It may sound strange, but very few foreigners know much about Italy, even if you consider how many foreigners visit here every year. Sure, there are streets in Venice and Florence where Italian is no longer heard nor spoken. And you can book just about any hotel room you'd like online any more, even see pictures of it first, with maps and even virtual tours.
But drop down even a couple of hours south of Napoli and suddenly things fall off the map. Yes, everyone knows that the big island is Sicily. And that Palermo is on it.... somewhere. And then....And then?
And then the rest of Italy is as vacant and featureless in the foreign mind as a brand new cue ball.There must be SOMETHING there...right?
5 commenti:
I visited Sicily in 1987, hard to believe it was 20 years ago. A highlight was taking a local ferry from Trapani over to the island of Levanzo. It is a very small island, no cars, the ferry was passenger only. Well, there were a few chickens on board too, and the morning newspapers, and some locals. I was the only tourist.
What are the differences between traveling north of Naples vs. South? Well in the north, they just assumed I was American. In the south, I'd get these looks and then "Are you Swedish? Are you German or Dutch?" I'd say no, American, and they'd be really surprised. Americans just don't go to Sicily.
Another difference: in the north, I would see tons of tour buses. There are very few group buses in the south.
A third difference: the pace. The presence of frequent bus and train service between cities made it very easy to say "well in the morning I'll go to the Uffizi and the Duomo (Florence). Then at 12:10 I'll grab the bus to Sienna. At 5 I catch the bus to San Gimignano, have a quick look, then back to Florence for pizza and gelato." In the south, this simply isn't feasible. There aren't so many sites jammed together that you'd want to see anyway.
But, 4th, the experience is fundamentally different. The solitude of seeing the sun come up over the sandstone-washed temples at Agrigento, or having a north-african influenced dish near the ferry going to Tunis, or of seeing Mt Etna looming over everything and knowing that yes, this is a LIVE volcano like Vesuvius was, is just plain different.
I look forward to seeing the photos , tasting the food vicariously, and hearing about the great experiences you have. I am not familiar with the wine route, but hopefully it passes close to Agrigento and to Cefalu, home of a 1000 year old Romanesque style church built by Roger the 2nd of Normandy with Saracen worksmen in a Romanesque style, but with curved windows.
Ciao Silvestro,
La Sicilia! Lucky diavolo...!!
Hope you get into a lot of good trouble.
Dont miss the catacombs of Palermo for some gruesome thrills and the pottery in Caltagirone. Also a little restaurant in Monreale called Siculi & Sicani has some interesting local food.
Cannot wait to hear your stories..
Wendy
I can't wait to read your tales about "the nectar of gods" as my father used to call wine...I deeply envy you for this great adventure especially because leaving in England I don't get many chances to enjoy a good glass of wine sitting in a sunny wine yard...enjoy every minute of it and keep safe!!
Alla tua!
Mela
Hola Papiko!!!
Soy Merce y te escribo para que practiques tu castellano ;-) Cuándo comienzas il giro?
EL otro día ibamos a comer con Mónica y Nico se enfadó porque no viniste! jejeje
Un beso
Merce
Since your blog is one that I ALWAYS read... I've nominated it for an award from http://foodstoriesblog.com/food-stories-award/
Good luck!
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