a cliff top. We spent a while trying to figure out how to get there (this was Sunday, so the tourist office was naturally closed), and eventually figured out we were supposed to take a bus, and then a cable car up to the village. A pretty scenic ride, it was (although the clouds spoilt the views somewhat). As we got up though, things went from bad to catastrophic weather-wise. It started raining, and when I mean raining, I mean in monsoon-like proportions…
Desperately seeking refuge, we eventually found a restaurant, where we decided to have lunch. By the time we had finished, the unrelenting rain was just subsiding. So we did get a couple of hours to visit the village, which is a very picturesque place indeed, with its cobble-town streets and old town houses. There’s even a nice old medieval castle, from where there are pretty spectacular views over the surrounding area. This being Italy, the Duomo is naturally pretty awe-inspiring as well (and there were pretty nice views from the Belfry also).
Having seen the main sights, we made our way back down to Trapani, and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening walking around Trapani. It’s a pretty nice little town, quite typically Italian. Nothing spectacular to see there, really, but the old town is quite picturesque, and thankfully the place hasn’t succumbed to tourism yet. Pretty nice views over the surrounding coastline as well, and the sunset was nice, too. We finished the evening with a nice dinner in a rather classy looking eatery on the main drag in the old town.
The next day, ‘twas time to pack our bag and carry on, towards Palermo. We decided to brave it and rent a car (Sicilian drivers are well-known for all the wrong reasons). After some rather inefficient transactions at the tourist office and then the car rental office, we got our little Fiat Panda (not my favourite car – I’d have preferred a cinque cento, but at least the Panda allowed us to blend in!) and headed out on the roads. Driving in Sicily is for sure a bit of a shock to the system (things like red lights, stop-signs and lanes don’t seem to have much meaning in Sicily), but once you get used to driving there, things work out pretty smoothly actually. People are kind of careful, since they expect cars to come from anywhere, change lane whenever, so in a way it’s all quite forgiving. The 1st rule is kind of the same as it is when you drive in Paris - never hesitate (especially when it comes to using the horn)!
We arrived at our next destination, Segesta, well on schedule. Segesta is one of the main ancient Greek archaeological sites in Sicily (one of rather many – Sicily really is absolute paradise for Greek history buffs). In its heyday, it was battling for supremacy of western Sicily with nearby Selinunte. There are two main sights at Segesta, one being the stunning Doric temple, located in an almost unbelievably scenic setting in a valley. We spent a good half-hour gaping away at the stunningly well-preserved structure.
We then made our way up a footpath, past some old fortifications, to the acropolis and the theatre (the other of the afore-mentioned main sights). Not much remains of the acropolis, but the theatre is another rather stunning testament to the Greeks’ ability to create beautiful things. It’s located on a hilltop, overlooking the surrounding valleys. Once can just imagine what it must’ve been like to attend one of the plays there (actually, once can still do so – plays are organised there during the summer).
Having had a very invigorating dose of Ancient Greece, we carried on towards Palermo, stopping over at Castellamare del Golfo for lunch (another great, rather affordable meal – this time I had swordfish, another Sicilian speciality). Our stomach’s filled, we approach Palermo with anticipation…
The drive up to Cuneo is not the shortest one (a bit more than 2 hours), but it’s certainly a scenic enough way to start a holiday – a lot of the road goes through the scenic and mountainous Roya valley, where the Train des Merveilles goes through. The flight was standard Ryanair travel – which is not too bad in the end, all things considererd (especially the price). I like the fact that they operate out of small airports – which means less queuing, less delays, less hassle. The shopping ain’t the best, but hey, that’s not really my thing anyway ;-)
We arrived in Trapani pretty late at night, and took the taxi down to the hotel – or our apartment, actually. By the time we’d settled in, it was already time to have dinner – we decided upon the cozy-looking place just next door’s to our apartment with all the Guide de Routard recommendations – a good choice, it turned out. We went for fish (this is Sicily, after all) – I tried the local speciality, cous cous (part of the heritage left behind by the Ottoman Empire especially in the western parts of the isle). Our stomachs filled up, we then headed out to take part in the Passegiata, an Italian weekend ritual consisting of walking up and down the streets, looking cool. We liked the atmosphere, although I felt a bit out of place amongst those shamefully well-dressed Italians (and this ain’t Milan, even!).
The next day, we decided to head out to nearby Erice, a famous medieval village overlooking the coastline and Trapani, dramatically seated on a cliff top. We spent a while trying to figure out how to get there (this was Sunday, so the tourist office was naturally closed), and eventually figured out we were supposed to take a bus, and then a cable car up to the village. A pretty scenic ride, it was (although the clouds spoilt the views somewhat). As we got up though, things went from bad to catastrophic weather-wise. It started raining, and when I mean raining, I mean in monsoon-like proportions… 
Desperately seeking refuge, we eventually found a restaurant, where we decided to have lunch. By the time we had finished, the unrelenting rain was just subsiding. So we did get a couple of hours to visit the village, which is a very picturesque place indeed, with its cobble-town streets and old town houses. There’s even a nice old medieval castle, from where there are pretty spectacular views over the surrounding area. This being Italy, the Duomo is naturally pretty awe-inspiring as well (and there were pretty nice views from the Belfry also). Having seen the main sights, we made our way back down to Trapani, and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening walking around Trapani. It’s a pretty nice little town, quite typically Italian. Nothing spectacular to see there, really, but the old town is quite picturesque, and thankfully the place hasn’t succumbed to tourism yet. Pretty nice views over the surrounding coastline as well, and the sunset was nice, too. We finished the evening with a nice dinner in a rather classy looking eatery on the main drag in the old town.
The next day, ‘twas time to pack our bag and carry on, towards Palermo. We decided to brave it and rent a car (Sicilian drivers are well-known for all the wrong reasons). After some rather inefficient transactions at the tourist office and then the car rental office, we got our little Fiat Panda (not my favourite car – I’d have preferred a cinque cento, but at least the Panda allowed us to blend in!) and headed out on the roads. Driving in Sicily is for sure a bit of a shock to the system (things like red lights, stop-signs and lanes don’t seem to have much meaning in Sicily), but once you get used to driving there, things work out pretty smoothly actually. People are kind of careful, since they expect cars to come from anywhere, change lane whenever, so in a way it’s all quite forgiving. The 1st rule is kind of the same as it is when you drive in Paris - never hesitate (especially when it comes to using the horn)!
We arrived at our next destination, Segesta, well on schedule. Segesta is one of the main ancient Greek archaeological sites in Sicily (one of rather many – Sicily really is absolute paradise for Greek history buffs). In its heyday, it was battling for supremacy of western Sicily with nearby Selinunte. There are two main sights at Segesta, one being the stunning Doric temple, located in an almost unbelievably scenic setting in a valley. We spent a good half-hour gaping away at the stunningly well-preserved structure. 
We then made our way up a footpath, past some old fortifications, to the acropolis and the theatre (the other of the afore-mentioned main sights). Not much remains of the acropolis, but the theatre is another rather stunning testament to the Greeks’ ability to create beautiful things. It’s located on a hilltop, overlooking the surrounding valleys. Once can just imagine what it must’ve been like to attend one of the plays there (actually, once can still do so – plays are organised there during the summer).Having had a very invigorating dose of Ancient Greece, we carried on towards Palermo, stopping over at Castellamare del Golfo for lunch (another great, rather affordable meal – this time I had swordfish, another Sicilian speciality). Our stomach’s filled, we approach Palermo with anticipation…
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