The Italian Way
Trip Start
Jul 09, 2010
1
5
13
Trip End
Ongoing
Where I stayed
Villa outside of Acireale
Acireale, Sicily, Italy
Saturday, July 17, 2010
We arrived tonight in Trapani, on the NW corner of the island, and were immediately introduced to the “Sicilian way” when we spent almost an hour and a half trying to pick up our rental cars at the airport, while the queue behind us grew exponentially longer with each passing minute and tempers started to flare. Who knew it could be so complicated? I guess the power blackouts didn’t help. Finally, we were loaded and on our way … only to be slowed down by a traffic accident on the way out of the airport. Well, if that isn’t a confidence-boosting sight! Finally, three hours later, at 12:30 AM, we were settled into our B&B in the heart of Trapani’s old town and sitting around on plastic patio chairs around a plastic table eating really good Neapolitan-style pizza (or maybe it just tasted really good because we were so hungry, tired and irritated) and discussing the week ahead.
Today, we began our journey to our villa in Acireale, a small community located north of Catania, on the eastern shore of Sicily and our home for the next seven days. The day started with a long drive to Agrigento, in SW Sicily, to see the Valley of the Temples, a UNESCO site of temples and walls from the ancient city of Akragas (581 BC), according to my Lonely Planet Bible (have you seen the SIZE of it?!). After a few hours in the scorching sun and heat, we continued on towards Acireale. Winding our way through what should have been a walking path but was actually a road for cars, we came to the gate of our villa and admired the grove of lemon trees behind it while waiting for the villa’s owner to arrive with the keys. After a long, hot day we were yearning to jump in the swimming pool, and it did not disappoint.
Our villa is simple and quaint, with private rooms and washrooms for each pair, a kitchen and sitting area, an outdoor picnic table and BBQ, a large swimming pool with lounge chairs and pool toys, stunning views of Mt. Etna, … and a family of five cats (surprise!). Hmm, they didn’t mention cats on the website. Apparently the cats had decided to make the property their permanent home after discovering that soft-hearted guests provide a consistent supply of food. For the most part, it hasn`t been a problem having the cats around other than a lot of meowing at meal times.
