A Primer to Driving in Sicily: The Wrap-Up

This is my final post about driving in Sicily.  I thought I would end with some of the pictures about driving that I hadn't yet posted.

But before you go on to the pictures, I have to tell you about the blog post Blindness and Memory Loss While Driving on A Canadian in Italy by Eloradaphne.  This is the quintessential 'driving in Italy' story.  I encourage you to read it.

And on to the pictures... 
This is the road to Capizzi, the tiny mountain village from which my husband's family originated.  If you could drive as the crow flies it would take about 20-30 minutes from the coast.  However, this road is so full of switchbacks that it takes 2 hours.

We stayed with a friend in Piazza Armerina in 2010.  Every evening this car was parked in this spot.  We never got to see the right side of the car so I can't say if it is scratched up or not - I suspect it must be.  I was just so impressed that someone could park that close to a wall!

I loved this little truck.  We saw it in Cefalu' on one of the many narrow back streets.  I don't know how the vegie vendor could drive without losing the vegetables off the top!

I wrote earlier about the Ferrari night in Cianciana.  This is such a great example of la bella figura or putting on the best face.  There were about 20 or so Ferraris in Cianciana that night, all from Ribera, a nearby town.  In the small town in which we live in Canada, I am sure there aren't 20 Ferraris, 10 Ferraris - in fact I have never seen even one Ferrari!  The unemployment rate in British Columbia is about 7% whereas the unemployment rate in Sicily is 25%, the highest in Italy.  Logically, you would think that British Columbians would have more disposable income to buy race cars than Sicilians.  I would guess that la bella figura plays a good part in the number of expensive sport cars that can be found in Ribera.

I included these two pictures of the main street in Cianciana.  This is Salita Regina Elena.  The top picture is in the mid-afternoon when most people are at home resting, sleeping, or watching television.  The second picture is at night when people come out - at least in the summertime - and do the passagiata, visiting with all their friends and neighbours, sharing wine, beer, coffee, or a meal.  Cianciana is a lively place to be in the summer at night!

This is Sant'Angelo Muxaro - an even smaller town than Cianciana.  As you can see, Sant'Angelo Muxaro hangs on the edge of a cliff.  Amazing that the buildings can cling there without sliding down the side of the cliff!  Believe it or not, there is a road going up that cliff to the lovely, friendly little town at the top.

 One thing I didn't mention when I talked about the autostrada is the off ramps.  In North America, off and on ramps are usually long, giving drivers lots of room to merge.  In Italy on the autostrade, off and on ramps are very short.  To compensate for that, the name of the off ramp and large arrows are painted onto the highway so you are given good warning ahead of time.  That is, if you realize what the names and arrows are telling you.

Sicily is full of mountains which means lots and lots of tunnels.  I like the tunnels for a couple of reasons: one, they are interesting and plentiful, and two, they are good places to pass slower cars in front of you.  The first time you drive through these tunnels you will understand the reason for the law insisting drivers turn on their lights on the autostrade. 

A Primer to Driving in Sicily: Driving in a Small Town

Would you drive here?

Driving in Sicily's small towns and villages requires a new skill unto itself.  Would you want to drive up this road?   I wouldn't.  But people do and I have done out of necessity.  In fact, the street on which our new house lives is about this wide and the road leading to our street has an incline similar to this one.  I think I have mentioned already that turning onto our street means leaving half my tires on the road.  

So, let's begin.  I have mentioned that a GPS is essential for driving in Sicily.  That is absolutely true - to a point.  Once you are in the small town with twisty narrow roads that are often one way (not that a one way street concerns many Sicilians!) your location finding needs to become creative.  This is where a map comes in handy.  I can't speak for other small towns, but I know that Cianciana has street maps that they hand out generously!  Where do you find them?  From the realtor (My House), from the library, the museum, and most people who rent out apartments to sun seeking foreigners.  You could also print out a map from Google Earth or Google Maps before you leave.  Driving in a small Sicilian town you will find that this is where those meditation classes I mentioned in the first driving post will come in handy.  You need to be prepared for the following:

1. You will make mistakes.
2. People will honk at you and make rude gestures.
3. You will get lost. 
4. Parking is almost impossible to find unless you come across a piazza.
5. There will be swearing.
6. In a small town, three stopped cars makes a traffic jam and there will be honking.
7. Drivers in front of you will stop at random to discuss the latest football game, the weather, their families, or whatever with someone they see walking on the road.
8. Your car will probably get scratched or, like me, you will knock off your side mirror - maybe both.
9. You will turn a corner and see something amazing that you never expected.

If you know and fully accept that these things will happen, it will make your small town driving a more enjoyable adventure.

My Personal Examples of Some of the List Above

Number One and Five

My mistake?  I drove over a nail and the tire exploded.  There was swearing.

Number Two and Six and Seven

This is in Cianciana - I heard so much honking that I went out onto our balcony
and snapped a shot of the three car traffic jam!  The driver in the white van was chatting with all the kids as they walked by.  In Cianciana, everyone knows everyone.

Number Three

This is the Turkish Steps or Scala dei Turchi.  You will find this in any tourist book of Sicily.  The cliffs are spectacular.  On our trip to Sicily in 2010 we tried to find this beach several times.  Do you think we could find it?  Finally, in 2012 we managed to make it to Scala dei Turchi.  BTW, the man in the foreground wearing the knee length shorts is my husband, Nick.  Those shorts scream "STRANIERO - FOREIGNER!!!"  The Speedo is ubiquitous in Sicily.  But that is another post.

Number Four

This was taken in Piazza Armerina which really doesn't qualify as a small town.  The parking in this piazza wasn't free but 100 metres from here was the piazza in front of the duomo - cathedral where we parked because the parking was free.

Number Nine

This was my amazing and really unexpect thing: We visited Capizzi, the hometown of my husband's family.  We were there on a Sunday and everywhere we went we seemed to run into this procession.  The patron saint of Capizzi is Saint Giacomo.  They were solemnly and respectfully carrying their relic of Saint Giacomo from church to church.  I must admit that I was quite startled to hear that the relic was Saint Giacomo's finger which was encased in a golden hand on a long pole.  If you look closely at the picture, you will see the man behind the priest (in red) is carrying the pole and the golden hand is above him.

This man was walking his horse down the middle of the road as we approached Polizzi Generosa.

If you arrive in town on market day park the car and count yourself lucky.  You will find your way blocked by trucks laden with fruit and vegies, refrigerated stands with meats and cheeses that I had never seen in Canada (goat meat???), tables of ten euro shoes that the venders swear were made in Italy, tables of clothing, household goods, purses, sketchy-looking electronics, jewelry, and just about anything else you can think of.

Sometimes the market is just on the back of a truck driving up and down the streets and stopping as soon as there is a whiff of a customer.  BTW, I am the rather large lady with the appalling cargo shorts. (Why oh why did I ever think those were a good idea???)