European vacations

Ah Lipari…I travelled there for a few days when I lived in Italia (Firenze) and my parents came to visit. All of the Aeolians are beautiful and each has its own character, but Lipari (pronounced LEE-par-ee, not LIPP-UH-ree) is the most charming and most accessible.

The most bustling (if you can call it that) island of the archipelago, Lipari is like the capital city of the Aeolians. But while it has the perks of a city (great musuems, haute cuisine, luxury hotels), it also has all the advatages of a small town or secluded island (friendly locals, narrow carless streets, uncluttered beaches and waterfronts).

Many people go to Italy, check out the major central and northern cities and jet off to other places equally popular. However, the best places in Italy to go are in the south. Of course everyone knows about Sicily and it’s treasures, but a trip to parts of the southern part of the boot are equally as exciting. Best of all is Matera, a small city in the Basilicata region (southern in-step). The old city consists of cave houses, carved into the side of the ravine where Matera is situated. Now, the majority of the people live in the new section (by the 1940s, the cave house were overcrowded (10 people in a one room cave, plus farm animals), without electricity and subject to outbreaks of malaria and other nasty diseases). If you want a great description of the area before Italy became richer, read Carlo Levi’s "Christ Stopped at Eboli."

Malta was such a disappointment. I recommend Sicily instead, much cheaper, even handcrafts. Cleaner, esp taormina and syracuse. The food in Sicily was fabulous.

We arrived in Cefalu’ in November in the middle of a 3 day ’scirocco’ — a dry, hot wind that begins in northern Africa and blows as far west as Sicily, and often as far as mainland Italy.

The tourist industry in Cefalu’ in November was practically non-existent. In fact, after a small school group left our hotel, we were the only 2 guests at the pleasant and moderately priced Astro Hotel. One block from the beach, and a short stroll into the center of town, the hotel staff were incredibly kind and hospitable. And while the 3 star accommodations weren’t spectacular, they were fine given the fact we were out exploring most of the day. (Although we did wake to the sound of a nearby train each night.)

The center of Palermo is Piazza Castelnuovo and Piazza Ruggero Settimo all in one big plaza in the center of the old historic section of town. It is here where for 5 Euros each-way you can get a 45 minute airport bus ride on a very clean air conditioned bus.

When you get married it is the job of the groom (traditionally) to arrange the honeymoon, unfortunately for me the husband is rather likely to worry about tickets and passports and arriving on time at the airport so we decided quite early on that in order to save our marriage (by the time we left we would have been married for a grand 48 hours) we would have to arrange things together. What we then decided to do (for we read I) was to take our honeymoon in Italy and I really wanted to go to Sicily and what the wife wants the wife must get, so Monday morning we checked the tickets and passports were to hand (about 15 times) and proceeded to Gatwick, let the adventure begin.

Planning a trip to Sicily was difficult as I had trouble figuring out priorities for our limited (one week) trip, whether to create a home base and see one side of the country or dash about in our rented car. We ultimately decided to cover as much territory as we were able to, and didn’t regret it as it allowed us to get to the north and western sections, which we adored.

Properties
City
Agrigento
Region
Sicily
Country
Italy
World Region
Europe

Many American travelers overlook this island nation which is located in the Mediterranean, between Sicily and the coast of North Africa. Malta, roughly the size of Martha’s Vineyard and very densely populated, has two smaller sister islands, Gozo and Comino. Malta is largely deforested and the landscape is moderate contours and open valleys. Much of the architecture is made from local, honey colored limestone. Limestone walls outline fields and yards and the pinks, reds and whites of oleander bushes appear everywhere. Sunsets can provide spectacular lighting! Summer can be blisteringly hot (90 degrees F) and crowded with European tourists. Spring and fall are better times to visit. I spent a week here in late October and found the weather perfect; great for exploring yet warm enough to swim.

If you are crazy enough to travel to Palermo (Sicily) during the summer months and share an Alitalia flight with dozens of restless Italian bambini, well, you will probably experience what I experienced a few weeks ago. Here it is…

Reaching Palermo