Sicilia Bella (Sicily, Italy)

 


I’ve been wanting to go to Sicily for a while because it’s a part of Italy I don’t know at all.

So I booked my trip for a departure on Tuesday 8th, November 2022 for Palermo and a return to Paris on Saturday 12th, November 2022.

My plane took off at 12:35 at Charles de Gaulle and landed at 15:15 at Palermo airport.


Day 1


For once on a flight operated by a low-cost airline, my plane was not delayed, a feat!

Once I arrived in Palermo, I took the taxi that I had booked through my hotel.

The journey took about 35 minutes from the airport to the Bed in Spa Hotel.

Once I arrived at the foot of my hotel, whose rooms are located on the top floor of a building, I contacted the manager to provide me with the entrance code for the door, as the hotel reception is only open for a short period of the day. I discovered my wonderful room: large room with double bed and jacuzzi, what a dream!



After admiring my room and dropping off my belongings, I set off to discover beautiful Palermo.

My hotel was located really not far from the city centre, which was convenient!

I started my walk in Piazza Ruggero Settimo where the Teatro Politeama is located.







Then I went on to the Teatro Massimo and the Piazza Giuseppe Verdi.







The rest of my walk took me to the magnificent Cattedrale di Palermo where I went to take a look and near which is the Liceo Classico Vittorio Emanuele II.










Not far from there is the Porta Nuova and the Palazzo dei Normanni.






As I retraced my steps, I passed the sublime Quattro Canti located in Palermo’s busiest street. In this long street that leads to the Quattro Canti, there are plenty of bars and restaurants, it’s very lively at nightfall. It’s a very nice place to visit with friends.





I continued my walk to Plaza Pretoria and the Fontana Pretoria, the Piazza Bellini and the Chiesa di San Cataldo.












Since the restaurant I wanted to try was closed for holidays, I headed for the Osteria dei Vespri, a chic and gourmet restaurant with excellent dishes. It turns out that the woman who welcomed me into the restaurant is a Lyonnaise and sommelier in the restaurant. The staff of the restaurant, including the Lyonnaise, were very attentive, I even had some cakes for dessert, and that was offered to me of course.







Day 2


For this second day in Palermo, I had booked an excursion to Mount Etna, the famous volcano.

I had to wake up very early because the scheduled meeting time for the gathering was 6:40 a. m. Since Etna is located more than 3 hours drive from Palermo and the visit of Taormina located not far from there is also included in the excursion, the total time of the excursion was therefore 11 hours, including trips and visits.

Once I arrived at the meeting point early, I waited 35 minutes and there was no one there, not a driver, not an organizer, not a participant.

The meeting place was not clear at all because there was an address given in the e-mail of the booking site and another in the e-mail of the organization.

Since it was very early, it was impossible to call customer service. So I went back to the hotel in dismay and changed my program to continue visiting Palermo and going to Mondello. I also booked an excursion for the next day to Agrigento.

When I arrived at the hotel, I sent an e-mail to the customer service site through which I went to book my excursion (it is Musement) in order to get a refund because the visit of Etna still cost me 108 euros.

So I went out to walk around the city to see it during the day this time.

I walked by the Giardino Garibaldi in Piazza Marina.


I went on to the Foro Italico and entered the Villa Giulia.












I continued with Porta Felice and Piazza delle Dogane then I had a snack at Cannoli & Co. where I was able to taste the famous ice-filled brioches, a typical Sicilian dessert and divinely delicious. I chose strawberry and coconut fragrances.




I stopped by the Chiesa di San Cataldo and the Teatro Massimo before going to enjoy a very good pizza at Frida Pizzeria where there were quite a few French tourists that evening.















On the same day, I also took the bus to Mondello which has one of the most beautiful beaches in Palermo.

















I bought two transport tickets (1€40 per ticket) to take the bus to Mondello. The journey took about 30 min.

I walked around and had lunch there before returning to Palermo.





Day 3


Excursion booked via GetYourGuide to visit Agrigento and the Valley of Temples.

This time, the driver would pick up the participants directly from their hotel, which was much more convenient than going to a meeting point.

The price of the excursion included only the round trip Agrigento – Palermo, you had to buy your ticket for the visit of the Valley of Temples.

The site was beautiful, you would have thought you were in Ancient Greece with all those temples and statues, it’s really a place to do if you’re passing through Palermo.




























After the tour of the valley, the driver stopped for a minute at the Scala dei Turchi located in Realmonte in the province of Agrigento.



Once back in Palermo, I went for a snack at Antico Caffè Spinnato to taste the famous cannolo.

I walked around the city and then I went to dinner at Il Culinario.







Day 4


For this last full day in Palermo, I made excursion to Monreale and Cefalù.

Again, only the return fare was included in the ticket booked on GetYourGuide.

We started the excursion by Monreale where I bought a ticket to visit its beautiful cathedral.




























































A Cefalù la visite du Duomo était gratuite. 
























Having been around the city, I took the opportunity to have lunch there.


Once back in Palermo, I went for a walk and then went to dinner at the Osteria Nonna Dora, a restaurant recommended by a Sicilian friend I made there. It’s actually his sister’s restaurant and two days before, the restaurant had the honor of welcoming Mel Gibson! Too bad I missed that!



The next day, my taxi, also booked through the hotel, dropped me off at the airport.

The plane landed in Paris 30 minutes early, I’ve never seen it before!

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