Sicily Travel Blog

The Greek Temple in Segesta is a site where you can view the gorgeous Greek Temple above as well as an amphitheater high on the mountain where you can get an incredible view of the Sicilian countryside.  If you didn’t know Sicily has some of the best Greek Temples in the world.  Segesta in unique in that it’s not very close to water as most Greek Temple’s and cities are.  You can reach the temple on a short drive from the capital city of Palermo.  Don’t forget to also see the picturesque Greek Temples in Agrigento as well as Selinunte in Sicily.

Click here to see more pictures of Sicily and check out our top 5 section for more things to do in Sicily and around the world.

The video below is just for kicks and giggles but the story you are about to read really did happen to me.  When I was living in Sicily I had one of the nicest landlords on the planet.  He was Italian which means his name had to be Giuseppe (insert hand motions here).  During one of my first nights in Sicily, he wanted to treat me to a dinner at his home so I could get an authentic taste of the new culture I was delving into.

First let me describe my landlord and his family.  It was a typical Italian family with the male patriarch running the household.  I could barely speak any Italian at this point so my conversation was limited to Spanish and lots of hand motions.

Momma & Poppa

The orange juice in Italy is delicious since its fortified with plenty of sugar.  Sicilians are a very proud people, they don’t even consider themselves Italian!  If you ask a Sicilian where they are from they will clearly explain Sicily, not Italy.

Orange juice is the first thing we fought about and how Sicily didn’t have the world’s best Orange juice.  I said Florida orange juice (which is all natural) compared to the sugar infested orange juice they have in Italy.  Poppa wouldn’t let it go until I brought him some natural home grown orange juice from the sunshine state.

If you didn’t know, Sicilians also speak a different dialect of Italian.  Most Americans are confused by this since most people in the states speak the same “relative” language (I think you know what I mean when I say relative).  To give you an idea its like speaking with someone with a Boston accent compared to someone from the middle of Idaho, but with much more variation.  I have asked northern Italians whether they can understand Sicilian and most say it’s very difficult to make out.

After debating about how Sicily has the best everything, we moved on to the 9th course, otherwise known as the main course.  It was a soft al dente pasta with the richest of marinara sauces.  Southern Italian cuisine is identified by the use of more tomatoes while the north is highlighted by more white sauces.  I could throw the pasta against the slipperiest of objects and it would still stick.  The stuff was delicious and very rich.

I proceeded to salivate over the pasta and gently picked up my knife and fork.  They are even proper at home by serving you a spoon to scoop the retarded pasta that never wants to get on your fork.  I simply started playing tick, tack, toe with my pasta, and cut it into squares.  And thats when all hell broke loose.  It went a little something like this:

Eventually I understood that I should mess with a man’s pasta.  I think its so funny how when you are in different cultures the smallest things could be consider a “no-no”.  I never tried to cut my pasta again and I was even able to get all the retarded pasta strings on my spoon!  lol

Afterwards, he served French style crepes with Nutella for dessert.  We would hang out often because poppa was a hysterical man.  Every time we would eat pasta I would pretend that I was going to cut it and the hairs on his head would immediately stand to attention! Speaking of which, I have some Nutella in the pantry, end of post.

Church in Savoca where the marriage occcurred

I honestly was never a huge Godfather fan, I have watched all three films and did enjoy them but not fanatical about them.  What I have been more obsessed with is the actual Italian Mafia.  When I was living in Sicily for close to two years I actually ran into the Mafia, everywhere.

The first time was in a cafe where they were, um, “hanging out”.  I actually got to interact with them and they were pretty cool which means they didn’t mug me.  There are a lot of people that are clearly fascinated with the mafia and since Sicily is one of the havens for the Italian mafia you can find them everywhere.

One city that will pop out at you right away is the city of Corleone.  The infamous Corleone family from the movie came from the this city and if you visit it you will be very disappointed.

When I think of Corleone, it reminds me of something dark and underdeveloped.  This of course is the exact opposite as even the movie crew from The Godfather didn’t choose the city because it looks overdeveloped. But you can go and say you have been there, it kind of cool to say that you been to Corleone (thats why I went).

The beginning of Forza D'Agro

The cities where they did filming in Sicily were Forza D’Agro and Savoca near the very touristy city of Taormina.  While Taormina is considered a tourist trap by any means, Froza D’Agro and Savoca are a much different breed.  Both will be very tranquil and quiet while you explore, makes it feel like there were plenty of opportunities to bury bodies in the area!

Taormina doesn’t allow any cars on its street which is a guide to how touristy it is but the two cities where the Godfather was filmed do allow you to drive up.  In both cities you can view the country side’s and different scenes from the movie in addition to churches.  You can also see the Bar Vitelli where a scene was filmed in Savoca as well.

Both give you a very eerie feeling as you walk around, especially Forza D’Agro.  In the city they have the cemetery at the top of the hill looking over city and you really get a sense of death, the cold winds don’t of course.

The Bar Vitelli shown in the Godfather 1. Photo Credit: GLanzoni

The best way to see Sicily is to rent a car but that can get very expensive if you aren’t traveling in a group.  Luckily, Sicily has great mass transportation, they have both buses and trains (always late of course).

Fly into the Catania international airport and you can arrive in Taormina in roughly 1 – 1.5 hours (1 if driving).  From there you can easily drive or take a bus to see Forza D’Agro and Savoca.  Don’t forget to check out the other great things to do in Sicily!

The Arrow is the highest I was able to get - photo courtesy of sunnycar.it

One of the things I love about Sicily is that it’s nowhere near as packed as the other major tourist attractions in Sicily.  I was able to see the entire island over the course of a year just travelling on weekends.  By actually living overseas I am able to see more things and save money at the same time.  I was able to find a great apartment when I was living in Sicily and while located in Catania, the east end of the Island, it only takes a few hours to drive from one side of the island to the other.

Since Sicily is nowhere near as popular as northern Italy, many times places are left baron and unattended.  I wasn’t just able to see one of the largest Greek temples in Selinunte, I was able to climb it!  The ancient Greek city of Selinunte is located in the Southwest coast of Sicily.  Once you enter the site there is a huge walk to get to the temple.  It’s actually a city, much like Pompei, but not in good condition.  From the picture above you can see the remnants of three different temples and on the other hillside is the actual city with the classic fortification wall around it.

I have a really bad habit of climbing on things, partly because I think its fun and partly because everyone likes to bend the rules.  How many times can you say you climbed a Greek Temple.  Temple E (the main temple at this site) is reconstructed.  I wouldn’t dare try to climb a temple that hasn’t been reconstructed because I don’t have the bank roll to fund an ancient Greek reconstruction project.  There are rumors that they plan to reconstruct the other two temples which are absolutely massive.  One you climb on to the pillars of the rubble you can see the size is as big as a common one bedroom apartment.

It was truly larger than life

I endured plenty of scratches and knee burn since it wasn’t that easy to climb up.  I’m also happy that I didn’t have people join me, 5-10 people on top of the temple would have certainly brought the attention of the police or better yet the mafia, whoever was getting the paid at that point.  I would try my luck with the mafia rather than the police.  It was a fun experience and I was able to sit up at the top and admire the view of the cliff side.  I seemed like an eternity when I was up there and I can say this is one of the most unique experiences I have ever had.  Sometimes you have to avoid all the rules and just go with it.

While this has gotten me into a lot of trouble in the past, the irreplaceable experiences that I have had are more than worth it.  Check out our top 5 section for things to do in Sicily and more things to do around the world.