Okay So Sicily! We knew we were compromising on some of our preferences to visit the most popular parts of this Italian island. Palmero was busy, as expected. The driving style in that city still stresses me out just thinking about it, but the food culture did help balance out the risk vs. reward factor here. We were like kids in a candy store at the local supermarkets and had a great time learning about the local customs on a street food walking tour.
After spending a few days in Palermo, we went to Ortigia in Syracuse (after which Siracuse in America in named!). We had done this to try and get a bit of reprieve from the busy town centres, without realising the island of Ortigia is actually the city's old town! We have not had good experiences staying in the old town of any cities in Europe, and unfortunately some of the same downfalls were present here. Don't get me wrong, Ortigia is a lovely little place and I think it's still worth a visit, but probably just for a day or weekend.
We were there for about a week and the constant echoing of vespas and crowds of people did become a bit much over time. But we managed to have some pretty incredible meals while we were there and enjoy a bit of time swimming in the sea off the rocks on the island.
After this, we went to Catania, from where we would fly out. In Catania, we took a local cooking class which was actually based 30 minutes or so away in the countryside. We had a great time and some of the best Italian food I've ever had. It was simple, with extremely high-quality ingredients and filling in a really satisfying and not over-indulging way!
I probably enjoyed Catania the most to be honest, but in terms of favourite parts of Sicily, I have a feeling some of the even quieter small towns would have been more aligned with our preferred style of town and travel. I'm happy we enjoyed and learnt more about the Sicilian food culture though!
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