Sicilian New Year

For New Years, I wasn’t quite sure where to go.  We had Ryan’s parents here and many of the places they suggested were just booked up or too crazy during the New Year.  I hopped on Ryanair to check out the cheapest flights and see what options we had.  Trapani pulled up and I was intrigued.  Where in Italy is Trapani? Oh, Sicily…hmmmm, I’ve never been there.  That took me on a whirlwind research project of Sicily, and after talking it over with Ryan’s parents, we decided we would check it out.

I have to say we were all pleasantly surprised.  We arrived at the Trapani Airport and easily picked up our rental car.  Initially, we knew we would get a manual, so Ryan’s dad had his international license from Triple A ready to go.  I think we need to learn how to drive a stick soon, because some countries just don’t have automatics.  We were in luck this day, because they had one tiny automatic that we could have!  I had booked another Airbnb apartment in the center of town and right across the street from the bay.  It was a great place, easy to find, free parking/WIFI, and a great location for traveling around the Western side of the Island. 

Sicily is full of history, but when I began my research there just isn’t a ton out there.  I had to pull from several sources to come up with our busy itinerary.  Renting a car is a must in Sicily and ensure that’s you can get to far off locations. 

The first night was New Years Eve.  The problem was it was winter in Italy, on an Island, and a holiday.  It was 7:30 pm and we were hungry, but most places don’t open back up until 8:00 pm.  We finally found a place that hosted us, and we had some amazing wine and traditional Sicilian eats! 

The next day we were up early and set off to explore parts of the Island.  Our first stop was Erice.  This town is on top of a hill and overlooks Trapani and the ocean.  It was like stepping back into time here!  It had snowed up there, strangely enough, so the streets were challenging to navigate in our choice of footwear.  We managed to see the highlights and take in all the breathtaking views! After Erice, we were hungry for lunch, but nothing was really open (since it was New Years Day) so we continued on with the plan for the day hoping to find some food along the way. 

We drove downhill along the back roads through tiny villages along the way toward Scopello.  We stopped here and took in some views while we hunted for a restaurant.  Of course, its Italy on a holiday and nothing was open.  We continued on our drive to the Zingaroo National Reserve.  This place is gorgeous.  You can spend a day hiking all the way to San Vito and back, but we didn’t have time so we just explored for a few hours. 

After realizing we weren’t going to find food, we drove back to Trapani thinking that surely in a large city something would be open right? WRONG.  We hunted for food and had no luck.  Thankfully, we had picked up wine and eggs the night before at a market, so we snacked on scrambled eggs until restaurants began opening up again. 

Sure enough, we had difficulty finding food on New Years Day.  The only thing we could find at 7:00 pm was Chinese.  It was the worst Chinese I have ever had, but at least it filled our bellies after a long day of sightseeing!

The next day was really fun. We drove about 2 hours south to Agrigento.  These are some of the oldest Greek ruins in the world and the best preserved.  We spend several hours hiking through and checking it all out. 

From here, we drove to Eraclea Minoa.  There are some decent ruins here and a nice place to picnic.  If you have time you can also drive to the beach area to relax.  After starving the day before we found a grocery store and stocked up on wine, meat, cheese, and snacks to ensure we would survive Sicily.  It was a nice little picnic and hike here.  

From here we tried to stop to see more ruins in Selinute.   We arrived 15 minutes before closing and were not allowed to enter the grounds.  Marsala was last on our daily list so we continued on.  We really enjoyed Marsala.  We parked and walked around the city and watched the sunset.  We found a great little spot for Gelato and wine tasting.  I really like Marsala wine, but it was not Ryan’s favorite.  We had a great pizzeria dinner and took a loop around the downtown to see some churches and architecture.  Marsala is only a 30 minute drive from Trapani and a nice easy day trip if you ever are in the area.  

Our last full day in Sicily, we took on new ground.  We got up early and drove to Segesta.  This place has great ruins and more specifically a Temple and Amphitheater that are in great condition.  We were the only people there at first so we really got to enjoy the view and the ruins.  After Segesta we drove to Monreale.  These little villages up in the hills are pretty amazing.  I love the rustic colors and architecture here.  Monreale also overlooks Palermo and the Mediterranean, so that really is the icing on the cake. Monreale had great little shops and a café we stopped at for lunch.  The big thing to see is the Cathedral.  This church is one of my favorites because every piece of artwork, all of the walls, the ceiling, everything are mosaics.  Just thinking about the detail and the work that went into creating that place blows my mind! 

It was time to head into the big city to top off our long day.  First, we drove up Monte Pellegrino.  You can also park and hike up, but due to time constraints we opted to drive our little car up to the top! It was really breathtaking around each curve.  Once we got to the top, we opened some local wine and savored the views. 

 Monreale cathedral

 Monreale streets

gelato and sandwiches oh and WINE!

Monte Pellegrino

 Palermo Cathedral 

 ballero market 

Then the rough part started.  We had to drive into the city of Palermo to find parking and explore the city.  Ryan was losing his mind.  Italian drivers do not have rules and in traffic especially no rules apply.  We almost died several times and his patience was fleeting.  It is times like these you miss Germany and people following the rules religiously!  We finally found some random parking and made our way to the Cathedral.  We walked through the Ballero Market, down to the dock, and explored several churches and squares along the way.  Palermo does have lots of charm and I enjoyed the little markets scattered throughout the city.  I didn’t do the best job planning things to see in Palermo and we arrived only one and a half hours before the sun was setting.   We decided not to take a chance on dinner and drive back to Trapani where we knew of a good local place to try. 

Vicoletto.  This place is amazing, small, and the owner Daniel was great.  I highly recommend this hole in the wall deliciousness if you find yourself in Trapani! I had this amazing pistachio cream sauce pasta that I want to eat everyday for the rest of my life! 

Our last day in Sicily, we had until about 1:00 pm to do something.  We headed down to the downtown Trapani area and checked out the sights.  It was really a cute town and had great views of the ocean and Erice up above.  We found a little cafe and had a cappuccino and pastry, while people watching.  Another random note about Sicily, there were lots of stray dogs EVERYWHERE.  They were all super nice, but it was just crazy seeing so many stray animals. After exploring Trapani, we checked out the Salt Fields and windmills.  Nothing really crazy here to see, but it was interesting.

In general, it was a great trip and we want to go back to explore the Eastern side of the island sometime.  Such a little hidden Italian gem and not to be missed! 

Lodging: Airbnb in Trapani 

Transportation: Rental Car 

Flights: Frankfurt Hahn to Trapani via Ryan Air