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Tale
1 - Sicily Island Beauty - by Polynesia
My travel tales relate to a trip I did to Italy earlier this
year (2003). Hope you enjoy them!
Finally I'm back from my vacation on the Italian island of Sicily!!
Despite a good time there, it's so nice being back home!! I
enjoyed myself in Sicily, where i spent 1 week with my cousin
Fati, but the trip wasn't quite as good as I expected!! To be
really sincere, there were some aspects i didn't like... i'll
give u more details later on.
We departed on 24th August and returned home on 31st August.
I'll try to tell u as much as possible... but i've to cut down
some details... unless u want to spent 1 full day reading my
trip's report! Do u? Also sorry for my English that sometimes
is a bit poor!! I keep trying to improve it though!
Ok, let's go: Our trip consisted of a tour all over Sicily
Island. That tour was by bus, and it was all settled down here
in Portugal. We arrived in Palermo City on the 24th August at
about 7.15pm. There was a van waiting for us in the airport.
There were about 10 Portuguese who joined for the tour, and
than tourists from places like: USA, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile,
Spain and even 3 Japanese persons. It was an interesting group.
Being a 48 persons group though, you can guess why there were
many aspects of the tour I didn't like. I think I enjoyed last
year's tour more, as we had a much smaller group and everything
became easier.
At first I was disappointed with the food (mainly pasta and
fish) as I wanted to eat lighter and healthier. After talking
to the tour guide the food got much better and I was able to
eat healthy food! I also got surprised that Sicilians do eat
so much!!! U can't guess what they eat at each main meal, pasta
or soap as entrée, then comes the first plate that can
be fish, the 2nd can be meat...and finally the dessert, it can
be ice cream, cake or a fruit piece! I guess I ate so much all
these days.. I end up feeling so heavy...and I wanted to lose
some fat! Oh well maybe next time haha.
The real trip details will start now... take a tasty drink and
a comfortable seat... Are u ready?
24th August : Like I said above, it was the day to take
two flights to reach Palermo city (Sicily's capital). The first
flight was Porto (Portugal) - Milan (Italy), at 12.15pm; then
2nd flight, Milan - Palermo departing 5.30pm. We ended up arriving
in Palermo at 7.10pm. The bus was there waiting and then the
driver took us to our hotel. In Palermo it was hot & humid!!
We then went for dinner and after dinner a short walk. I called
back home from my mobile to tell mum I was ok and safe, and
so did Fati. We were tired, so we end up in our hotel room relaxing.
25th August : Our day started at around 6.15am. I was
the first one to wake up and get ready for breakfast (my favourite
day's meal!). Like usual, while in the breakfast room, I prepared
some bread and toasts for the rest of my day. Even though all
the meals are included in the tour, I always did the same breakfast
routine!! At 8.00am we left the hotel to start our bus trip.
Our first stop was Segesta. This
included a visit to the Doric temple of Segesta, with 36 columns
(built in 430 BC, amazing, isn't it). It was a pity we didn't
get to visit the Semicircular theatre, with it's 63 diameter
and a view over the Gulf of Castellammare.
Next we drove to Erice. It was
an interesting little Medieval city 800 meters above sea level.
We got the first rain and we had lunch at a typical restaurant,
where we arrived almost all wet! We also visited Erice's castle
(a romantic castle of Norman period) with such amazing views
over Trapani, Egadi Islands and the sea. With clear skies we
could even see the Tunisian Cape Bom, but unfortunately we hadn't
that chance! I took heaps of landscapes photos!! Then we ended
up visiting Trapani's salines.
I didn't like that much going to these salines. I thought it
was a waste...I preferred to be more time in Erice.
The amazing view from the Castle at Erice
26th August : After breakfast, at 8.00am, our driver
drove us to Cefalu. Cefalú
is a small fishing town with a nice cathedral (Norman and Arab,
with amazing Bizantine mosaics inside!!). It also has tiny streets
that made my day! Our lunch was at Cap
D'orlando (beach city). Boy... our lunch was so boring..
we were seating in a table with 3 men. They all were at their
40's and 50's...two were Italian and one was American... they
seemed disinteresting guys! What a boring lunch! We continued
our trip to Tindari.. After lunch,
on our bus, the Argentinian guys seemed crazy, when i would
like to relax a bit, these guys asked the driver to put some
music on (in very loud sound!). What a nightmare!!
The fishing town of Cefalu
Next we visited the Citta di Maria,
with its sanctuary on the top of a big hill. From there we had
a terrific view over the sea and the famous "sandy tongues"!
They were real sandy formations with the format of tongues,
located at the Gulf of Patti. Our trip then continued to Messina
City. We arrived before dinner, at about 6.00pm. We had
a quick visit to the central area. It lies at the Peloritani
Mountains that suffers from earthquakes often. We visited it's
cathedral almost all rebuilt after the 1908 earthquake, it still
features the Norman-Romanesque style. It has a bell tower with
60 meters with a curious astronomical clock, believed to be
the world's largest!! Unfortunately it was being restored, so
I almost had no chances to take pictures! It was now time for
dinner.
The majestic cathedral in Messina City
Submitted: 7 December 2003
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