We take the train from Pompeii to Naples. We decide not to spend the night in Naples because we find our hotel in Pompeii very nice and very quiet—it’s better to do the round trip Pompeii – Naples than to drag our suitcases all the way to Naples, and then from Naples to Rome. What a wise decision, because this city feels like pure chaos to me, a city swallowed by mass tourism and the incompetence of those in charge of keeping it clean. It’s crowded everywhere, absolutely everywhere, and the streets are disgustingly dirty, especially in tourist spots. I was shocked to see such a touristy city so poorly…

After Sicily, we fly to Naples and Pompeii. An Italian friend who specializes in volcanoes told us that the present danger isn’t Vesuvius but Naples: the Naples region is itself inside a volcano. And from the plane, it does look like that, indeed. Specialists see danger everywhere, but I hope he’s just being overly cautious. We land in Naples first and immediately take a shuttle, which is 5 minutes from the airport, to Pompeii. The driver drops us right at a gate of the archaeological park. Unfortunately, our hotel isn’t near this gate but near the other gate. We walk along the park, can’t see what’s inside, and after 15…

We’re getting back in the car today to explore the other side. But Sicily is so vast that it takes a full road trip to see it all. From Palermo, and in just one day, we can only push as far as Cefalù and Caccamo. We struggle to find a parking spot. Construction on the main avenue cuts the available spaces in half, and the huge parking lot outside town is just that… outside town. We finally manage to squeeze into a small spot, pay for parking, and walk 15 minutes to the old town. This place must be 10 times busier in summer. That beautiful beach is sure to…

There are so many things to see in Sicily that you have to make choices. Since I want to visit both Monreale , and Cefalù which are in two opposite directions from Palermo, we decide to visit Monreale one day (and go as far as the Temple of Segesta), come back to sleep in Palermo, then go to Cefalù the next day, then return to Palermo, to our Airbnb. We rent a car for two days from Dream Rent – Noleggio Auto e Scooter – Rent Car and Scooter https://maps.app.goo.gl/pBbsWLLWCBPmMmd78 for 70 euros (insurance still covered by Serenitrip). It’s a small local rental company with a tiny office, but the…

After Catania, we take the train towards Palermo. There are two main pedestrian streets in the city center, and our Airbnb is on one of them. They’re always full of tourists, noisy, lively, but the apartment is over 100 square meters, so we feel way too comfortable and don’t visit anything for long weeks. We just go eat focaccias, Neapolitan pizzas, pistachio gelatos (the local specialty), cross several times a day a beautiful pedestrian intersection with sculptures on all four buildings, and stroll along the pedestrian streets for window shopping. If I had known that the churches in Palermo were so pretty, I would have forced myself to visit earlier.…

I’m catching up on travel journals left unwritten since 2022-2023, and here we are in January 2023, having just left Malta by boat to head to Sicily. While the first stop is the famous Syracuse, the second (very brief) stop is Catania to visit Mount Etna. We take the train from Syracuse to Catania and spot Etna from afar. You can’t tell from photos, but it’s massive, given how far away we can see it. As an active volcano, it regularly releases gases and smoke plumes, even without major eruptions. This smoke is mainly water vapor, sulfur dioxide, and other volcanic gases. From a distance, it just looks like clouds.…

We leave Valletta (Malta) bright and early and arrive in Pozzallo (Sicily) by ferry. I’ve been a bit off lately, so the trip planning is a bit botched. I should have opted for the €10 transport offered by the ferry company to get to Catania by bus, and from there, do a day trip to Syracuse. On the one hand, because there are more affordable hotels in Catania, and on the other, because it would have cost us less. But what’s done is done. Between Pozzallo and Syracuse, we simply paid for a shared taxi, €70 (two people with luggage) because the train times didn’t suit us. Part 1: Travel…