Sicily

When I told people the itinerary for my trip (Dublin-Amsterdam-Istanbul-Greek Islands-Rome-Madrid-Sicily-Venice-Berlin), one of the most common remarks I received was "Why Sicily?"

I wanted to see Sicily for three reasons.

1. Adventure: to travel alone in a place like that, a little bit off the beaten track, would offer a different experience than major city after major city
   
2. Heritage: my great-grandma left Palermo as a little girl with her family more than 100 years ago. 1/8 of my heritage came through that island and that city, and I wanted to see it first-hand
3. Food: I love to eat. My dad learned how to cook in large part from the aforementioned great-grandma, and I grew up in suburban New York where Sicilian cuisine has left a large imprint on our delis, restaurants and holidays. I wanted to get to the source of it.

So, keeping those things in mind, here is my time in Sicily, in a nutshell:

• The Sicilian countryside is the most beautiful I've seen. Unfortunately, I only passed through it on trains and buses. But it looked really nice.
• The beaches, too, looked beautiful. But the day I had penciled in for the beach was cool and windy, so I skipped it. This is one of the bigger regrets from my trip.
• Palermo is the dirtiest city I've ever been to. By a lot. This statement includes Guatemala City, Sarajevo, and the Mods at Boston College. There is garbage strewn throughout the city, and when you think about that fact it's important to remember that, since Palermo lacks modern toilets and sewage systems, that garbage is full of dirty toilet paper.
  
• There are also buildings throughout Palermo, some in large clusters, that have not been fixed or demolished since they were bombed during the Allied Invasion of Sicily. For those who aren't history buffs or math wizards, that was in 1943, or 67 years ago. Small parts of the city look more devastated by war than most parts of Sarajevo did when I was there three years ago, just twelve years after the longest siege in modern history. I found out after my trip that the locals refer to the postwar period as the Sack of Palermo because of its mafia-fueled deterioration. In any case, it's pretty gross/depressing, especially since they could make lots of €€€ off of tourism.
  
• Catania, on the eastern side of the island, is much, much nicer than Palermo. In the shadow of Mt. Etna (Europe's largest active volcano), it seems like a golden paradise compared to the regional capital
• In terms of my heritage: it was very cool to see familiar last names (Catano, Siracusa, Leonardi, etc.) around the island, and...
• I am so grateful to my ancestors for leaving there. Putting aside the fact that I wouldn't exist if they hadn't, I was repeatedly blown away by the realization that almost none of the gifts and opportunities afforded to me in life would have been there if I was raised in Sicily (unless, and only maybe unless, I was one of the richest people there)
• The food in Sicily is as good as advertised and is dirt cheap. You can eat like a king for €15 a day. I had the best calamari, eggplant, and cannolis of my life there. I also highly recommend trying horse, which they seem to take great pride in but oddly enough isn't found at the Italian deli near my house.
  

Sicily was definitely the least enjoyable part of my trip, but I expected that going in. I wanted to have an adventure and get in touch with my heritage while eating very well, and I did that. As a traveler, I'm much more seasoned for having experienced it.

(Thanks to Boots in the Oven for the photo)