It is going to be difficult to describe the incredible road trip we made at the end of October in Sicily. We spent two complete weeks there, without the kids, to explore this extraordinary island.

We had multiple goals : spend time together, enjoy the food and wine, dive in new seas and see most of the places listed on the UNESCO World Heritage list. And it is exactly what we did.

After a smooth landing at Palermo's airport we took our rented car and headed immediately towards Cefalù, an adorable coastal town with narrow streets, a gourmet restaurant above the sea and a beautiful arabo-norman cathedral which is a must-see of course. We quickly moved on towards Taormina, a famous diving and partying place but we decided to make a pause and a quick search on the Internet gave us the location of Tyndaris. It was a very very nice surprise as we ended up spending three hours walking in the ruins and the streets of this ancient Greek city. It is always pleasant to be alone in those places and to be able to imagine it teeming with life.

But Taormina was a case of love at first site. The city is built on a mountain overlooking a coast cut out with little bays where the diving resorts are. It is a little place where most streets are just stairs, where you ride a funicular to reach the city center where we had found a charming little hotel. We spent three full days there, discovering sunk roman columns and doing a little cave diving, enjoying delicious cocktails, Granitas and warm brioche, roaming around the hidden or crowded streets and gardens beautifully illuminated at night and marveling at the majesty of the Roman amphitheater overshadowing the city. We also booked a visit of the volcano Etna which ended up being a private tour and that was very cool.

When it was time to continue south we headed up to Noto, one of the most famous Sicilian baroque city of the Val di Noto which encompasses 8 cities which shared a common fate. They were all completely destroyed by the enormous 1693 Sicily earthquake but afterwards it was decided that new settlements would be built at the same place and the nobleman nominated for the task decided to design the new towns in a baroque and renaissance style which is now named Sicilian Baroque style. The most notable one is Noto and we decided that it was worth its reputation. The city is built in a special stone which gives it a honey tone when the sun shines. It has a geometrical pattern and large squares where bars and restaurants welcome the visitors. There we bought a special ticket and visited various places such as a theater, the city hall, churches, palaces. And then we moved on to Syracuse.

We have a split opinion about Syracuse. Well at the same time the city is composed of two parts and we slept exactly in the middle. The part inland was of no interest except the ruins of Neapolis, a huge archeological parc which dates back to the Greek and then Roman presence in the area. It is spectacular, a mixture of well-kept, unkept ruins, quarries and chaotic landscape right in the middle of the city. Unfortunately we couldn't see the so-called tomb of Archimedes but the visit was worthwhile. The other part is in fact an island, Ortygia, linked to Sicilia by two bridges. This is where Syracuse is up to its reputation. Ortygia is beautiful, colorful, noisy, interesting. We found great places to walk around, to eat, to listen to music. And one of the most impressive places was the cathedral which still retains the pillars of the ancient temple dedicated to Athena. This mixture of old and new, of paganism and monotheism was quite surprising. We also had a few dives as we had heard that it was a famous diving place. To be honest we were a little disappointed. Except a bronze statue of a mermaid that was recently placed underwater, we didn't see anything extraordinary. But it is always nice to go underwater so we don't complain.

The day we left Syracuse was a very busy one. We headed inland and made a stop at Caltagirone, another famous Sicilian baroque city. This one which is a maze of very little streets perched on a rocky outcrop is characterized by the extensive use of multi-color mosaics and one of the most visible example is a staircase of 142 steps, each one decorated with polychrome ceramic tiles. We couldn't stay long because our goal was the Roman Villa del Casale which is almost at the center of the island. It dates back to the end of the IIIrd century, has around 30 rooms including private roman baths and apartments, a central garden and fountain (a pool I would say). More important, the excavations have revealed preserved mosaic floors of incredible beauty and diversity. This visit was one of the most awing, moving and informative visits of the road trip. If there is a place to go when in Sicily, this is one of them. But the following one was also extraordinary.

The valley of the Temples in Agrigente is unimaginable if you haven't experienced it. We were lucky to have booked a room in a B&B situated in the middle of the archeological area with a direct view of the temples by day, illuminated by the sun, and night, beautifully lighted by warm electrical lights. Our stay was perfect, welcomed by a family living in a mixture of traditional house, farm, surrounded by dogs, birds, peacocks (at least 10). And there are no words to describe the feelings experienced when you walk from temple to temple, some almost completely in ruins, others almost complete. We listened to ours hosts recommendation so, after having visited the archeological museum we headed to the valley and walked our way up during daylight to slowly walk our way down during dusk. It was magical.

And we ended our road trip in Palermo where we spent almost three days there. Before taking our quarters in the city center, we made a stopover in Monreale where we discovered what a religious mosaic decoration means. It was so overwhelming, so intense, so present, it took our breath away. And the cloister was a magnificent garden in a delicate stone setting that left us wondering what it could have been if all this energy, all this creativity, all this wealth had been used for other means than to celebrate a deity. This question will remain at the back of our head for the rest of the stay because we had the chance to see other manifestations of the splendor of the arabo-norman civilization in Palermo's cathedral, in the Palatine Chapel and the Royal Palace, and other less publicized places such as the San Cataldo Church or the Zisa Palace. We also visited the Catacombe dei Cappuccini which is a burial site with around 8000 corpses and more than 1000 mummies displayed on the walls of the galleries. We were not ready for the visit as we thought it would be an underground location with a few bones eventually. But we quickly got over it and continued to discover Palermo. So we saw other churches, palaces, walked beautiful avenues and cute little streets, found nice restaurants and too expensive bars, enjoyed the Jacuzzi in our hotel room.




And then it was time to leave with our memories still fresh in our mind and the will to do that again next year at the same time. For the moment we hesitate between Croatia, Cyprus, Portugal or Greece again.
There are many more pictures and videos in our shared gallery.