Everyone has a different travel philosophy. And, what might work for one person, at one particular time in their life, might not work for that same person at a different time. Certainly, Brian and I notice the differences between this trip to Italy and the two previous times we came here. So, the following is not to say that our way is right, I am merely taking a moment to appreciate a couple of cool experiences we have had because of our approach on this trip. While in Sicily, we had two distinct experiences which rewarded us for our flexibility and spontaneity.
Altofonte
We were renting a house near the town of Castellammare del Golfo which is approximately 40 minutes west of Palermo, one of Sicily's largest cities. Palermo is a big, crowded and, at times dirty city. But, it also has some unique open-air markets and is known for it's marionettes (museum and shows). So, one day, we got a fairly early start to our day and hopped into the car to brave Palermo. We made it into the city and it became clear pretty quickly that parking was going to be extremely difficult in this city. Further, the roads were twisting and complicated enough that several times we could not drive the direction we had set out to go. So.... before long, we decided that Palermo wasn't in the cards for us and we set to redirect generally back to our little house. Well, easier said than done!
With Brian at the wheel and me navigating (and boys and Ale in back), we tried to get back to the main road to our house. I saw what looked like an interesting smaller road where, perhaps we would see a few pretty sights on our way back and maybe stop somewhere for breakfast. The map clearly showed that the roads were narrow and twisting, but we weren't prepared for the steep climb and that these narrow roads would have lots of CARS parked on both sides! Yikes! These conditions meant that turning around wasn't an option, either! So, there we were in little Altofonte (means tall spring) Italy. We hadn't planned it, but there we were. There was even a point where Brian had turned toward "Centro" and found himself not sure he could physically navigate the car (a 4-door sedan, but not a huge car) around some buidlings and between other cars. There were one or two cars behind us in close quarters, so turning around wasn't an option either. So, I got out and carefully guided him through the maze that is Altofonte. (We wish we could have stopped to take a photo!) We all remained calm and had a good laugh when I was able to get back into the car. We decided to not follow any more signs toward "Centro"! We were finally able to get our car pointed back down and away from the town but still hadn't had breakfast. As we were driving, Ale hollered from the back seat, "Caffetteria! Stop the car!" This time, it was her eagle eye that saved us. Luckily, there was a place to park and we all hauled out for something to eat.
The caffetteria or pasticceria we found was truly amazing. It is called Love Story and we tried a little bit of everything. You can find and "like" them on Facebook. :-) We had two types of arancini (the filled and fried rice balls) that were the best we had in Sicily, amazingly beautiful ice cream on-a-stick creations, pastries and coffee. The staff was extremely friendly and patient - we could not have been more ecstatic to find this place!
Baida
The other discovery came a few days later when we decided to investigate the little coastal town of Scopello. It is smaller than the small Castellammare del Golfo, but closer to our rental house and so we planned to head over and give it a try for dinner. We arrived at what we thought was Scopello and didn't find much appealing for dinner but saw an orange sign for Ristorante Baida which we decided to follow. We drove the direction the sign had pointed us until we were sure we had gone too far, but then we saw another orange sign, saying "Ristorante Baida". Then, it happened again, and again, and again. There were probably 10-12 orange signs and between each a period of time that made us think, "what the heck"? We had wound and climbed into the hills above Scopello and could see the town far below us. Brian even started making Deliverance jokes and wondered when someone was going to step into the road and say, "Where you going, city boy?" Eventually, he used the mapping app on his Italian phone, saw where we were and where Ristorante Baida might be. At this point, we were very worried about what this dinner would be like and how long it might take us to redirect to something else. But, we soldiered on and eventually arrived at what was clearly a large family piece of land with some farm spaces, a little restaurant and a few other buildings. We were welcomed in warmly and seated with a lovely view of the coast below us.
The waitress (and owner, for all we know) was extremely helpful. The menu was large, but we figured with a place like this that there were certainly specialties of the house that we should try. She kindly offered suggestions for all courses which turned out to be wonderful, fresh and tasty. The weather high up was mild with a nice breeze. All-in-all, we were rewarded with a wonderful dinner and an experience we won't forget. And, in the end, Brian was able to find a different route back to our house that didn't involve retracing our steps.
So, in the moments when I am frustrated by aspects of this "slow travel", I remind myself of what opportunities this approach offers.
Altofonte
We were renting a house near the town of Castellammare del Golfo which is approximately 40 minutes west of Palermo, one of Sicily's largest cities. Palermo is a big, crowded and, at times dirty city. But, it also has some unique open-air markets and is known for it's marionettes (museum and shows). So, one day, we got a fairly early start to our day and hopped into the car to brave Palermo. We made it into the city and it became clear pretty quickly that parking was going to be extremely difficult in this city. Further, the roads were twisting and complicated enough that several times we could not drive the direction we had set out to go. So.... before long, we decided that Palermo wasn't in the cards for us and we set to redirect generally back to our little house. Well, easier said than done!
With Brian at the wheel and me navigating (and boys and Ale in back), we tried to get back to the main road to our house. I saw what looked like an interesting smaller road where, perhaps we would see a few pretty sights on our way back and maybe stop somewhere for breakfast. The map clearly showed that the roads were narrow and twisting, but we weren't prepared for the steep climb and that these narrow roads would have lots of CARS parked on both sides! Yikes! These conditions meant that turning around wasn't an option, either! So, there we were in little Altofonte (means tall spring) Italy. We hadn't planned it, but there we were. There was even a point where Brian had turned toward "Centro" and found himself not sure he could physically navigate the car (a 4-door sedan, but not a huge car) around some buidlings and between other cars. There were one or two cars behind us in close quarters, so turning around wasn't an option either. So, I got out and carefully guided him through the maze that is Altofonte. (We wish we could have stopped to take a photo!) We all remained calm and had a good laugh when I was able to get back into the car. We decided to not follow any more signs toward "Centro"! We were finally able to get our car pointed back down and away from the town but still hadn't had breakfast. As we were driving, Ale hollered from the back seat, "Caffetteria! Stop the car!" This time, it was her eagle eye that saved us. Luckily, there was a place to park and we all hauled out for something to eat.
The caffetteria or pasticceria we found was truly amazing. It is called Love Story and we tried a little bit of everything. You can find and "like" them on Facebook. :-) We had two types of arancini (the filled and fried rice balls) that were the best we had in Sicily, amazingly beautiful ice cream on-a-stick creations, pastries and coffee. The staff was extremely friendly and patient - we could not have been more ecstatic to find this place!
Baida
The other discovery came a few days later when we decided to investigate the little coastal town of Scopello. It is smaller than the small Castellammare del Golfo, but closer to our rental house and so we planned to head over and give it a try for dinner. We arrived at what we thought was Scopello and didn't find much appealing for dinner but saw an orange sign for Ristorante Baida which we decided to follow. We drove the direction the sign had pointed us until we were sure we had gone too far, but then we saw another orange sign, saying "Ristorante Baida". Then, it happened again, and again, and again. There were probably 10-12 orange signs and between each a period of time that made us think, "what the heck"? We had wound and climbed into the hills above Scopello and could see the town far below us. Brian even started making Deliverance jokes and wondered when someone was going to step into the road and say, "Where you going, city boy?" Eventually, he used the mapping app on his Italian phone, saw where we were and where Ristorante Baida might be. At this point, we were very worried about what this dinner would be like and how long it might take us to redirect to something else. But, we soldiered on and eventually arrived at what was clearly a large family piece of land with some farm spaces, a little restaurant and a few other buildings. We were welcomed in warmly and seated with a lovely view of the coast below us.
The waitress (and owner, for all we know) was extremely helpful. The menu was large, but we figured with a place like this that there were certainly specialties of the house that we should try. She kindly offered suggestions for all courses which turned out to be wonderful, fresh and tasty. The weather high up was mild with a nice breeze. All-in-all, we were rewarded with a wonderful dinner and an experience we won't forget. And, in the end, Brian was able to find a different route back to our house that didn't involve retracing our steps.
So, in the moments when I am frustrated by aspects of this "slow travel", I remind myself of what opportunities this approach offers.
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