In Search of the Italian Mafia: Visiting Sicily
As you explore Sicily, you quickly fall in love with its unique charm. The stunning mountains, narrow streets where cars can barely fit, ancient architecture, and the scorching sun create an atmosphere that draws you in.
Why Sicily?
Sicily had been on my bucket list forever, mostly because of the maaafia, but for some reason, I always found myself choosing other destinations first, leaving Sicily behind.
Growing up on mafia movies like The Godfather and Goodfellas, I imagined running into mobsters in sharp suits and fedoras. Long story short: it's not the '80s anymore, and spotting a mafioso is not as easy as television shows. Sadly, I thought it’d be just like in the movies...
The Peace of Traveling
I’m not sure about the peace part of it… Traveling gives me major anxiety, particularly the pre-travel stage - buying tickets, renting cars, planning destinations - it’s overwhelming, to say the least.
What if I break my leg? Miss my flight?
But once I get a good night's sleep in a new country, the anxiety melts away. There are new cultures, routines and cities to explore, and soon enough, travel becomes a joy.
Did I mention there’s no work during the holiday?
Connected Flight
Ahh, the joy of a connected flight - the first one for me, I must say. What can be better than waiting for hours in the airport at night when no shop is open, all seats are taken, and the only spot left is close to the trash cans on the ground? Pure joy…
Basically, that is how our journey began - with a connected flight from Vilnius to Rome, then to Catania. Flying overnight, I couldn't sleep, which once again made me question the joy of travel.
But rest assured, on the way back, I was quite happy. I didn’t care about sitting on the ground almost at the same spot as previously. Maybe it was because I knew the holiday was over and that when we land, we’ll just call a taxi and be done with it - no driving, no figuring out random stuff. Or maybe I just needed more time to get used to this kind of flight.
Car Rental Madness
We pre-booked a car via Booking for 150 Euros. But surprise, surprise - they only accepted credit cards, and I had a debit card. I messed up reading the requirements.
Oh shit…
Restless, tired, and stressed, we tried contacting support. They were utter shit, excuse me for the language. By the time I realised this, it was too late to find a car online; there were none left to rent.
Thanks, car rental booking, for screwing me over further.
Instead, we decided to go directly (can you believe it, going to talk in person, like the old days when there was no internet) to one of the rental offices around the airport.
Thankfully, we managed to rent a Fiat 500 with full insurance for 280 Euros. It was costly, but worth it for the peace of mind. For the sake of it, I could’ve dropped it off a cliff, and it would’ve been all good. So yeah, that felt nice and worth the price.
Driving and Rules
Driving in Sicily is quite an adventure. The rules are more like guidelines, and pedestrians have to wait in line to cross the street via crosswalks. It’s advised to clasp your hands in front of you before you start crossing the road, just like you were about to pray. And you should pray.
Roundabouts are everywhere which makes traffic flow much smoother compared to Lithuania - I actually loved this aspect. The streets are also packed with motorcycles, almost as common as cars. While riders often wear just a helmet, they seem to have an impressive level of confidence in their driving skills. Their riding style is both reckless and skilled, as if they’ve been mastering it since they were babies.
Throughout the week-long trip, we saw only one accident, and that wasn't even in the city, where the driving is roughest.
Beach, Sea, and Salt
I used to think spending a vacation lying on the beach was silly. How could anyone spend thousands of cash just to lie on the sand? That’s nonsense… Right?
How wrong I was…
Sicily's salty sea and gentle waves made beach time pure bliss. I spent hours floating, reading, and relaxing. I even finished Stormlight Archive: The Way of Kings - an incredible read I’ll discuss in another post.
In Sicily
Noto
Our first Airbnb was near Noto, an hour away from Catania, located in the southeast part of the island. It was a house on a small, lonely mountain with no neighbours in sight and a beautiful view of what we figured was Pachino city. The host calls her home a place for artists, and I can see why. It’s easy to imagine one of those writers from a movie, sitting at the desk with all windows open and madly writing some book.
I’m not affiliated in any way to get paid here; I’m merely sharing a great location. Honestly, I even tried to convince the host to raise the price on Airbnb because it’s just way too cheap. However, you can find it here. If you’re in some way like me, you’ll love it.
The city of Noto itself was nice but not the highlight. The beach, though, was fantastic. Our host actually gave us a little secret beach location that wasn’t populated by a bunch of lost tourists, so it was very relaxing to spend time there.
On our last day in this part of the island, we decided to spend the whole day at the beach. After five hours, we were roasted like Sicilian tomatoes under the hot sun.
I understand now why Sicily is called the Island of the Sun. I’ll make no mistake next time.
Syracuse and Ortigia
Syracuse wasn't impressive, but the island of Ortigia was. They are both connected by a bridge; I think Ortigia is just part of Syracuse.
Beautiful architecture and a charming seaside walk all around the island made it worth the visit.
Driving there was very stressful; drivers seem to be crazy there, and I almost missed a red traffic light because I forgot about their existence. I got so used to roundabouts that I forgot traffic lights exist in Sicily. Thankfully, another driver honked at me to stop; would’ve been an adventure for sure.
Ragusa
Driving through serpentines to Ragusa at sunset was magical. The city is built on mountains, and it looked like a door opening, splitting two mountains to reveal a sunset in between - stunning.
In the city itself, we barely had time to explore since we arrived later in the day. Initially, we even considered skipping it because the online images didn’t look that impressive. Damn, how deceiving the internet can be. Never trust those Google images.
Our main goal for the visit was to have dinner at Trattoria Da Luigi. We found it on TripAdvisor, and it truly lived up to the reviews: the food was delicious, and the service was outstanding. It’s worth mentioning because the trattoria alone makes the trip worthwhile (for those unfamiliar, a trattoria is a smaller, family-run restaurant).
Overall, Ragusa at night was a sight to behold, and it's on my list for a future visit for a bit longer to explore.
Scala dei Turchi - Turkish Steps
Our second Airbnb was in the northwest of the island, quite close to Palermo.
Since there was a long drive of around 5 hours, we decided to add a stop in between. We surely wanted to do a couple of stops, but since we became roasted tomatoes just the day before this trip, we couldn’t afford to stay in the lunchtime sun for longer than 20 minutes.
So, we visited Scala dei Turchi or Turkish Steps only; we couldn’t really climb on them because it was either not allowed at the time or we just didn’t see the entrance. But we got a look from the top of the view. I gotta say the view is quite spectacular; it’s sort of naturally formed steps on the rocky cliffs next to the coast. The steps themselves are from some sort of smooth white rock.
Castellammare del Golfo
This is where our second Airbnb was located.
Sadly, the rented apartment sucked. It was very noisy; somebody every night was sorting glass bottles like a madman. Not sure what was the deal with that, but it made it difficult to sleep. The new AC that the host had bought was super loud, like being inside the engine of a car, but without AC it was unbearably hot. Apart from it being in the city center, there’s not much else I can say good about it.
The city and location of the apartment were amazing. The bustling street, mountains, and clear sea were a feast for the eyes, when you walked outside the apartment of course, because it had no windows, ha ha ha.
The highlights were probably peaceful breakfasts in an Italian cafe, soaking in the morning vibe, people getting ready for their days, empty streets, and being in the middle of bustling nightlife, drinking Aperol Spritzes just by the fence of the sea with a view from above of the endless water…
Cefalù
We’ve seen a lot on YouTube about this city, so we surely had to visit it. Though we were still quite burned and didn’t want to go during the day, so we went just before the sunset.
The sunset was beautiful, but those are beautiful everywhere in Sicily. There’s pretty much no clouds there apart from a couple of tiny farts sometimes in the sky, and even those seem more like Etna’s breath than clouds.
However, we still took a quick walk around the narrow streets and enjoyed the beautiful architectural and cultural views of Cefalù.
We also went for dinner here, and I finally had an amazing Italian pizza. It was really delicious. Though still, Malkinė in Nida is better. If that place is unbeatable by true Italian pizza, then I shall name Lithuanian pizza chefs better than Italian ones, as weird as it sounds.
Etna, The Volcano
On our last day, we made a spontaneous trip to Etna while driving towards Catania airport. Our tiny Fiat 500 struggled up the steep hills, and I mean STRUGGLED, but we made it.
I wouldn’t say it’s a special place; it was one of the least favorites for me due to it being made into a full tourism spot. It almost felt like it’s not Sicily anymore. While traveling, I like to avoid heavily touristed areas. They seem too transformed and are not as fun as the less or non-touristy places.
But you know, it’s Etna. How can you visit Sicily and not go to Etna? It’s like not visiting Palermo… Oh wait, but we skipped Palermo and Catania. Oh well, jokes on us.
English, Prego
I’ll wrap up with a note on the language. I was quite disappointed by the limited use of English. We didn’t encounter a single person who spoke fluent English, aside from our hosts. I even wondered if they do know English but choose to stick with Italian to make a point, ech stubbornness.
I’m not sure what’s the deal with people who resist to speak English, as if everyone should automatically know their native language. Come on, once again, this is not the ‘80s anymore.
I have to admit, the word “prego” really grew on me. It’s like the Swiss Army knife of Italian words, perfect for any occasion. I might even consider a name change to Lukas Prego.
Prego, prego.
Listened to:
Sometimes I wonder if mountains are universally beautiful or if we Lithuanians, living in a flat country, appreciate them more. If I lived among mountains, would I take them for granted?
Also, how can Lithuanian pizza be better than Italian one? This is unbelievable.
As always, I thank you for reading.
Ciao!