In Italy, where blue lines - strisce blu – delineate parking spaces, you must pay according to the parking rules on the posted sign. But first, you must decipher the sign:

The two hammers indicate a workday, which in Italy is classified as Monday thru Saturday.

So, on workdays, you must pay to park from 8.00 -13.00 and from 15.00-19.00.  This assumes that everyone is home eating a big lunch, apparently having worked up an appetite hammering all morning.  And for those unfortunate souls who have nowhere to go for a home-cooked meal, at least you can park for free during lunch.

The cross indicates Sundays and holidays, which do not have to be religious.  This means that all time off is sacred.

This sign means that it is forbidden to park on one side of the street, in this case, during specified hours. 

So, you cannot park on this side of the street from 19.00- 24.00 on workdays, and from 10.00-13.00 and 19.00 to 24.00 on Sundays and holidays. It is encouraging to note that, when you can park, at least the cost is very low – 30 cents for 30 minutes, 60 cents for 60 minutes – but this is in a small town in Sicily.  (Do not expect such prices in the heart of Rome, where it can be cheaper to take a cab than to park a car.) 

But now comes the tricky part: “Esporre biglietto prepagato distribuito presso revendite autorizzate” states the sign.  Allora?  Well then, let’s assume that after riffling through your phrase book, and arguing with your traveling partner, you have deciphered the meaning: “Display the prepaid ticket distributed by authorized vendors.”  Well, you think, just who is an authorized vendor and where do I find one?   Your next thought may well be to simply give up and drive away.

Forza, you can do this!   If you can’t decipher a sign or figure out where to buy a ticket, and there is no official traffic cop in sight, then head to the nearest café.  Wave your arms around, babble in any language, and look desperate – this should be easy to do. There are always retired fellows that hang out in their favorite bar, and will be eager to help.  In fact, once you have made it known that you are in need of assistance, they will instantly become your guardians and may eventually be hard to get rid of.  You officially become a ward of the bar until you leave town. 

Once you finally get your parking card, it will usually look like a scratch and win lottery card, except there are no prizes.  Scratch off the date and time of your arrival – give yourself an extra 10 minutes for all that effort – and run back to your car or you may get a parking ticket in the meantime.   If you do, return to the bar and get your guardian to intervene on your behalf.

Place the card on the dashboard – cruscotto – so that it can easily be seen by the vigili.  They are traffic cops and meter readers, that living up to their name, are ever vigilant.

By now, it is probably lunch time, when you could have parked for free. Relax and have a good meal.  Buon appetito!

Yesterday, I went to see a friend in Noto, about 40 minutes from my house near Modica, and ignored the obvious route on a map, turning instead onto a back road, where I saw  a total of 2 cars in 20 kilometers (one of which was parked. ) 

Fueled by Caffè Sicilia’s good coffee and a hunk of creamy strawberry cake, I took a different road on my return, one which is full of twists and turns and lovely landscapes. Not once along the way did I encounter a sign for Modica.  

If I had taken the main road signed to Modica, I would have encountered this:

Admittedly, on the back roads that I am fond of, there is occasionally a traffic jam.  It looks like this:

And there are other hazards.  Beware of  wildflowers trying to push their way through your open car window:

For those in a hurry, these minor roads can actually get you to your destination just as quickly as the main roads, but the countryside is so lovely that you are compelled to at least slow down, if not come to a complete stop to admire it. 

Right now is the beginning of haying season, and the countryside is cloaked in myriad shades of green with beautiful patterns carved into the landscape.

If you see a road sign like this, you’d be forgiven for being confused. Or pissed off.  Once you’ve lived in Sicily for a while, you hardly notice these things; you just turn left towards Palazzolo Acreide.  Don’t worry – if you are driving in Sicily, you’ll probably never get to this sign, which is located on a beautiful minor road that is blissfully free of traffic.  Instead,  you’ll be arguing with your spouse about finding parking a space.  Or worse yet, having a lousy lunch.

I am occasionally stopped by wild-eyed tourists, desperate to find their hotel in a maze of streets that are narrower than their rental car.  Or having seen a sign for their destination, have foolishly followed it, only to become hopelessly lost.  Sound like a vacation?  Not to me. 

It took me years to find many of the routes I now take for granted, and every season offers a different color and texture to the landscape, along with something good to eat. These are the things I want visitors to appreciate when they come to Sicily, so if you are in my neighborhood, let me show you around.  You’ll enjoy a relaxing time, and insider sites not found in every guidebook.  You can learn to cook, or take walks in the countryside or the Mt Etna volcano- whatever you do, you’ll be assured of a great lunch.  And a parking spot.

Italian Connection offers small group scheduled departures in Sicily, with walking tours, cooking classes, and visits to archeological sites.  If these dates don’t fit your travel plans, call us to book a private custom tour with everything your little heart desires.  1-800-462-7911.

Travel all over Europe has been affected by the cancellation of thousands of flights due to volcanic ash from Iceland.  If you are already in Italy, here are some travel tips.

The airports most affected by cancellations or closures in Italy are in northern Italy and include Milan, Venice, Turin, Verona and Bologna.  Flights from Rome heading south continue to operate, such as Rome to Catania and Palermo in Sicily, Rome to Brindisi and Bari in Puglia. 

Flights from Rome to northern Italian and European cities (London, Amsterdam, Brussels & Paris) are not currently operating, while flights to southern European cities such as Madrid and Lisbon, were mostly operational, along with flights to Tunisia & Morocco.  So, if you are headed south, you have a good chance of getting to your destination (unless the wind shifts!)

Intercontinental flights from Rome were partially operational, as long as the flight route is no in the path of the volcanic ash.

Trains have become packed and the Trenitalia website for booking train tickets in Italy got so much traffic that is was barely functioning, forcing travelers to wait in long lines at train stations in order to buy a train ticket. Some heavily traveled train routes, such as Milan to Rome, are sold-out over the next 2 days. You can always give the Italian train website a try: Italian train schedules. 

Things look better on several long distance ferries, such as Genova and Livorno to Palermo and Catania, or Palermo to Naples. Check the Grandi Navi Veloci  or  Grimaldi Lines websites for destinations and timetables.

Car rentals are experiencing heavy bookings especially at the airports in Italy, while city offices for car rentals were in better shape.  Europcar and Avis have the most locations for car rentals in Italy. One way car rental drop-offs that are a long way from the pick-up point may carry heavy surcharges. 

You may have to be flexible and combine different kinds of transportation in order to get to your destination. A couple of my customers are trying to get back to London from Sicily, and are booked on the overnight 17 hour ferry from Palermo to Genoa, then a train to Paris,  then trains and ferry to London.

Train travel in Sicily is not for those in a hurry. It is best suited to those individuals who need to atone for their sins by doing penance, and rumor has it that a one-way ticket on Sicilian rail can be redeemed for a week out of purgatory. At least you won’t be fighting traffic and clinically insane drivers, or spend your day looking for a parking space.

Most trains in Sicily are Regionale, which, no matter how you translate it, means slow. They usually offer only 2nd class tickets and no services other than bringing your bicycle on board, presumably so that when you get fed up with the painstakingly slow train, you can quickly pedal away. On the bright side, regionale train tickets are cheap and routes are often scenic.

One rail route in Sicily that holds promise as a sightseeing journey and a step back in time is the Ragusa-Syracuse route, which takes approximately 2 hours one way. (You can also board the train at Modica, one stop east of Ragusa, which has slightly more frequent service and trims about 30 minutes off the journey.) The train is usually a rickety 1-2 car contraption, redolent of sweat and dust, but with a friendly conductor, who occasionally stops for coffee along the way. This old Sicilian train wends its way through groves of gnarled olive trees, peeks into the vegetable gardens of ramshackle houses, stops for no reason under the shady canopy of a magnificent carob tree, dips down towards the shimmering turquoise sea, and as it nears the town of Noto, is engulfed by lemon trees. In spring the scent of lemon blossoms fills the train with a scent so intoxicatingly sweet you’ll feel like you’ve skipped purgatory and gone straight to heaven. When the train finally squeals into the station at Syracuse, you can stretch your legs by walking the 20 minutes into the old quarter of Ortygia, and stroll by the seaside eating gelato. Make sure you check the return train times if you don’t want to be stranded overnight in Syracuse.

Details: You can view train schedules for all trains in Italy at www.trenitalia.it and there is a clickable option to view an English language version.

One of the best and least expensive ways to get to Sicily from Rome is to book your flight with the low cost airline Blu Express.  Maybe it was just luck, but the 4 times I have flown with them, the flights were not only cheap, but also on time!

Flights are purchased in one-way segments, which is particularly convenient when touring Sicily, since you may want to fly into Catania and out of Palermo, or vice versa. At Rome Fiumicino, Blu Express flights leave from terminal 3 (formerly known as terminal B).

Generally you will find the best airfare the further you book ahead, which is especially important around holiday periods in Italy, but if you have some flexibility you can check a month’s worth of dates to get the lowest fare.  Current lowest airfares are an incredible 14.99 euro one way Rome-Catania or Rome-Palermo or return.  Add an additional 5 euro for each one way segment for credit card fees, that’s still less than $30 US per one way flight.

The only drawback you may have when traveling with Blu Express is the baggage allowance, which is 5 kg (11 lbs.) for carry-on and it must be small enough to fit in the frame at the check-in desk.  Checked baggage allowance is 15 kg (33 lbs.) and you will be charged 7 euro per kilo (2.2 lbs.) for excess baggage. They are quite strict, so it pays to travel light.

View flight timetables and book online at www.blu-express.com.  In the upper right corner of the home page, click on the flag icon to get your preferred language, available in Italian, French and English.

If you can’t afford a Ferrari, Italy’s new high-speed trains are the next best thing. They are called FrecciaRossa - Red Arrow – and currently serve the major cities of Milan, Turin, Venice, Bologna, Florence, Rome and Naples. On a test run in the new train tunnel that connects Bologna and Florence, they may have had a Ferrari driver at the helm, as the Italian train broke the world “indoor” speed record at 362 kilometers an hour (225 mph).

Trains designated AV, for Alta Velocità or high-speed, offer non-stop service from Milan to Rome that takes just 3 hours 30 minutes.  Slightly slower trains make a few interim stops, then make up for lost time as they zip down the peninsula.

Sleek and streamlined, Italy’s new high-speed train carriages feature comfortable seats, electric outlets for a computer or ipod, and separate restrooms for men and women. First class passengers receive a welcome beverage from a drinks trolley or an Italian newspaper, and all trains have bar and snack service. If you can’t give up your midday dose of pasta, enjoy a sit-down lunch in the dining car, served in civilized Italian style, with top quality DOP food products and a selection of fine Italian wines.

Details: Train tickets in Italy can be booked online through www.trenitalia.com, and by booking your high-speed train tickets in advance, you can often find substantial discounts.