La Sicilia da Solo

After a massive amount of stress due to moving, May 1st finally arrived and I was out of my apartment and on my way to Sicily. I stayed in a small town called Balestrate which is east of Palermo and sits right on the water. During off-season, Balestrate has a population of about 5,000 people but during the months of June, July and August it can swell to almost 40,000! The plan for my first five days in Sicily was to do as little as possible, seriously. I went to the beach almost everyday, cooked for myself, read a lot and slept even more.

Brian was kind enough to give me a ride to the airport, a great friend over the last two years.

Bored at the airport.

The view from my balcony.

The beach at Balestrate.

Sunset in Balestrate.

Trying to frighten the locals.

A cooked rabbit's head, note the eyeball, the teeth and the rosemary whiskers.

By the third day I started going a bit stir crazy as I had seen just about everything in Balestrate after the first day. When I started talking to myself I decided it was time to get out see a bit more of Sicily. I caught an early train to Palermo for a day of eating and half-assed sight-seeing. I wandered about the center of town for a while, stopped to read in anyplace that looked good for it, drank a lot of espresso, munched on whatever looked good, which is just about everything, unfortunately.

Lunch: Spleen Sandwich and a fried rice ball.

Porta Nuova


A heavenly little cannoli