Sicily
Here we are again; back in London. It’s raining and I’ve started back at work. Everything is how I left it when I left… except now I’ve got a killer tan.
I wasn’t planning on writing a blog post about my recent trip to Sicily, as the plan was to neglect all forms work and just focus on relaxing. That didn’t happen, obviously. As soon as I saw the gorgeous blue rocky sea, my camera got whipped out and any idea I had of relaxation went out the window. Any trip where I don’t capture the entirety of it on camera is a wasted experience in my mind.
I am your signature workaholic. I struggle to cut off from the hectic and wonderful London life; rarely finding myself needing to “escape”. But of course, we can all recognise when we need to get away for a while, even if it is for some small re-evaluations of our normal lives. So, with thousands of photos of my travels, and friends and family asking me intently… I practically have no choice but to share with you my trip.
Our trip was insanely last minute; my favourite kind. I prefer it that way otherwise I spend too much time planning (panicking) before hand. I don’t know what made me pick Sicily… probably some subliminal advertisement that triggered my subconscious when I thought, “holiday”. But either way, my heart was set and I demanded Sicily, leading us to find fairly cheap last minute flights to Palermo. 12 days.
We used booking.com as the mediator of renting all of our accommodation. They haven’t paid me to say this… but I can’t help but admit how easy it was having all of our bookings with one company. We even downloaded the app and had all of the relevant information right at our fingertips. We stayed in some hotels, some B&B’s, and some apartments. Each were beautiful in their own rights; though I did like the ones who provided me with English Breakfast tea of a morning. I was also happily impressed that most of the places we stayed resembled a dream house in one way or another… though I doubt that part was an accident.
I am not a widely travelled person so I was genuinely lost for words when I saw the beaches in Sicily. It took my breath away when I realised that a sea so blue and clear was not just CGI for movies. I know it’s biased for me, knowing I could cry over a brick wall, but I shed many a tear just looking at the views.
the details
Let’s reel it back down to business. 12 days. 7 and a half towns/cities.
Renting a car was the best idea we had. Not only was it clear that Sicily had a non-existent travel system, but it gave us the total freedom to travel the entire island in whatever way we deemed fit. I don’t know if the Audi A3 was entirely necessary but compromise is all about give and take. I must mention my willingness to explore and exert myself. I mean, I climbed a volcano, the least Jessy Miller thing one could ever do; all in the name of love.
Here’s a breakdown of the clockwise road trip we did around the entire island; hitting these spots:
Cefalu
Taormina
mount etna
Syracuse (Island of Ortigia)
Agrigento (Segesta)
Erice
Favignana
Scopello
Palermo
The longest part of the drive was along the south coast which was 8 hours (the scenic route). Every other drive between the towns was around an hour… Sicily’s pretty small. I definitely recommending doing research on all of these little towns as they are all so completely unique, yet they all have such interesting and intricate history behind them. For example, Taormina is this beautiful touristic town with the totally idyllic bluest sea of all, yet only an hour’s drive is where we climbed 3,300m volcano. Erice was the oldest town I have ever visited in my life with 100 old churches, an hours drive from the gorgeous Favignana island with locals cooking pizza and serving Aperol Spritz. We saw something different and worthwhile in each spot, which recognising the crazy versatility on the island. Most of the beaches we visited were rocky beaches, which is luckily our favourite kind of beach. The best beaches were also on the northern coast, around Scopello, Favignana, Cefalu and Taormina. The south of the island is where we did most of our walking, hiking and sight seeing.
There isn’t a huge amount of multiculturalism happening in Sicily. It’s a big tourism spot where travellers come to try traditional Sicilian foods. This was difficult for me as quite naturally, the island’s traditional food is all fish. This leads me to the 12 day struggle of the pasta/pizza debate. I doubt I want to eat spaghetti pomodoro for the next few years, but I might surprise myself. One day I think we found a little chip shop which was a shining beacon of hope. Chips were still carbs… but at least they weren’t pasta.
The plus side of the Italian Cuisine is the culture surrounding it. Nobody eats till about 9pm, following a boozy and delicious Aperitif. Now this is a tradition I can totally stand by.
In terms of beauty, I kept it simple. I was lucky enough to get eyelash extensions (another first) a few days before we flew out, which made life a million times easier for me. The only makeup I wore on this trip was my eyebrow gel and a bit of lippy of an evening. Though saying that, I didn’t have a lot of beauty products to choose from as I had to throw most of them away a the airport (liquid limit), and the ones I did get to keep all melted by the time I arrived. Thanks Lush, and your incredibly annoying natural buttery products.
I was incredibly sad to leave Sicily. I would say about a week in, I had finally settled into the idea of being away from home and travelling, but by that point it was nearly time to come home. It took that long to feel settled due to my extremely homebody personality type. I have never travelled like this before in my whole life. Equally, not every single moment of this trip was perfect or went to plan (contrary to what I unfairly depicted on social media), there were lots of stray cats (I cried a lot), there were cloudy and rainy days, and there were days were I had super anxious and almost homesick moments. But nonetheless, I am so grateful for this opportunity to push myself and make these incredible memories that I will carry close to my heart for the rest of my life.
I shed another tear on our sunset drive back to the airport with a heavy heart and talks of future travels.
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CEFALU
Cefalu is a small town near Sicily’s capital, Palermo. This is probably the reason why Cefalu relies so heavily on tourism. It was probably the most touristic town that we stayed in for our trip, which lots of people trying to sell you things on the beach and the food prices being extortionate. By day, we recommend to visit the Duomo Di Cefalu, the town’s most famous cathedral, and by night, the town comes alive; turning into a warm, welcoming community with live outdoor music, dancing and drinks. We had dinner with the most glorious view, sharing a bottle of wine, and headed to our next destination the very next morning.
Taormina
Taormina was one of my favourite spots we hit in Sicily. The town, located on a huge cliff, with a tiny little step path down to the gorgeous Isola Bella beach.
The pain of travelling down those steps is absolutely 100% worth it when you see the beautifully clear water.
It’s a rocky beach, so with my shocking immune system similar to that of an unvaccinated newborn, naturally I freaked out when I cut my foot on some sharp rocks. After that near death experience, I had to wear really attractive water shoes. Who knew my fashion career would blossom so clearly during my travels. I had never swam in the sea before in my life; but now I can say I have swum with the most beautiful, colourful fish, in blue waters. We recommend to visit the ancient greek theatre, it is absolutely huge and worth a visit.
MOUNT ETNA
Write here.
Syracuse (Island of Ortigia)
Agrigento (Segesta)
Erice
Favignana
Scopello
Palermo
Jessy Miller
@jessymillerx