A week in Ortygia, or why everyone needs to plan a holiday to Sicily

Next year we're absolutely going to travel somewhere different. Absolutely. Maybe. Well, if I can find somewhere just as beautiful, fun, relaxing but cultural, and with such good food as you find in Italy.

Back in July, we hopped on a plane bound to Catania. My husband had just celebrated a milestone birthday (it's still a few years away for me - phew!) and I was determined to do something really special to celebrate, despite the fact that buying a house earlier this year was also a wonderful achievement and one which used up a fair amount of annual leave (and those all-important pennies).

After some to-ing and fro-ing, we decided to go back to Ortygia - the old town of Syracuse, on the south-east coast of Sicily - where we went on honeymoon a few years' ago. It's quintessential Sicily - historic buildings overhanging tangled alleyways, romance and bustle, and food to make your heart sing. But at the same time, the atmosphere is a world away from rambunctious Palermo, which we visited last year. With our last visit to Ortygia not being too long ago, we knew it would be comfortingly familiar while at the same time opened up options of new things to discover and the promise of a bit of a break as we didn't have to worry about fitting everything in as we'd already done that not too long ago.

Where we Stayed

We did something we've always wanted to do in Italy throughout all of our previous trips - we decided to opt for an Airbnb to enable us to cook some of the amazing food that you see in all Italian marketplaces.

We chose an apartment that was incredibly central, on the Via Maestranza, but really Ortygia is the perfect place to discover on foot so you'll never be too far away from anything. We popped to the market on the first day and picked up an array of treats, and developed a bit of a morning ritual of waking up to fresh coffee, succulent doughnut peaches and a fresh caprese salad. I also found delicious gluten free sliced brioche in the supermarket, which I enjoyed with very liberally-applied Nutella, which is a bit of a holiday tradition for me.

In the evenings, we enjoyed some fresh swordfish - simply fried with a squeeze of lemon juice, a rocket salad and the best aubergine I think I've ever tasted - honestly, anyone who's asked me about the holiday has heard me wax lyrical about this aubergine but unless you tried it you just don't know...

We didn't just eat at home though - having been here before, we had some favourite restaurants to go back to and I've mentioned them below, just in case you ever find yourself in Ortygia at a loss for where to eat.

What we Did

Ortygia is best discovered on foot - its maze of tiny backstreets and its winding paths along the seafront with rusting rails that look fit to crumble at any moment. It's not a 'beachy' location. There are a few tiny little beaches and more further along the coast but the sea front of Ortygia is quite rocky and there's one particular spot where people like to sunbathe/swim from the rocks and a platform is set up there each summer for people to swim from more easily. One morning, we got up early (around 7) and walked down to the seafront. There were just two old chaps there, taking in the early morning sun before going for a swim. The water was slightly chilly to start but you soon got used to it and it was like a delicious bath. We swam out and floated on our backs, looking back at the old city walls and the buildings above us with their faded shutters and peeling-painted fronts. I think I was happier at that moment than I've been in a while. The sea is always my happy place.

We also went back to the Duomo - the cathedral at the centre of the city, in a beautiful piazza that's particularly stunning to walk through at night. The Duomo was a 5th century BC Greek temple that was converted into a church and you can still see the huge Doric columns inside and outside the church.

One thing we didn't do this time but I'm mentioning it here for anyone taking a trip to Ortygia is the miqwe - an ancient Jewish ritual bath that lies buried beneath the Alla Giudecca hotel in the told Jewish ghetto, called the Giudecca. It's absolutely fascinating - three deep pools that were only rediscovered relatively recently. They were once connected to a synagogue but were blocked up when the Jewish residents were expelled from the island in 1492. 

Parco Archeologico della Neapolis

For me, a holiday isn't a holiday unless it includes a visit to at least one historical place and you're spoiled for choice in Sicily. We visited the archaeological park during our last visit to Syracuse and it was top of my list of must-revisits. There's a Greek Theatre, which this time was set-up for its annual season of classical theatre, the Latomia del Paradiso, deep limestone quarries riddled with catacombs, and the Orecchio di Dionisio or Ear of Dionysius, an eerie grotto hewn into the rock. For a few blissful moments, we were in there on our own without any tourists and it was like stepping back in time. 

Modica

On our list visit to Ortygia, we took the train to Noto - a historic little town with stunning red-gold buildings, baroque churches and the best granite (drinks made of crushed ice). Taking the train in Italy is an experience in and of itself so we decided to use one of our precious days to visit the town of Modica - a hill town famous for its chocolate and churches. (I'm a big fan of an old church!)

Modica has two distinct areas - high Modica, where most of the churches are, and low Modica, where most of the restaurants (and the station) are located. I think our trip to Modica fell on one of the hottest days that we were there and it was a long climb and a lot of steps to get to the Chiesa di San Giovanni Evangelista, a wonderful baroque church which is itself located at the top of its own sweeping staircase. It was so worth it though - the church was beautiful and the views over the countryside were stunning.

What we Ate

Oh Italian food, how I love you so. I know I must have mentioned this about a hundred times before too but Italy is fantastic for us gluten free folk. There's an array of choice in the supermarkets and most restaurants have at least gluten free pasta in the kitchen and generally speaking, a much better understanding of what a coeliac can and can't eat than I've found here (although that is improving every day).

The Syracuse region is famous for its seafood, meaty ragus, lemons and tomatoes. If you pop to Noto, you'll get some of the best granite and Modica is famous for its chocolate.

I would particularly recommend the following restaurants in Ortygia:

Trattoria la Foglia, Via Capodieci 21
This is the oddest little place - mismatched tables with crocheted napkins, porcelain dolls sitting in the window and a huge old wadrobe are just some of the decor choices making this more Edwardian drawing room than restaurant at first sight but this place is always busy for a reason. The food is amazing - cosy, comforting and very reasonably priced. I opted for the mackerel pasta on our first visit (this time) but the ragu is delicious and the local chilled red wine slips down a treat. Don't miss the local cheese platter either.

Taberna Sveva, Piazza Federico di Svevia
This little restaurant is tucked away in a quiet piazza near the castle and is hugely popular with the locals so I'd recommend arriving early or booking a table. It serves traditional Sicilian food. (I went with the sea bass and we shared the house antipasti to start - olives and cheese and meats, oh my!)

In Modica, we chose the Osteria dei Sapori Perduti, Corso Umberto I 228-230 as it was recommended for its Sicilian specialties and it was very meat-heavy. We didn't have too long there unfortunately because we were keeping a close eye on the train times but it was full of local families enjoying a long lunch. It's one of my favourite memories from our trip though because they made me homemade gluten free ravioli with a simple tomato sauce and it's one of the best things I've ever tasted. It was exquisite, I wish they delivered to England.

There are lots of bars in Ortygia but our favourite from our honeymoon (and we were so pleased to see it still running and very popular) was Solaria Vini & Liquori on Via Roma 86. It's a small place, with a few places to sit inside and about 4 or 5 tables outside but the wine list is extensive and it's a wonderful place to sit and people-watch, while enjoying a glass or two of a particularly fine wine. You can also get small platters of food too - cheese, olives, prosciutto and the like. I can wholeheartedly recommend the dessert wine from Noto.

Salute!

And with that, I'm practically booking my next trip again... Do let me know if you're planning a visit to Sicily anytime soon, or where I should visit next!

Stepping back in time in Solunto

This is the last of my Sicily posts (from this trip at least!) and I've completely saved my favourite thing 'til last. A little happygolucky-fact, a childhood love of the Indiana Jones and the Mummy films led me to a Classics degree and dreams of becoming an Egyptologist. Alas that was not to be (student loans had to be paid off somehow!) but I'm still at my happiest wandering around an archaeological site and can find my way to the Egyptian/ancient Greek and Roman rooms in the British Museum blindfolded. 

When I was researching Palermo in the weeks leading up to our holiday, I kept coming back to a tiny section in the guidebook recommending an ancient Roman town, about a 20 minute train ride out of Palermo. Apparently, the fact that it's a steep 30 minute walk uphill puts a lot of people off and you can wander the partially-excavated site undisturbed. That was enough to move it right to the top of my must-do list - how often can you visit an ancient site without jostling through hordes of tourists?! So, was it worth the walk in the July sun? Abso-bloody-lutely.

Located high above the town of Porticello, on the slopes of Mount Catalfano, lie the remains of the Hellenistic Roman town of Solunto. It was founded in the 4th century BC on the site of an earlier Phoenician settlement. If the remains of the town around you aren't impressive enough, the sea views are spectacular too.

You wander along the main street towards the agora, but can also detour up the steep side streets and wander amongst the ruins themselves. There are the remains of the shops and poorer houses along the main street, with the larger villas higher up - some of which even have the remains of staircases leading to now non-existent floors above. 

The most exciting element of it all for me was the fact that could still see traces of the original paint on some of the walls, and mosaic flooring. It was absolutely incredible.

I think what made the whole experience even more magical for me was that we were the only ones there for practically the entirety of our visit and even when some other visitors arrived, there were only a handful. I think the walk does put a lot of people off but it really shouldn't. Granted, Solunto is not on the scale of somewhere like Pompeii but the intimacy of a small site makes you feel like you're stepping back in time, particularly when you can wander through the town so freely. If you're planning a visit to Palermo and fancy visiting somewhere very special, you must add Solunto to your list. Just don't forget your hat and make sure you bring lots of water!

Have you visited Solunto before? What's your favourite place to visit for a good ol' historical wander? It doesn't have to be classical - there are few things that beat a trip to a castle on a bank holiday weekend!

A day trip to Ustica

The longer I make these holiday posts last, the longer I can pretend it wasn't almost a month ago now, right?!

One of our favourite memories from our week in Sicily was our day trip to Ustica - an island about 60km off the coast. It's a favourite summer holiday destination for the people of Palermo and there were plenty arriving on the boat with us, although it was nowhere near as crowded as it apparently gets later on in July and into August. 

Look at that shimmering reflection! This was when we first arrived in Ustica in the morning and the chap below captained our boat home in the afternoon - ciao!

If I was planning the trip again, I'd have booked a hotel on the island itself for a night or two because a day really wasn't enough time for this gorgeous place. The water surrounding Ustica is sparklingly clear and it's hugely popular for snorkelling and scuba diving, which I would love to try. So I would definitely recommend spending at least one night here, particularly to make the slightly expensive ferry fare go that little bit further!

I read that Ustica is actually the tip of a submerged volcano, which made perfect sense particularly on the flamingly hot (for me!) day we visited - when you walk around the island, you can see that the land itself is scattered with volcanic rock dotted with all manner of exotic cactus and stunning hisbiscus flowers.

The best way to explore Ustica is on foot. There are several different walking trails and it's only 8.7 sq km around so it's not the longest distance...although perhaps on a slightly cooler day! Apparently a full circuit of the island takes about 4 hours, although you'd want to stop for breaks en route - you could even break it up over the course of two day if you stay overnight, and that would give you a chance to enjoy a swim in the beautiful sea too.

Our guidebook recommended asking at the tourist office for directions/a map of the walking routes but when we Google-mapped the tourist office, there was no sign of it. We did however find the marine reserve information office, which we wandered into hoping they might have maps of the island that would serve just as well. Inside was the loveliest old Italian man! We can speak very little Italian (I've learned how to say "that was delicious", which I say at every opportunity but apart from a few other food-related phrases, that's it) and he spoke absolutely no English. We managed to communicate what we were looking for and he produced a map, pointing to a few routes that he recommended we try and a lot of other things, which I'm sure were all very interesting indeed but were all in very fast Italian! He came out into the street with us and pointed us on our way to our first walk - to the Rocca della Falconiera, a defensive tower overlooking the sea.

It was only a short walk but it was a very very hot day! The trail leads you first to a lookout point at Punta Omo Morto, where we stopped to reapply some more sunscreen and took in the beautiful views out to sea from one window and inland from another, over the island itself.

You then continue walking further up the path to the Torre Santa Maria, a Bourbon-era tower.

After a few hours enjoying a relaxed lunch, we headed towards the other side of the island - we only had an hour or two left on the island before our ferry was due to leave so we decided to follow a trail that passed through some pine woods to the summit of Guardia di Mezzo. We didn't get a chance to finish the trail but apparently if you followed it further, it descended to a part of the coast where you can swim in natural rock pools.

It was so incredibly beautiful - the air was filled with the smell of hot pine needles and the sound of the cicadas in the trees.

I sat on a rock at one point to have some water while my husband walked on ahead. He disappeared out of sight and I felt like I was the only person for miles around, it was wonderfully peaceful.

Where we ate

Between our first and second hikes, we stopped for some food just off the main square at the Ristorante da Umberto (Piazza della Vittoria 7), which could not have looked more inviting to two very hot, bedraggled English folk with its glorious shaded frontage and regularly-supplied chilled lemon ice tea! 

The staff were so helpful, pointing out the various gluten free options on the menu. Apparently all the seafood on the menu is sourced from the water around Ustica itself and so I decided to go with some octopus to start (just simply chopped, drizzled with olive oil and a fresh squeeze of lemon, and sprinkled with fresh parsley) followed by a pasta course (they had gluten free pasta!) - a spaghetti dish with a local fish that I didn't recognise but was quite meaty in texture. My husband (who isn't coeliac) had a fried local cheese to start which came with a pistachio pesto, and followed this up with some swordfish. It was all so delicious and we stayed there for a few hours hiding from the sun high above us, relaxing and chatting over a few chilled glasses of wine - that's what holidays are for, right?! 

If you planning a visit to Palermo, a visit to Ustica is not to be missed! Have you visited the island before? Did you get a chance to swim while you were there? That's the one thing I'm really sad that we didn't get a chance to do at all this holiday. Time to book another one perhaps...

A week in Palermo, Sicily

We absolutely love Sicily. We spent ten days in Syracuse on our honeymoon a few years ago and when we were choosing where to go for a little sunshine this year, the decision to return to Sicily was a very easy one. We chose Palermo this time though, on the other side of the island to Syracuse. Palermo is the capital of Sicily and is famed for its history and culture, as well as its ‘rough and ready’ nature. I was a little apprehensive, particularly at the thought of crossing the roads, but after spending a week there at the beginning of July, I didn’t want to leave!

There’s a lot to see in Palermo itself and it’s also close to quite a few other spots that are worth visiting (even more if you have a car, which we didn’t and so we were therefore relying on public transport). I’m going to talk about Palermo itself here and will do separate posts on some other places we visited outside Palermo – primarily, the island of Ustica and the Roman town of Solunto.

The Weather

Can I be a British blogger and not mention the weather?! It was hot. Bearably so though – in the high 20s when we first arrived and inching towards the mid-30s by the end of our stay. I think the further you get into July/August, the hotter it is, so we were still able to get out a do things before retreating back to the hotel for a little late afternoon snooze and a shower before heading out to dinner in the evening. That’s partly what holidays are all about though, right?

Things to do

Make sure you pack some comfortable walking shoes for your visit to Palermo because the best way to experience the city is on foot. You often find yourself wandering down a narrow side street only to find that it leads into a stunning baroque piazza, or an amazing old church. There’s an array of Arab, Norman and Byzantine architecture, all of which would be lost if you were inside a car.

Our guidebook had recommended walking tours focusing on Palermo’s ‘medieval masterpieces’ and ‘baroque beauties’, which we followed on the first two days of the holiday as this was a good way to see the city and try to get our bearings as much as possible.  You must visit the Cathedral of Palermo, an impressive Arab-Norman building, and the Norman Palace but my (slightly less crowded) must-sees are:

Chiesa di San Giovanni degli Eremiti

A short walk from the Palazzo dei Normanni, in quite an unremarkable little area, you’ll find this little Arab-Norman church, which was built on top of a mosque that was also itself built on top of an earlier chapel. It was a wonderfully peaceful church, with a pretty cloistered area surrounded by exotic plants, palm trees and orange trees. It started to get a little busier as we were leaving but for a while, it was just us and a small French group on a sketching tour.

Oratorio del Rosario in Santa Cita and Oratorio del Rosario in San Domenico

I’m mentioning these two together because they’re a short walk apart and you can buy a joint ticket, which works out cheaper than buying two separate tickets.

These chapels are famed for their stuccos, the work of Giacomo Serpotta, dating from the 17^th century and I actually gasped aloud when we walked into the chapel in Santa Cita – the walls are covered in stunning sculpted figures with such life and expression that I just couldn’t believe that they weren’t set in place yesterday.  Photos just don’t do either of the chapels justice and I wholeheartedly recommend visiting them for yourself if you’re visiting the city. Absolutely stunning.

The chapel in San Domenico is slightly smaller but no less impressive. I’d read in our guidebook that Serpotta’s name meant ‘lizard’ or ‘small snake’ and he had a habit of including one of these reptiles in his work as a hidden signature, one of which could be found in this chapel. I didn’t rest until I spotted a small lizard crawling up one of the columns – success! I love a treasure hunt! No spoilers here, let me know if you need a hint :)

Museo Archeologico Regionale

One for you archaeology lovers, this was something we decided to visit on a whim on a Sunday morning in order to escape the sun for a few hours. This beautifully laid-out museum, which is free to visit (very few places were!), had a really impressive collection of Greek and Roman artefacts, including a series of decorative friezes from the temples at Selinunte. It also has a lovely cool courtyard, with a fountain with sun-worshipping terrapins.

The Street Markets of Palermo

There are three main street markets in Palermo, selling an array of household goods, clothes and foodstuffs – Mercato della Vucciria, Mercato di Ballarò and Mercato del Capo.

Our favourite, and we went back a second time to stock up on some herbs to bring home with us, was the Mercato di Ballarò as there were several winding streets filled with all manner of delicious foods – fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, fish and herbs. We promised ourselves that next time we visit Italy, we’ll use Airbnb because it was so difficult to walk away from so much delicious fresh food. It wasn’t just for tourists, the market was also full of Palermitans doing their daily shop (no doubt exasperated by all the tourists peering delightedly at all the deliciousness on offer). There was also an array of tempting street food being sold at the market (I talk about this a little more below), which my husband loved and I made friends with a granite-seller – who had a huge block of ice, which he would scrape into a cup and fill with your choice of sweet sauces (strawberry and cherry for me please).

Finally, if you have a strong constitution (if only for the 30 minute walk from the centre of the city in the sun!), you should also visit the Catacombs of the Capuchin Monks – Catacombe dei Cappuccini.  The catacombs are home to the mummified bodies and skeletons of several thousand of Palermo who died between the 17^th and 19^th centuries (the most recent is the mummified body of a little girl who died in the 1920s). Hugely macabre, the catacombs are divided into separate sections – families, men, women, professions, even a little chapel for virgins. It’s definitely worth visiting but you may need to sleep with the light on for a few nights afterwards.

Things to eat

Palermo is famous for its street food, some of which are not for the faint-hearted (what are your thoughts on spleen?) You’ll often see stalls scattered around the city, serving various hot snacks, which are meant to be eaten there and then. It’s a quick and easy lunch option, although not so easy if you’re coeliac like I am as most of the street snacks were full of gluten. My husband was in savoury heaven though and these were some of his favourite snacks, for which Palermo is famous and which you must try if you’re able to:

Pane e panelle – chickpea fritters

Crocchè – potato croquettes, flavoured with fresh mint

Panic a meusa – bread roll stuffed with sautéed beef spleen

Of the sweet treats – you can choose from brioche filled with ice cream, gelato or granite (crushed ice mixed with fresh fruit, almonds, pistachios or coffee – I had at least one of these every day!)

If you fancy trying the spleen sandwich, you should pick one up from the Antica Focacceria San Francesco, a restaurant which first opened in 1834, hosted the first Sicilian parliament and was a favourite of a notorious Mafia boss.

As a coeliac, I will always always recommend visiting Italy because you’re so well looked after in terms of gluten free food. Despite the fact that people’s awareness of what constitutes a gluten free dish is improving here in the UK, it just doesn’t come close to people’s awareness of coeliac disease and what you can and can’t have in Italy. That being said, the street food was on the whole full of gluten, unfortunately!

A lot of restaurants have gluten free pasta, some even have gluten free bread, but even if they were not available, there was an array of sea food or meat options I could choose from during our visit so I was not struggling for food options while we were there. Palermo itself is very close to the sea so we enjoyed some amazing sea food while we were there – fresh octopus, served with just a sprinkle of parsley and fresh lemon juice, mussels, sardines and sword fish, amongst various other local fish that I didn’t recognise.

If you’re looking for some restaurant recommendations, make sure you pay a visit to:

Ferro di Cavallo, Via Venezia 20

Open for dinner from Wednesday to Saturday, you may struggle to get a table outside and be prepared to queue to sit either outside or inside as this restaurant is fairly small but hugely popular, and for very good reason. The menu isn’t hugely extensive but so tasty, and you’re also there for the atmosphere which is noisy and rambunctious, and very Sicilian! Apparently, you can enjoy one of Palermo’s very best cannoli but until they make those gluten-free, I can’t tell you. I went for the mussel soup to start, followed by the meat course (which came with Italian sausage, pork and chicken) and a Sicilian mixed salad, all washed down with a little carafe of local wine.

Trattoria ai Cascinari, Via D’Ossuna 43/45

This was my favourite of all the restaurants we visited during our time in Palermo and was fantastic for gluten free options. It’s incredibly popular with locals and was a little walk-away from the main centre of the city, but worth venturing to. They have gluten free pasta, which was better than any of the pasta I’ve tasted here (sob!) and when they heard I was coeliac, they brought me out a plate full of the traditional mint croquettes and chickpea fritters, which I didn’t think I’d be able to experience during our visit.  I followed this up with a pasta dish and then stuffed aubergines. They’d also brought me a little bowl of gluten free bread so I rather rolled home afterwards. The only downside was the fact that we visited this restaurant on our last night, otherwise we would definitely have returned.

If you’re looking for a place to while away a few hours with some delicious wine, I’d recommend Enotequa on the Via Maqueda – a cosy little bar, with an extensive list of wine choices and staff who are really happy to help you choose something quite unusual to sample.

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So those are my top tips for Palermo itself! I’ll do some separate posts (at least that’s the plan!) setting out some other must-sees nearby. Have you ever visited Palermo? Where should we visit for our next Italian holiday and is it time we experienced somewhere else?! (Surely not!)