Ragusa

The drive from Agrigento to Ragusa is about 2.5 hours, made only slightly longer by getting lost about 6 times. (We’ve learned to dread that Google maps’ geboing that means “missed the turn again stupid.”) We passed miles and miles (literally) of hooped hothouses for growing vegetables, often filled with enormous tomato bushes. Sicily is … Read more

Agrigento & the Valley of Temples

Our train ride from Palermo to Agrigento was packed with an amiable crowd of commuters who chattered to one another in Sicilian until they fell asleep, all at once, as if on cue. We traveled east along the coast with the sparkling deep blue Mediterranean on our left, steep hills with perched houses on our … Read more

Norman Palace and Palatine Chapel, Palermo

On Monday, after a nourishing breakfast of arancini (rice dumplings stuffed with stuff) and sundry pastries, we ambled back up past Teatro Massimo to the Norman Palace to see more mosaics. Every middle schooler in Palermo was at the palace on what was apparently the designated field trip day to see both medieval splendors and … Read more

Palermo and Monreale

Saturday, after one of those extra long travel days, we arrived in Palermo, Sicily for the beginnings of a three week touristic adventure. We are staying in the heart of downtown at Delle Vittorie Luxury Rooms & Suiteswith spacious rooms, expansive breakfasts and lovely young ladies who are gently amused at my attempts to speak Italian. … Read more

A Little Bite at the Big Apple

We escaped the late winter blahs for a New York City weekend. Spring was in the air and the weather was balmy – a very good thing, since we had little desire to go indoors in a city with Covid blooming. But the other springtime blooms were glorious, so feast your color-deprived eyes on some … Read more