a Southern lady in London: a southern lady in Sicily // days 1 and 2

Last Friday, I arrived back to a rainy and foggy London after 5 days in beautiful Sicily. I have had some pretty serious post-holiday-blues this week. A week in Sicily confirmed what I already knew about myself…I am a beach girl/sun worshipper without. a. doubt. Laying out in the sun, on the beach, with a good book and no one to bother me should be a certified form of therapy.

Sit back, relax, and prepare yourself for some pictures of beautiful beaches, happy people, and damn good food (pizza, pasta and gelato…need I say more?)

Day 1: Courtney and I arrived in Palermo at 4:30 pm after our flight was delayed leaving London. If you've ever been to Italy/Sicily, you'll know that their train system is the worst. We thought we'd be able to take the train across Sicily to Letojanni where our apartment for the week was. If you are Italian, or have ever even been to Italy, you are probably reading this right now and having a good old laugh at the fact that I though we'd be on the other side of Sicily by 9 pm (nearly 5 hours after arriving in Palermo). We finally arrived in Letojanni, after two buses and a cab ride, at 1 am. The best part of this story though is what happened after we stepped off our bus in the fine city of Catania. At this point it was already 9 pm (deadlines were thrown out the bus window), and we thought we'd be able to catch a quick bus or train to the small town of Letojanni. Well after trying to speak to 3 different people who didn't have a basic understanding of English, we went off to find the train station on our own. After walking a few minutes, a police officer told us the train station was closed and the only way to get to our final destination was by cab. We pouted a bit, and then he made a suggestion…he was off work in an hour and a half and he would take us to where we needed to go. Now mom, I know you are sitting there reading this, probably holding your chest and trying to choke back a heart attack. BUT all you need to know is that we went to a street market to wait for him, and he never showed up. WE GOT STOOD UP! By this time, it was nearly 12 and I was willing to pay any amount of money to get us safely where we needed to go. We were able to bargain with our cab driver and it ended up not costing a fortune. And all in all, the experience better prepared us for our travel back to Palermo on Thursday. The owners of the apartment we found for the week (thanks to Airbnb) picked us up from the small train station in town and drove us to the flat. They got us settled and then they were on their way home, and we were on our way to bed after a very long day…

courtney's first ever beer

street market in catania….anthony bourdain would be proud

day 1 dinner - there's a hot dog, parma ham, and mozzarella in this baby.

Day 2: We woke up feeling refreshed and ready to take on the world (or Letojanni). It was a gorgeous, sunny day so we strolled down to the local gelato stop/snack bar/cafe for two lattes. We were greeted by a Sicilian man named Fabio, and we quickly realized that we were going to be very popular amongst the locals. After our coffees, we went for a little stroll (and heard 'Ciao!' about 100 times) before stopping into the market to pick up some goodies for lunch. We sat outside on our balcony and ate our fresh fruit, olives, pecorino and prosciutto.

After our snacks, I was ready to hit the beach and Court came along with me. She only lasted a little while in the sun, but I managed a couple hours. Then we were ready for our first gelato of the trip. We walked up the road and each got two scoops.

After our delicious treat, I went back out on the beach for a couple more hours. By about 5, I was ready to come back in for some more delicious snacks (this time we skipped the cheese and had pistachios - a sicilian speciality).

cantaloupe smiles all around!

I woke up that morning knowing that I would have to go out and explore later in the day, and take pictures so I could remember just how beautiful this little town is. It was beautiful right at dusk and it seemed like the perfect time to get some good pictures. Locals were out and about, saying 'buonasera!' and getting ready for their evenings. I'm sure I stuck out like a sore thumb…an American girl in jean shorts, walking around with my iPhone in hand, and taking loads of pictures at every street corner. But it was worth it because I think I got some pretty good ones...

down the boardwalk:

the older men sit on this long bench by the beach and just chat for hours

the street market

almost all the restaurants had two parts - one part indoors and another part on the beach

the palazzo:

down the back roads of letojanni:

After my photo shoot, I got ready for dinner. Courtney and I chose one of the restaurants on the main beach road, and sat outside at the beach for the beautiful views. The restaurant is called 'La Polena' and our food, service, and wine was amazing. Our sweet waiter gave us free fruits, free wine, and free port. We were feeling pretty damn good after dinner and made our way back home for a good's night sleep.