Sicilian Treats: Savory and Sweet

Taste Test Thursday: Some tastes of Sicily

Prior to our trip to Italy, I did a bit of research on typical Sicilian foods and found out about some fried rice balls called arancini. These rice balls are generally filled with meat sauce, mozzarella, and peas, and then they're dipped in bread crumbs and fried. YUM!

Although we planned to cook most of our meals on a camp stove, arancini seemed like the perfect lunch on-the-go. Even before arriving in Sicily, Isaiah had a chance to try one out for lunch on our way to catch the ferry. (And subsequently, we ate them every day for like five days straight.)

Now, at this particular place, you pay for your items first at the cassa and then hand your receipt to the clerk behind the counter who reheats your food and hands it over. So, the problem is the name arancini comes from the Italian word for orange, arancia, because they look like oranges. Also, an orange drink is called an aranciata. And another thing, sometimes you'll see the plural word for this treat as "arancine" (feminine plural) or "arancini" (masculine plural) - this place used the feminine plural, which really screwed me up because that makes the singular "arancina." When I ordered for us, the man at the cassa must have thought I said aranciata because the man behind the counter looked at my receipt and then look at me kind of funny.

"Allora, vuoi una aranciata?" (So, you want an orange drink?)

"No, no. Ho sbagliato..." (No, no. I made a mistake...) I say, eying the arancine.

Switching to English, "Eh, you want-uh a rice-uh ball-uh?"

"Yes! I want a rice ball, please!"

Arancino filled with mozzarella

By the way, another yummy fried treat we loved was the rizzuola (rizzuole is the plural form) we had in Corleone. Try it!

As for sweets, oh there weren't enough hours in a day to try all the yummy typical desserts of Sicily. We tried a cannolo, babá (a cake dipped in rum sauce), bigné (sweet ricotta cream puff), and diplomatico (another sweet ricotta pastry/cake).

Ricotta Cake

Pistachio Cake

The pistachio cake we had one lunch wasn't my favorite - it tasted like too much pistachio. Luckily, many Sicilian desserts share a similar ingredient: ricotta. The ricotta cake shown above was the standout of the bunch we had a chance to try.

Budget Travel: Camping in Italy

Let's talk numbers. The purpose of disclosing how much we spent on three weeks worth of accommodations in Italy is to prove that budget travel in that country is truly possible. The key? Camping! Here's a list of all the campsites we called home during our three-week road trip through Italy.

First, I should warn anyone thinking of camping in Italy during winter that sleeping in a tent is not for the faint of heart. While many campsites throughout Italy are open year-round (and southern Italy boasts winter weather warm enough to sleep comfortably in a tent), most people camping during the winter months sleep in a camper rather than a tent. If you do choose to sleep in a tent, be prepared for odd looks from your fellow campers who step up into their mobile homes while you crawl into your tent.

A note on rates: Most of the rates below reflect the prices for 2009. Per night, campsites charge per person, per car, and per tent. The rates you see in my list include: 2 persons, one car, and one small tent.

We ended up deciding against camping in Florence at Camping Michelangelo because we didn't want to freeze our tushies. Yet for some reason we thought camping in Rome would be a bit better. Apparently, we missed the memo about the city experiencing its coldest winter in nine or ten years = waking up with a layer of frost on our tent. (Though I'd go back to that campsite during summer in a heartbeat.)

• €28/night for 3 nights at Camping Roma - Pros: Supermarket directly across the street from the campsite (accessible by a foot bridge), bus stop directly outside of camp gates, wireless Internet included, and heated bathrooms with nice showers. Cons: Non-existent bus schedule.
• €11.50/night for 2 nights at Camping Thurium in Corigliano Calabro, Calabria - Pros: CHEAP, private beach, big shopping mall down the road on main highway, and deserted in the winter. Cons: Because it's deserted in the winter, not all toilet facilities are open for use.
• €21.5/night for 4 nights at Camping Jonio in Catania, Sicily - Pros: Friendly staff and coastal location. Cons: It's a bit of a walk to closest bus stop that goes to the city.
• €17.5/night for 2 nights at Camping Valle dei Templi in Agrigento, Sicily - Pros: Produce market across the street, (longish) walking distance to seaside, bus stop outside of camp gates (bus goes into city and toward archeological site). Cons: Shower stalls have no place to hang towels or robe or clothing.
• €16/night for 2 nights at Camping Rais Gerbi in Finale di Pollina, Sicily - Pros: Plentiful and clean toilet and shower facilities, located along coast, and proprietor speaks English very well. Cons: Not a whole lot going on in the vicinity. (By the way, €16 is a discounted rate. There is a network of campsites throughout Sicily that offer discounts during the off-season months. Jonio and Rais Gerbi are part of this network, and Jonio is the camp that gave us the discount card.)
• €47.70/night for 2 nights back at Camping Roma, only this time we got smart and stayed in a private bungalow.

Tip: Bring your own TP!!

Non-camping accommodations:

• 2 nights at B&B in Florence outside of historical city center (not very noteworthy, so shall remain nameless): $50/night
• 1 night at small hostel, which also has campgrounds, called Ostello - Campeggio Beata Solitudo in Agerola, Campania (near hiking trails above the Amalfi coast, well-stocked common room and kitchen): €11.50/night/person
• 1 night at B&B in Calabria (also not noteworthy, so shall remain nameless): €50/night
• 2 nights at Palazzo dei Ciompi Suites in Florence: $80/night

Total cost of 3 weeks of accommodations (converted from Euros to U.S. Dollars): $788.00!!!

Last Stop: Lazy in Rainy Florence

Gates of Paradise

After a long day of sightseeing in Rome, we stopped at the bar/Internet point at our campsite to book a hotel for the next two nights in Florence. Our only criterion? That the room would not be located at a campsite. We booked the cheapest room we could find in the Santa Croce area and didn't bother looking at the photos.

Because we got robbed the day we left for Florence and spent two hours getting a police report drawn up, we got a late start on our drive north. We didn't get into Florence until after 8 PM, and since we didn't bother reading anything about our hotel, we had no idea that the reception desk closes at 8 unless guests call ahead of time to announce their tardiness. A young woman was locking up the office just as I walked into the building.

"Are you sure you are booked here? I am sorry, but we did not receive any new bookings today. Do you have a voucher?"

"No. I have no voucher. We booked online," I calmly replied with a slight hint of desperation.

"Look, I am going to miss my bus, so just take this key to the Boccaccio suite and we'll sort it out in the morning."

Suite? As soon as I opened the door, I became convinced that "sorting things out" in the morning would involve moving us to a different room. Surely this two bedroom, two bath suite with kitchenette, terrace, and large living areas was not meant for us. We did pay only $80/night, so there must have been some mistake. At any rate, we settled in a bit before going downstairs to the ground floor restaurant/bar for some pizza and vodka. (We got robbed that day, remember?) Fun place, great vibe, stylish, with yummy food.

The next day it was raining heavily, so we decided to have a super lazy morning. I went to the local Sant'Ambrogio market (similar to the covered portion of the more popular San Lorenzo market) to pick up some fresh veggies, cheese, salami, and eggs to prepare our next few meals. We had lunch in our suite, sorted things out with the reception (they found our booking after all, and there was no mistake - the suite was ours), and happily returned to Boccaccio to get ready to brave the elements.

First stop was the Leather School at Santa Croce with lots of beautiful eye candy. From there we popped into the cathedral to check out Machiavelli's tomb as well as Galileo's and Michelangelo's.

One of the things that we missed out on in Rome was the Etruscan collection at the Vatican because it was closed. Since Isaiah is really fascinated with Etruscan history, I suggested we go visit the National Archeological Museum of Florence, as our guidebook indicated that we'd find Egyptian and Etruscan collections. Well, let's just say there was a lot of Egyptian stuff and not much Etruscan. And the entrance price was reduced due to renovations. Considering the displays looked like they were from the 1970s, I'd say their renovations were well overdue. Oh yeah, and the one important Etruscan work they are known for having, the Chimaera, was on loan at the Getty in Los Angeles. Missed that memo at the museum entrance!

We spent the rest of the evening wandering around in the rain and scoping out shop windows with the hope of doing some shopping damage the next day, which was the January 6 holiday known as La Befana. Although this trip of ours was budget all the way, we found that we had been so good cooking our own meals and staying at campsites for the most part that there was room for us to splurge a bit at the end.

Despite the La Befana holiday, shops were indeed open, and the rain had finally let up, making us in less of a hurry to get back home, so we popped into a leather shoe shop and bought Isaiah a handsome pair of brogued wingtip lace-up ankle boots. At another shop, I got a pair of silver leather Superga sneakers. We also stopped at the San Lorenzo market and bought Isaiah a hat. Of course we didn't go crazy with the shopping, but we did find some nice things to take back with us as a little reward for being such Budget-travel troopers for 3 weeks...

Our final meal in Florence was at a pizzeria near our hotel that I would highly recommend:

Il Pizzaiuolo
Via de' Macci, 113/r
closed Sunday

Now, I also recommend our accommodations, but do remember this place is not actually a hotel. Staff and service is very limited, as this is a self-catered type of accommodation. The building is called Palazzo dei Ciompi and is part of the MSN Suites network. Although I have read negative reviews about this place describing some terrible rooms, those descriptions didn't sound anything like our accommodations. We loved everything about our experience: great location (5 minute walk from Duomo), spacious rooms, high ceilings, and the stocked kitchenette. OK, there was no spatula and the shower needed some time to warm up, but other than that we didn't have any problems. If you'd like to have apartment-style accommodations and you like the look of this room, book the Boccaccio suite.

Morning coffee in the dining/living room

San Lorenzo market

Pralines sampler from Vestri

Well, after that, it was back home to Switzerland. Thanks for reading about our trip and being so patient with me as I took my sweet time getting all these posts up. Stay tuned for a write-up of the campsites at which we stayed and a Sicilian food post.

Rome Round Two

Days 19 & 20: Archeological sites and walking tour

As for accommodations this time around, we went back to the same campsite from Rome Round One, only this time we opted for a bungalow (mobile home with a bathroom and a heater - good enough). It was still cold out, and after almost two weeks of sleeping in a tent, we were pretty over the idea of setting up camp.

Eager to get back home to Au, we planned for only one full day and a half in Rome to cram in the sights we missed the first time around. One thing we hadn't planned for was the crazy amount of tourists this time of year. Just days before Christmas the campsite was a bit deserted, and now a few days into the New Year the place was packed. Plus, when we finally made our way down to the bus stop, we found ourselves waiting with about two busloads of people from camp all waiting to catch the ONE bus that goes to the metro stop to catch the metro that goes to the city center. Forty-five minutes later, we finally made it on the bus.

Once on the metro, we exited at the Colosseo stop, and what we saw when our eyes met the daylight was a sea of shiny-jacket people. Tourists everywhere. Who are these crazy people who visit really cold places in the winter? Ourselves included, of course. The line to enter the Colosseum? Ridiculous. I told Isaiah that it would probably not be as crowded at one of the other sites (Roman Forum, Colosseum, and Palatine Hill are all under one ticket for 12 Euros that's valid for 2 days), so we headed over to the Roman Forum entrance, and sure enough it was much more bearable. We bought our tickets and waited around for our free English language tour to begin.

I'm not sure how often this happens, but when we bought our tickets, the clerk asked if we wanted to join a free tour, so of course we accepted. We had the pleasure of visiting the frescoed inside of the Temple of Romulus, which up until recently was normally closed to the public. Our guide gave us some background information on the temple, explaining that the very bronze doors through which we entered were part of the temple's original decoration from the 4th century AD. You can peer into the temple from the church of Santi Cosma e Damiano, but what made our tour and visit exceptional was an organized theatrical performance inside the temple.

Because the archeological sites close early during the winter (3 pm), we would have to wait until the morning to visit the Palatine and Colosseum. For the rest of the evening, we wandered around using self-guided walking tour cards, window-shopped, stopped into the Vittorio Emanuele monument, and enjoyed views of the city at night. Rome seemed to be even more lively once the sun went down. It made us really miss the nightlife we had back in SD - ho hum. Anyway, there was a funny little seasonal "shopping bus" that ran in a loop from Piazza Venezia to the train station, so we hopped on to warm up a bit. We made the loop a couple of times, no lie. Hey - it was free!

Temple of Antoninus and Faustina

Entering Temple of Romulus

Isola Tiberina

Circo Massimo

Teatro di Marcello (left)

Love this mix of ancient and modern Rome!

We started our final day in Rome at the Palatine Hill - the genuine birthplace of ancient Rome. Then we made one final pass through the Forum and on to the Colosseum.

Fragments of Claudian aqueduct, Palatine Hill

I do realize that it's a bit odd of us to be smiling in these photos of the Colosseum, especially since some 9,000 animals died during its inaugural events just for sport. Could it be that we were both that happy to be in Rome? Probably. But those are also the oblivious smiles of two tourists who have not yet discovered they've been robbed. Yes, when we got back to our car, we discovered the driver's side lock had been broken and a thief had managed to make off with our navigation system (but not my MacBook - thank the Lord)! Upon discovery of our loss, we flagged down the carabinieri who directed us to their nearest office. Two hours later, we got a great police report written up, ready to hand it to our car insurance company. Through all this we somehow managed to stay calm. Somehow we even made it to our hotel in Florence that night using just the maps in our guidebooks and one I grabbed from the train station tourist office...

As for the car - blessed Swiss car insurance took care of everything when we got back: car lock repaired within one week and the value of our navigation system reimbursed within two. We didn't even have to pay a deductible.

Arrivederci, Sicilia

Days 16 - 18: New Year's Eve in Pollina, New Year's Day ferry ride back to mainland Italy, Scigliano, and Amalfi Coast

The morning of December 31, we woke up to glorious sunshine. With no particular plan in mind, we dressed and packed our bag for an excursion (on foot). As we made our way through the campsite, we noticed the proprietors were in the midst of renovations. (This was actually pretty common throughout our travels - such is camping life during the off-season.) A man splitting stones, presumably to construct stone walls, stopped his work to ask us, in German, if we were going to go for a walk.

"Yes, yes. Um, but you can speak with us in Italian."

"Oh? I saw your plates from Sankt Gallen and figured I should speak to you in German."

Bless that Sicilian man's heart for trying to speak "our language." I explained the whole "we're Americans living in Switzerland" spiel. I then asked if he had any recommendations for us. He mentioned that the town of Pollina offered beautiful views all the way to Céfalu and Palermo, so we decided to go there.

Because a road sign indicated that Pollina was 12 km away via the main road, Isaiah was convinced that if we could find a more direct path originating in Finale di Pollina, we'd be able to cut the journey down to around 7-8 km. Mind you, we had no idea if such a path existed, but we sure hoped it did. We wandered around for a bit before we decided to follow a small road leading out of town and into a hillside residential area.

Miraculously, we were able to follow this road all the way up to Pollina - a miracle I tell you. No helpful Wanderweg signs reassuring us we were heading in the right direction. No, we were following Isaiah's gut feeling and, well, it worked. We ended up hiking through a national park, kaki (persimmon) trees, orange groves, country homes, and a little stream. At one point I thought we were trespassing onto private property.

"Ciao ragazzi," a group of men called to us.

"Ciao. Buon giorno," I nervously replied. We kept walking.

"Chi siete?" one of them called after us. (Who are you?)

"Stranieri," I called back, flashing a friendly smile. (Foreigners.)

"Oh, OK. Have a nice trip!"


When we finally made it to Pollina, around 750 meters above sea level, we agreed that the couple of hours it took to make it there were well worth it. We looked west and enjoyed this view toward Céfalu.

Looking east gave us this view. See that little white speck? It's snow-capped Mt. Etna!

Pollina was actually built around a Norman castle. All that remains today is this tower. In the late '70s, the town built a modern amphitheater below it.

Not sure how much it gets used as a theater, but we did see a family park their car here to unload their groceries. Then everyone had to chip in and carry everything up into one of these charming houses.

We bought some picnic items at the ONLY shop that was open in the whole town. We also asked about buses that went back down to Finale. Thank goodness there were two more scheduled to run that afternoon.

That evening, while making a pasta dinner (again), a lovely French couple handed us two flutes of champagne and some sweets (including yummier-than-usual panettone and an amazing cannolo). They wished us a Happy New Year and returned to their camper.

The next day, we returned the flutes and wished them an enjoyable vacation. It turns out, they had retired a couple of years before, and this was their second winter in Sicily. In fact, they had two more months of "vacation" to go. Actually, the whole campsite was dominated by French pensioners. Each morning they greeted us with a bonjour, not buon giorno. Once, I attempted to initiate the greeting and ended up wishing one woman bonsoir at 9 am. TOO MANY languages in my head!

That afternoon, we packed up camp and headed to Messina to catch the ferry. Although we were extremely sad to leave Sicily, I have a feeling we'll go back there someday...

Late in the evening, we arrived in Scigliano, Calabria, as a stopping point with the goal of doing some sightseeing there in the morning. We did catch a fantastic living nativity (presepe vivente), but the next day was cold and rainy and yucky, so we decided to get an early start to our second visit to Rome.

Have any of you ever visited a living nativity? This was a first for me, and I loved it! The whole center of Scigliano had transformed into Bethlehem. Townspeople role-played different parts including scribes and metal-workers. It was lots of fun!

The next morning while we were grabbing a quick coffee, the townspeople began asking us, "Do you have family in Scigliano? What are you doing here?" (They're not so accustomed to tourists 'round those parts.) I explained that it was a stopping point for us, but that we very much enjoyed the living nativity from the night before.

"You did? Don't you recognize me? I was the one holding the cane..."

On our way to Rome, we took a detour along the Amalfi Coast in Campania and stopped in Amalfi for a seafood lunch. We also stopped in Minori, below, to buy some limoncello for R & F!

From Agrigento to Finale

Days 14 and 15: Valle dei Templi (Valley of the Temples) in Agrigento and drive to Finale di Pollina (last stop in Sicily)

Our time in Sicily truly felt like vacation (because too much sightseeing sometimes just feels like work). The day we visited the temples we leisurely woke with the sun (OK, maybe a bit after that), took our time at breakfast, wandered around the archeological site, ate lunch when our stomachs began to growl, came back to camp, took a nap, made dinner, read by the camp light (because it got dark by 5 PM), and crashed out never knowing what time any of the previous events had occurred. Although we had no idea what time we got there or how long we stayed, I estimate that we spent about half a day exploring the temples.

If we could do it all over again, the only thing we'd do differently is hire a professional tour guide or buy the guide book and lead ourselves. The audio guide was not very helpful, and we left with only a vague understanding that the ancient Greeks built these sandstone temples between the 6th and 5th centuries B.C. We would have liked to learn a little bit more about the historical context, but I guess we should have done our homework...

Temple of Heracles (Hercules)

Temple of Concordia
Temple of Hera (Juno) Lacinia

The next morning, "Hercules" and her sisters greeted us as we packed up camp to head to our next destination.

After a stop in Corleone (the inspiration for The Godfather) for lunch, we arrived at our campsite in Finale di Pollina. Probably the smallest town I've ever been to, Finale consists of the campsite and one main road with shops and residences.