Friday, September 20, 2013

Sicilia


I have many favorite cities and places, but without a doubt, Sicily is my number one.  The island holds a lot of personal history for me, including being the setting for my first love, and it was there that I discovered my real passion for travel.  Sicily is a magical place, it's so different from anywhere else with it's mix of European Baroque and ancient Arab style.  Palermo is like a Fairytale for me, a beautiful crumbling jewel in the Italian crown.  The old palaces with their damaged facades, the palm trees, the markets, it all makes me feel like I've gone to a different, lost world.  The other vibe that Palermo gives me is that of being at the end of the line, the very end of Europe.  You can actually feel that there, it gives you the clear sense of being at at the South Pole of the continent, with the whole new adventure of Africa looming ahead.  I adore Palermo and I'm so thankful that I can now consider it home along with New York.  People can have their own opinions on what makes someone "from" a place, but for me Sicily gave me my first series of big adventures in my life, and though I was not there from childhood (I was 16 when I was there), I still consider myself to have grown up there, because I did.  Almost everything changed for me in Palermo, I went through a lot of big life events during my time there and for me that's what "growing up" is, having experiences etc, and I feel like that was definitely the point in my life where I drew a dividing line of before and after.  Everything now is after Sicily for me.  With all that being said, and after having lived there (with the boyfriend at the time), this is my Sicily guide.  

I lived in Santa Flavia which is a suburb of Palermo, and also spent a lot of time in Torre Artale which is pretty much a suburb of Santa Flavia.  It was about a 20 minute drive into the actual city, and 10/15 minutes from Bagheria.  I still miss that house, it had amazing views of the sea since it was up on a mountain and had an amazing smell that I just refer to as "Sicily" even today when I did things that smell like it.  I can best describe it as a mixture of spicy cologne and fresh towels, as weird as that sounds!





 Views from home

One of my favorite areas in Palermo (and perhaps in the world) is Mondello.  I have never seen a more gorgeous beach in my entire life.  The view is unbelievable, the water clear, and the vibe is a mixture of the California and Portugal costs.  There's a fun, arcadey type aspect to the area that feels very American or British (think Blackpool) to me, and the restaurants feel very Portuguese coastal town.  Mix those elements in with the Sicilian mountains and you have Mondello.


Mondello

The other beach I frequented was Sant Elia.  Sant Elia is less touristy, and smaller, mostly a local crowd.  It's farther from the center of Palermo so if you're in the city it makes more sense to go to Mondello, they have a bus that goes there erc.  As far as I know you need to drive to Sant Elia, it's kind of in a random spot, but it's a gorgeous beach lined with little fishing boats and nets and watched over by a large tower house. 




Sant'Elia



Views of Palermo suburbs, Santa Flavia to the right



 Ocean views from Santa Flavia

Palermo itself is such a bizarre city, and that's why I love it.  Down one street you might find 18th century palazzos or statues and down another even older Arab buildings.  You can't really peg the city to any style other than it's own, it's just a gorgeous historical mixture of everything capped with a tiara of Palm trees. 

On the subject of the sketchiness of Palermo, yes, it does have a bit of a shady factor but I don't think it's what has come to be accepted.  There are many gypsies around the main tourist sites to watch out for, and there is a pretty high rate of unemployment and poverty but I don't think it's dangerous.  It's more just shady in the sense of being in disrepair.  The buildings need to be tended to, a lot is abandoned, etc, but to me that's cosmetic stuff, it doesn't actually affect anything else but the rowdy character of the city.  The only mafia things I know of in Sicily are monuments or tombs to dead leaders (you can see one off the highway leading into the city), I don't know of any current activity.  The mafia today is mostly based in Naples.

 Four Corners


 Fountain of Shame

Cathedral


Montreale

Side trips

Sicily is pretty small, you can drive from one side to the other in 2 hours, so there are many side trips to do from Palermo.  To the south is Agrigento, home to a colony of amazing Greek ruins (also the HOTTEST place I have ever been in my life, like center of the sun hot with no shade to be found, be prepared), to the East is Taormina, an ancient Roman vacation favorite which is still home to an amphitheater overlooking the sea from high up on a hill.  Taormina also has loads of small alley type streets with pastries shops, major fashion houses like Versace, and little boutiques.  They have a large market for Sicilian pottery there too.  I like Taormina, I think it's charming but I much prefer Palermo.  Without offense to anyone Taormina is a little "older crowd" for me.  My mother would LOVE it.  Me, I prefer the beach and bars of Palermo to the pastry shops and wine bars on the East coast.

 From Taormina it's an easy trip to Mount Etna, the volcano.  The late eruption was in 2001, but it continuously smokes.  Etna was pretty boring to me, it was freezing cold and I did not have a jacket with me, and there isn't much to do if you don't want to actually climb the volcano. If you don't climb it, there's a souvenir shop as a food court.  That's it.  It just wasn't for me

Mt Etna
 
When it comes to Sicily, I'm very much a Palermo girl.  The city just fits my personality perfectly, a little but classy Baroque, a little bit of Mediterranean beach and spice, a mixed historical and cultural background, and a warm lust for life.


I've dressed Alice in Dolce and Gabbana because they are Sicilian and understand what the island is about.  Lace is a huge industry in Sicily, which is why they incorporate it into many of their designs.  Their pieces are also classically Italian and sexy, the Dolce woman is unafraid of vibrant color or print, and embellishes herself with statement jewelry.  The clothing is Sicily embodied, classical shapes and structures sometimes drawn from historical inspiration and adorned with Byzantine gold and jewels.  I love how well the essence of Sicily is captured  in their designs, and if you want to get a feel for the Sicilian vibe, slip into one of their outfits.

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