Western Sicily

Here we are again to tell you about a new trip to Sicily. Taking off from Parma with Windjet right on time, after an hour's flight here we are in Palermo. A rental Panda waits for us, and the adventure of finding the hotel begins — which isn't as simple as it should be when you have the address, but that's how it was. The SS113 is a beautiful road running along the whole coast, with a problem for those of us who don't live in the area: to get to the sea from the main road, and therefore to where the hotel is, you practically have to pass underneath it, but the problem, as I was saying, is that these underpasses aren't signposted, and arriving at night it's even worse, so you have to go by trial and error. Once we found the hotel, everything was fine.

The next day we start clocking up the kilometres to see as much as possible in a week; even though it's the third time we've come back to Sicily, there's always something you didn't see the time before. Like the Zingaro Nature Reserve, with spectacular views and coves worthy of the Caribbean; San Vito Lo Capo, also a wonderful place. Our hotel is near Corfu, a very pretty little town, full of people in its alleys in the evening. Monreale with its cathedral is a fairy tale. The island of Mozia, where there are Roman excavations; here there's also the Stagnone lagoon with its salt pans. Segesta with its temple, still almost intact. One tip: if you go to Palermo, don't go during the week, you'd be stuck in its chaotic traffic, whereas on Sunday it's deserted because Palermitans go out of town, and so the city is all yours.

There are many pebble beaches and few sandy ones, but the sea is always splendid wherever you go. Unfortunately the day of return always comes, so until next time, and BUON VIAGGIO to anyone setting off