Western Sicily: the Journey Begins {Bonagia}
Having just returned from 10 lovely days in Sicily over my Christmas holiday, recovering from jet -lag and settling back into life-and-laundry, I am spending my mental down time processing the journey I just completed.
Sicily was an unexpected trip, and one that was more an opportunity that I couldn't pass up than a planned event, so I went into it mostly unprepared, almost entirely un-researched, and with very little in the way of expectations. My only clue as to what to expect came from reading the 40 pages at the end of the local library's copy of Fodor's Guide to Italy. But, As LaoTzu said, “a good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.”
So, rather than fix a plan, I, like I do, jumped in head-first, knowing that I could only glean so much from words and maps and, in the end, would learn more thoroughly, experience the country so much more fully, by coming face to face with the culture, the people, the cuisine, the customs and the terrain. And by (gasp) driving their way in a tiny 2-door 5-speed Fiat500. Vroom! PutPutPut.
Thus I say to you: Benvenuto a Sicily.
I think of it, now, as the land that history built and the place that time forgot.
The pace of life is slow. Slower still in the winter. The driving is fast, furious, and without care, caution or respect for stop signs, speedlimits or personal space. The countryside is epic, ringed on all sides by the Mediterranean Sea, flashing jewel-tones in make-Crayola-jealous colors of blue, green, and every shade in between. The cuisine is fresh (if it's not seasonal, you can't buy it, order it or cook with it) and seafood-driven (swordfish was the most common, but squid and mussels and prawns as well as other fish I've never heard of were also readily available). The pasta is delightfully al dente. The pastries vary from marzipan-over-sweet to utterly can't-stop-eating-this-want-one-more delicious (basically anything resembling Cannoli or Gelato fell into this category for me). The wine is inexpensive, light, pleasing to the palette and totally drinkable. And the December-weather is perfect (65 and sunny every day but one, with add-a-sweater-or-jacket/scarf in the evening), especially compared to the last time I visited Sicily (Catania in August oppressed under the sweltering heat of summer. See my previous blog post here).
From large, crowded cities to the lush, green, fertile land supporting grapevines, olive and citrus groves perched on cliffs and shooting vertically into the sky, stretching towards the sun from the sea below, to the smalltown inbetweens, carved out of mountain tops or set deep into valleys, there was more to see than 10 days permitted, but somehow 10 days seemed everlasting.
I made my base in Bonagia, a small fishing town outside of the larger city of Trapani. My hotel was the Tonnara di Bonagia - a re-purposed Tuna Fishery from the 1600s - with a full European breakfast (Nutella filled croissants, cured meats and fresh cheeses, and bottomless cappuccino oh my) and an incredible view of a small inlet/harbor where locals moored their tiny but mighty sea-worthy vessels. Truly a most beautiful spot to lay my head!
Here's a map to get you familiar with where I traveled.
I'll pull the detailed map below for each post with the new locations marked! Fancy : )
Here are some of my favorite photographs from the hotel and start of the trip. More to come!
Harbor-View
Boat Repair
Hotel and the view
WWII pillbox (these were everywhere!)
old Tuna Boats
When storms come and waves crash!
Dinner: Mixed Seafood Soup (Aeolian style) - I think this was the tastiest truly Sicilian dish I had in Trapani and was thanks to a restaurant they called "Two Sisters" but I really have no idea what its true name was! (Side note: If you want a good overview of Sicilian Cuisine with recipes, this blogpost from The Thinking Traveler sums it up quite nicely http://www.thethinkingtraveller.com/thinksicily/guide-to-sicily/food-and-wine-in-sicily/sicilian-recipes.aspx)
And Pizza Planet (yes, really) where the best part was watching the three men and one woman make pizza for a crowd of onlookers in a tiny room filled to capacity with people waiting on their order. A true brick oven pizza, with one man rolling dough, one man topping the pizza to order, one cooking and boxing and one taking orders. I found the pizza to be doughy, in a good way, but not enough cheese or sauce for my taste. It was still awesome).
Sicily was an unexpected trip, and one that was more an opportunity that I couldn't pass up than a planned event, so I went into it mostly unprepared, almost entirely un-researched, and with very little in the way of expectations. My only clue as to what to expect came from reading the 40 pages at the end of the local library's copy of Fodor's Guide to Italy. But, As LaoTzu said, “a good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.”
So, rather than fix a plan, I, like I do, jumped in head-first, knowing that I could only glean so much from words and maps and, in the end, would learn more thoroughly, experience the country so much more fully, by coming face to face with the culture, the people, the cuisine, the customs and the terrain. And by (gasp) driving their way in a tiny 2-door 5-speed Fiat500. Vroom! PutPutPut.
Thus I say to you: Benvenuto a Sicily.
I think of it, now, as the land that history built and the place that time forgot.
The pace of life is slow. Slower still in the winter. The driving is fast, furious, and without care, caution or respect for stop signs, speedlimits or personal space. The countryside is epic, ringed on all sides by the Mediterranean Sea, flashing jewel-tones in make-Crayola-jealous colors of blue, green, and every shade in between. The cuisine is fresh (if it's not seasonal, you can't buy it, order it or cook with it) and seafood-driven (swordfish was the most common, but squid and mussels and prawns as well as other fish I've never heard of were also readily available). The pasta is delightfully al dente. The pastries vary from marzipan-over-sweet to utterly can't-stop-eating-this-want-one-more delicious (basically anything resembling Cannoli or Gelato fell into this category for me). The wine is inexpensive, light, pleasing to the palette and totally drinkable. And the December-weather is perfect (65 and sunny every day but one, with add-a-sweater-or-jacket/scarf in the evening), especially compared to the last time I visited Sicily (Catania in August oppressed under the sweltering heat of summer. See my previous blog post here).
From large, crowded cities to the lush, green, fertile land supporting grapevines, olive and citrus groves perched on cliffs and shooting vertically into the sky, stretching towards the sun from the sea below, to the smalltown inbetweens, carved out of mountain tops or set deep into valleys, there was more to see than 10 days permitted, but somehow 10 days seemed everlasting.
I made my base in Bonagia, a small fishing town outside of the larger city of Trapani. My hotel was the Tonnara di Bonagia - a re-purposed Tuna Fishery from the 1600s - with a full European breakfast (Nutella filled croissants, cured meats and fresh cheeses, and bottomless cappuccino oh my) and an incredible view of a small inlet/harbor where locals moored their tiny but mighty sea-worthy vessels. Truly a most beautiful spot to lay my head!
Here's a map to get you familiar with where I traveled.
I'll pull the detailed map below for each post with the new locations marked! Fancy : )
Here are some of my favorite photographs from the hotel and start of the trip. More to come!
Harbor-View
Boat Repair
Hotel and the view
WWII pillbox (these were everywhere!)
old Tuna Boats
When storms come and waves crash!
Dinner: Mixed Seafood Soup (Aeolian style) - I think this was the tastiest truly Sicilian dish I had in Trapani and was thanks to a restaurant they called "Two Sisters" but I really have no idea what its true name was! (Side note: If you want a good overview of Sicilian Cuisine with recipes, this blogpost from The Thinking Traveler sums it up quite nicely http://www.thethinkingtraveller.com/thinksicily/guide-to-sicily/food-and-wine-in-sicily/sicilian-recipes.aspx)
And Pizza Planet (yes, really) where the best part was watching the three men and one woman make pizza for a crowd of onlookers in a tiny room filled to capacity with people waiting on their order. A true brick oven pizza, with one man rolling dough, one man topping the pizza to order, one cooking and boxing and one taking orders. I found the pizza to be doughy, in a good way, but not enough cheese or sauce for my taste. It was still awesome).
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