Sicilian Paradise

There is a lot going on in the United States and I admit to being in a serious post-Dobbs funk. It has felt foolish to do anything other than read, process and plan the future revolution. But I want a complete record of our travels this year; to remember the towns, restaurants and hotels and have a placeholder for our pictures in this post-social media era (for me). So here’s a long overdue blog on a long-weekend in Sicily.

In early June, with a day off of school for Pentecost Monday (and an extra day off because we’re indulgent parents), we flew to Catania on the east coast of Sicily. With active Mt. Etna looming overhead, we drove north up the east coast to Taormina, a beautiful hilltop town, known for an ancient Greco-­Roman theater still used today. We have a stressful time finding parking, but Matt and I miraculously do not have the married-couple-in-a-strange-town-not-finding-parking fight. Sidebar: we are watching The Last Man on Earth and I fully relate to the character Carol, who insists that the title character come to a full stop at intersections and not park in handicapped parking spaces in a post-apocalyptic world in which they are they only two living people. Rules are rules.

We walk through town, past the Taormina Duomo, and to the famous Bam Bar to try out their granitas (Sicilian slushies). Bam Bar has an hour wait, so we opt for cokes at a local bar instead.

After refreshments we head to the Teatro Antico. This Hellenistic theater was built around the third century BC. Under Roman rule, probably around the third century AD, the theater was rebuilt with the orchestra turned into an arena for gladiators. It is really well-preserved and the views are breathtaking.

After the Teatro, we head to lunch at Osteria Rosso Di Vino. We all enjoy the fried sardines (even Jacob!). The boys have some fresh pastas and Matt and I share the fish of the day.

After lunch, we drive south and inland to our hotel, Il San Corrado Di Noto. This was a fairly random pick following a recommendation from an International School parent at the formal “Basel Bash” (Carol wanted to go). But we loved this hotel. I got over my post-Roe funk to write this blog so that I could remember this hotel. It is housed in the former masseria of Prince Nicolaci and has incredibly large, lovely pools. This includes a 100-meter lap pool, in which I proudly swam 10 laps.

Matt and Xander head to the gym, while Jacob and I read by the pool and swim.

We eat a casual, poolside dinner of pizza and pasta and head to bed. The next day we take the hotel shuttle a few kilometers through the countryside to their beach club on the Golfo di Noto. It is a quiet, white sand beach, with shallow water for a couple hundred meters. We swim and read and try lemon granitas and enjoy lunch.

After our beach day, we head back to the hotel and wash up for a night on the town (of Noto). Noto’s main drag is filled with magnificent, crumbly, baroque architecture. We visit the the reconstructed 18th-century Noto Cathedral. There Xander asks me if Jesus was really that ripped. I shriek at him about his priorities. He changes his tune and explains that he is really asking if the imagery reflects Jesus the historical figure or is distorted by those who had money to create the imagery. My 14-year old knows how to appease his mother.

We check out the Palazzo Ducezio, now the town hall, across the street and the nearby Palazzo Nicolaci before heading to dinner.

Dinner at Manna Noto is a feast. I cannot hear out of one ear after swimming laps, so we rearrange seats to point my good ear towards the group. Still, my family is forced to shout at me. But who needs conversation when you have this much steak?

After dinner we stroll through town, enjoying the slightly cooler temperatures and a gelato.

The next day, we drive to 2,700-year old Siracuso. So much history! Syracuse was allied with Sparta and Corinth during the Hellenic Period and Cicero described it as “the greatest Greek city and the most beautiful of them all.” It later became part of the Roman and Byzantine Empires and has a rich Christian history as well. We stopped briefly at the Fontana di Diana.

Then meander through the medieval streets of the Ortygia island.

Then to the Duomo built by bishop Zosimo in the 7th-century over the Temple of Athena. It is 95 degrees and the Cathedral is closed for the day, so we take respite in the shade of the nearby Chiesa di Santa Lucia alla Badia.

From Ortygia, we pay a tuk-tuk guy to drag the four of us (we don’t really fit and Carol disapproves) to Siracusa’s 5th Century Greek Theater. To get to the Theater we walk past latomìe, stone quarries used as prisons in ancient times. The most famous latomìa is the “Ear of Dionysius,” which ironically has great acoustics and caused us to yodel. We are Swiss now and cannot help ourselves.

Then on to the Theater itself, which is not nearly as well-preserved as Taormina’s. As connoisseurs of ancient Greek theaters, we are frankly a little disappointed. Or maybe it is now 95 degrees and we are thinking of our hotel’s pools. We stop for a gelato and then head to the car.

That night we abandon our children to room service and a Marvel movie and go for a fancy meal at the Principe di Belludia in our hotel. We sit next to a family of three, with a dad from Syracuse, New York who went to SUNY Albany before relocating to Atlanta. Their 12-year old daughter is the model of good manners, while our monsters eat with their hands and watch Thor Ragnarok or whatever. They can have Thor. It is always nice to have a date night with cute Matt. Carol approves.

We spend our final day in Sicily at the Beach Club before our 5 pm flight back to Basel. More swimming, reading and eating.

Sicily, we loved you so much we plan to return in July!