A
Traveler's Two Sicillies
by William J. Bonville
EXCERPT
INTRODUCTION
Little more than a Sunday drive south from Rome, the Two
Sicilies are a world apart in mood. Europe seems left behind.
The feel of the place is that different. Imagine a cultural
recipe that blends the flavors of North Africa, Europe and
the Middle East. Mix nuances of the Nile Valley and Old Athens
with a bit of Byzantium and the Holy Land. Fold in a spiritual
sense that combines something of Mont-Saint-Michel and the
Dome of the Rock. It is all that and still very Italian.
Out of that cultural concoction evolved what has long been
recognized as the "Sicilian Mood" It is a distinctive
temperament pervasive of both land and people. It comes of
variant cultures in violent collision for thousands of years
in the region between Naples and Palermo. It is a mood characterized
during the Renaissance in the paintings of Antonello da Messina.
In modern times it is no less pronounced in the writings of
another Sicilian, Luigi Pirandello. Like the atmospheric qualities
that permeate such great novels as Wuthering Heights, or the
plays of Aeschylus and Ibsen, this mood, this intangible unity
of feeling and emotion becomes the essential experience of
travel in the Two Sicilies.
Given the selected setting, travel at its best meets culture
and its history first hand at street level on shoeleather.
These Sicilian walks meet that criterion. Take this book in
hand. Use it to enjoy a unique travel experience. Let it guide
you through a region that for millennia lent primary impulses
to world history while sorting out a destiny of its own. The
Two Sicilies always seemed near to, and often precisely on,
the cutting edge of culture in the throes of invention. That
made for "interesting times" for Sicilians, ponderous
tomes for egghead historians, and fascinating travel for us.
A Sicilian junket has a further advantage for the jaded traveler.
Travel in Sicily for the most part takes you away from the
tourist mob scenes now so common on the continent. You know
the places to find them: Florence, Athens, Venice and other
fabulous cities cursed with the popularity problem of tourism.
In contrast, the most of the sights we will guide you to in
the Sicilies may be approached without having to endure gigantic
convocations of tour buses and can be enjoyed without mood-shattering
mobs surging this way and that with flash cubes blinding one
and all to the remarkable heritage left us by the Sicilian
genius. Even better, those sights compare favorably with the
most prestigious attractions of the Italian north as well
as with those of Greece, France and the other tourist Meccas
of Europe.
In this guide to that extraordinary land, do not expect a
compendium of listings and pointings typical of most guidebooks.
This is a book of do-it-yourself tours presented in narrative
form. The narratives describe, step by step, walks and motoring
excursions along selected routes through a sequence of cities
and nearby points of interest. Each tour is an encounter with
culture and history met as an experience of places and things.
Each tour is introduced by a background brief on the personalities
and events against which your encounters with streets and
structures obtain vital meanings, meanings usually missing
from mere touristic viewings of assorted vestiges of a more
or less obscure past.
You can get away for only a couple of weeks? Plan a "highlight"
tour, or split the itinerary; for example, tour the mainland
on one trip, the island on another.
Time is no problem? Then follow the book, chapter by chapter,
through the complete sequence of tours. Itinerary suggestions
are included in the last chapter, A Guide to the Tours. Treat
those suggestions as a guide, not a regimen. Note also that
cost is not a significant factor. Travel with the sumptuous
extravagance of the Grand Tour or the threadbare simplicity
of backpacking. The book adapts to any time frame, any style,
any pocketbook.
But does it adapt to your experience as a traveler? Maybe
you have never ventured out on your own in a foreign land.
Perhaps you are familiar with Germany and northern Europe,
but have not traveled south into the siesta regions bordering
the Mediterranean. If either instance describes your background,
expect to encounter a very different life style as you make
your way through the Sicilies. Not that it in any way will
seem threatening or unpleasant. On the contrary, enjoy it
as an interesting novelty. All that is required of you is
that you make compensating adjustments in your habits of doing
and planning.
Specific information regarding necessary adaptations required
in particular places is contained in the applicable chapters.
For example, in the chapters on Naples and Palermo, which
contain several in-city walking tours, introductory summaries
identify days of the week, or times of day, when particular
tours should not be taken because of scheduled closures of
important sites to be visited along the routes.
As you read along, you will also find detailed "getting
around" information: trains and buses to take (bus and
train numbers and schedules change over time, so treat what
is given here as “typical” and not gospel), and
where to get on and off; when it is best to use a rental car
and where you definitely should not.
For current train schedules to allow detailed planning, go
to www.raileurope.com and click on fares and schedules. Note
that some trains are all reserved seat or sleeper accommodations
often requiring reservations well in advance. Using our itinerary
suggestions given at the end of the book, you can do that
through your travel agent. Also click on single country passes
for Italy if you want to go first class..
On a budget? Go second class. Try for a couchette on the couple
of occasions where an overnight trip by rail is worked into
your schedule.
For rental cars, we have compared and find that booking here
at home before the trip saves money and time. Just be sure
the rental offices are convenient to where you plan to pick
up and drop your car.
Also you often will find specific general information on appropriate
hotel locations at the various destinations (Consult your
favorite hotel advisor for actual selection.); and, above
all, these pages contain detailed instructions to guide you
along your way on your in-city walks and regional tours.
That said, lets be on our way. Let's go south from Rome for
the surprise of your life.
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