Sicily: A Jewel in the Mediterranean

Where do I even begin? I could start with the color of the ocean and landscape as we hiked in the nature preserve along the North Western coast or the feeling of standing next to Grecian temple ruins from B.C. Sicily was amazing, with every twist and turn, there were beautiful landscapes, endless supplies of pizza and pasta and seafood, and beauty that continuously left us in awe. I want to capture every part of our honeymoon trip, not only to share, but so that I can remember the gem that Sicily is. Here's our story:

We arrived back to Germany on Monday, June 11 from our wedding week in Florida. We packed our bags, one backpack each, and drove 1.5 hours to the small Frankfurt Hahn airport. We boarded the RyanAir flight, and two hours later around 9:00 pm, landed in Trapani, Sicily. We received the keys to our prepaid Panda Fiat and plugged in the GPS. Since our first destination was in a small, tiny town and our B&B was not on a main road, the GPS couldn't find our exact destination. So we typed in "Scopello" and started our one hour journey to the first destination. Luckily Derek had looked at Google Maps Street View early in the day so that we actually recognized our first turn once we were in Scopello. We proceeded up the 1.5 km steep driveway and arrived at Antica Cascina del Golfo, a small B&B atop a small mountain that has stunning views of the water. We celebrated our arrival with a bottle of wine found in the mini fridge.

Our first B&B

Day 1

On the following day, we had a lovely breakfast of Sicilian cakes with marmalade and creme, croissants, juices and cafe lattes, and after the feast, we packed a bag and headed in town to the market. We ordered way to much food from the butcher- 200kg of salami, a large hunk of peppered goat cheese, and a large hunk of bread- and packed our picnic into our bag and drove a few miles to the Riserva Naturale Dello Zingaro, a 7km preserve of wild coastline filled with beaches and trails. Within our first view of palms, cliffs and Mediterranean blue waters, I knew this would be a perfect day. We followed the main trail along the coast for most of the day, stopping off at four different beaches. The park has no toilets, restaurants or cars and therefore, the beaches are remote, beautiful and popular. The first beach we found was a tiny pebbled beach with not much room for swimming, but a beautiful little cove nonetheless. The second beach was much larger, with rocks jutting out of the water and turquoise colored waters. We spread out our beach towels here and had lunch. The third beach was very unique- we climbed down rocky stairs and came to a rocky cove with absolutely stunning blue waters. At first we didn't think we would be able to swim, but soon a father and daughter waded into the cove, and Derek soon followed. I'll let the photos describe the rest. The fourth beach we discovered was so picture perfect, a rocky cove with tropical colored umbrellas and a few boats wading off shore. Oh Sicily, you are beautiful!

Beach 1: A little cove

Beach 2: A larger cove with many rocks

Beach 3: A perfect inlet with crystal clear waters

Derek swimming in beach 3

Beach 4: My favorite

Beach 4: Picture Perfect!

After our six hours of hiking and beach going, we headed back to the B&B and got ready for dinner in Scopello. We walked around the tiny, cute town and settled at a large outdoor restaurant. Most days we ate by ourselves since Italians eat later, around 8pm. This is usually normal for us as well, but after a full day of exploring, we were hungry around 6pm. After an appetizer of brushetta, Derek had a delicious looking pasta and I had Spaghetti Norma -the pasta norm of Sicily. It had pasta al dente, salted ricotta cheese, eggplant and basil. It was a great first dinner in Sicily!

Dinner in Scopello

Sunset photo overlooking Scopello from our B&B

Day 2

The Tonnara of Scopello

The second day of our journey proved to be just as exciting as the first. We awoke to delicious cannolis and pastries for breakfast and then packed the Panda and drove a few miles to the old Scopello Tonnara. This old building used to house a tunnery, a place where they housed tuna catches. I don't know too much about this industry except that it used to be very popular in this area. We grabbed some chairs and I laid on the concrete beach area while Derek went snorkeling with his newly purchased mask and goggles. I sat back and enjoyed the view of this stunning area.


After a refreshing swim, we drove about 30 minutes to the famous site of Segesta, an ancient temple and excavated city atop a mountain. We read much about this area, but what I concluded was that it was some sort of Greek/Norman civilization and some thought the descendants were refugees from Troy. All-in-all, this site was amazing. To see a construction still standing from B.C. times amazed me. The temple stands all alone in a valley surrounded by the green and brown countryside. After exploring this area we hiked 1.5km uphill to the amphitheater and excavated ruins. If I lived in this time, I would have watched any performance at the theater at any time; check out the view!

Me in front of Segesta

Derek at Segesta

View of the amphitheater overlooking the ocean

After Segesta, we drove another hour to our second B&B, Sotta la Palma, near the city of Sciacca. This bed and breakfast was perfect; it contained three cottages, a pool, a lovely breakfast area and a Sicilian garden surrounding everything. The host, Daniela, could not have been more welcoming and helpful. Her breakfast provided a large assortment, she gave us great recommendations for dinner, and even gave us a ceramic bowl made in Sciacca as a gift for our wedding. It was so, so sweet of her! We drove into the city for a harbor-side dinner. The restaurant overlooked the harbor and the town, and the views were spectacular. We decided to try the local specialties for dinner and both ordered seafood. Derek had a seafood pizza, and I had pasta with swordfish. Derek doesn't like to talk about his pizza. I think it was great of him to try it! Have a look:

Our view from dinner in Sciacca

Our B&B- Palma la Sotto

Derek's Seafood pizza

Day 3

After a breakfast of eggs, breads, and yogurt with fruit, we drove one hour to Agrigento to the Valley of the Temples. The valley is recorded as the best Grecian ruins outside of Greece. Although I loved seeing the ruins, this was Derek's place. He loves seeing the way ancient civilizations built structures -it's his engineering side. One of the most spectacular structures was a temple that survived many earthquakes due to its base being built in clay. The valley is overlooked by the large, somewhat intimidating city of Agrigento. The views surrounding the valley were beautiful, with the ocean to one side and the city to another. We walked through the remains four about two hours. This is the first place I've visited in Europe where you can actually walk among the remains, except for the largest temple. It was pretty neat to be standing in the temple remains dedicated to the god of Zeus.

Me with the remains of the sanctuary

Derek stands in front of the largest temple, Tempio della Concordia,  in the Valley of the Temples

After leaving the temples, we found the white cliffs of the Scala dei Turchi. I'm not sure of the history of this area, but the cliffs were chalk white against the blue water and sky, jaunting out into the sea. We then headed to another beach to relax and enjoyed a dinner of pizza and pasta.

Me on the white cliffs

Derek and I on the cliffs

Day 4

On the last day, we said goodbye to Daniela and drove 1.5 hours to Erice, a medieval city on top of a mountain overlooking the large city of Trapani. This place took my breath away. After eight kilometers of winding, sharply curved roads, we arrived to the top of the mountain, and what a view. Erice has castles, old, ancient looking churches, winding alleyways and delicious wine and cannolis. We started our journey through the town by picking a deserted road and exploring its cobblestones. We found ourselves bedazzled by the views of the blue waters, mountain cliffs and brown, yellow and green countrysides below us. We visited the castle and then walked through the town center and back to a restaurant pizzeria we had passed earlier in the day. We sat outside on a terrace overlooking old rooftops with a glimpse of the blue sea. For lunch, we consumed ample olive oil with bread, a calzone and a large pizza, with the house white wine, of course. It was such a lovely way to end our Sicilian visit. After lunch, we found our way to the "most famous pastry shop in Sicily" according to our travel books and tried two very large cannolis. I'm not sure how we manged to eat them after our large lunch, but we did of course! I bought two ceramic wine corks at a little store, then we climbed back in the Panda and headed towards the Trapanin Birgi airport. Erice was the perfect end to a perfect four days, and I can't wait to go back. Thanks for a wonderful honeymoon, Sicily!

View from the top of Erice

Castle and Church of Erice

Our last lunch in Sicily

Holy Cannoli!

My sidenotes:

• Sicily was amazing. By a little pre-planning, I knew what we wanted to see and by leaving some wiggle room for recommendations, we were able to have a wonderful experience.
• I wouldn't call this a relaxing honeymoon, it was quite the opposite. But with so much to see and such a beautiful island to explore, it was as perfect honeymoon for us.
• A common conception/misconception of Sicily is the safety. Although we did avoid the large cities mainly due to the fact that we wanted to explore the countryside, we encountered nothing of the sort. Common sense is always a must, but everyone we met was wonderful and we never, ever felt in harm's way, except maybe when Derek adopted the Italian driving style and I just closed my eyes. At least we fit in like the locals!
• We paid 26 euros for the following: two full glasses of wine, a large pizza (enough for two), a calzone, bread with olive oil and a large bottled water. Tip and service included. Pretty good deal I think!
• I used Lonely Planet and National Geographic guides for trip ideas and looked to TripAdvisor for B&B reviews.
• We didn't have to pay much for the excursions - 3 euros for the nature preserve, 3 for the Tonnara. The ruins were a bit more. Altogether, it was great priced.
• I would go back in a heartbeat. We stayed only on the western side of the island, and there is still SO much more to see including Mt. Etna (The volcano), vineyards, more beaches, etc.