愛上意大利高跟鞋的女生 Ciao! Bella Italia ~: 旅行的快樂。西西里 The Happiness of Travel

今次的西西里之旅實在太充實! 已經是第四次去西西里了，但今次不同的是，我終於可以在游泳既季節出發。之前到西西里也是四月、五月和九月，天氣太冷，不能游水，但每每經過西西里的海灘，總令我停下來，放下空。

所以一確定了六月旅行，二話不說便決定到西西里游水!當中，兩個地點Favignana和Lampedusa更是我夢想之地!

交通︰

今次沒有選擇卡塔爾，因為發現漢莎航空也不太貴，加上主要原因是漢莎有航班到西西里的Palermo，正好合我心意，省去再買內陸機飛西西里的錢和時間!

而到Lampedusa呢?由於Lampedusa是在西西里南面對開的小島，其實更近突尼西亞，加上始終不是旺季，就只有Alitalia可以從Palermo、Milan、Bologna出發，或是從南面Agrigento附近搭overnight船。所以，當然我是選擇直飛啦! 其實大約六月尾開始，便陸續會有其他航空公司加開航班飛Lampedusa，所以7,8月去會方便一點，但也即代表了會很。多。人。呀! (我是一個十分十分十分超級害怕人群的人! 特別是在旅行時!)

大約行程︰

Day 1 – 到Palermo，先住一晚，明早飛Lampedusa (也好，因為我之前到過Palermo，今次逗留大半天也不錯，也可到碼頭走走)

Day 2 – 晨早8點機到Lampedusa，航程1.5小時，9點半到，大部份酒店都有免費Shuttle接送 (因為Lampedusa話大唔話, 話細唔細，但巴士呢，不一定隨時有，所以有車就最好! (所以我們也臨時決定租電單車方便去不同海灘)

Day 3 – Lampedusa，已一早決定要到Isola dei Conigli ，這個名為兔仔島的地方，在2013 Tripadvisor選擇中獲選最美麗的海灘第一位，亦是因為這樣我才認識這個小島呢!

Day 4 – Lampedusa，下午4時飛機，還有大半日玩 (機場太細，約30-45分鐘前到機場便可。飛回Palermo

Day 5 – 本來留在Palermo，因為搭大巴到Trapani時間十分難配合 (西西里就是這樣)，但最後找到間竟然可以有免費transport 從Palermo to Trapani的B&B，加上價錢唔貴, 房間又不錯，所以便可以直接到Trapani! (慳了至少2-3個小時的時間和大巴費用也不便宜)

Day 6 – Erice，一個小小的山城，一直很想去，最方便是從Trapani找一日day trip去

Day 7- Marsala，一直很喜歡Marsala的鹽田相，希望今次去可以影到，去到先發現原來鹽田要8-9月才有，因為天氣夠熱，所以今次白行一躺。不知為什麼之前一直沒有看到這資料，否則我會改為去Marsala的酒莊，因為西西里的葡萄酒其實也挺出名的!

Day 8 – FAVIGNANA! 行程另一重點，多年前到此一遊，騎單車看海，也十分喜歡，往後更因為很多超藍超藍的海灘而決定一定要再去，所以今次特地要住上一晚!!!!!!!!!

另一重點是，Favignana的藍青口是十分十分的鮮味和嫩滑，從沒在其他地方吃過，就是說，吃青口的時候你不會感到有條邊的，而是一粒滑嫩的肉

Day 9 – 回Trapani，因為希望留在Favignana多一點時間，所以搭下午的船回到Trapani，有時間所以也選了一個cooking class上。

Day 10 – Terrasini - Citta del Mare，是意料之外的行程，本來安排不了，因為後來買了門票看歐國盃，所以也可以嘗試我一直也想去玩的slide。就是瀡入地中海喇，而不是泳池呀!

Day 11 – 傍晚直接到Palermo機場搭機到法國Marseilles!

Day 12 – Marseilles + 歐國盃英格蘭 VS 俄羅斯 !!

Day 13 – 山長水遠回到米蘭，食個LUNCH，便要回香港了!

今次行程改了數次，也浪費了不少改機票/酒店的價錢，不過就是值得嘛!!!! 可以一次過滿足了多個願望!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

後記︰

西西里的公共交通工具真的不是很方便，班次不會很密，但現在很少有脫班的情況了 (至少我去過西西里4次，也沒有太大太大問題，小小當然有啦)

溝通嘛，比較大的城市如Palermo, Trapani, Catania等也可以，但住的地方、餐廳等大部份也不會說英文，所以我發現我說意大利話會好過英文 (習慣了那幾天，也發現說英文有困難，因為要逐粒字說希望他們會明白，不能說太長句子太深, 但倒頭來他們還是不明白)

然後就是，每一次到西西里，我也要說，西西里人是十分十分友善的!!!!!!!!!!

另外想說的是，講到治安，現在不是古時的西西里了，黑手黨可能還有，但我認為西西里比起其他歐洲大城市還要安全得多! 可能是因為西西里不大，就算是大城市Palermo, Catania，始終不是羅馬、米蘭嘛，沒有那麼雜、在市中心的地方不會覺得有很多不知哪裡的人隨處坐著好像在找尋獵物的。當然，我常說，去到任何一個地方，要是自己從沒好好放好物品，銀包隨手可得，背包輕易打開，只顧影相吃飯而不理自己物品的，任何一個地方 (就算是香港)也會是危險的!!!!

補充一句，因為這是我第四次去西西里了，所以要是第一次去的話，路線可能不會是這樣走，遲一點我也會寫一篇關於西西里的建議行程呢!

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This is a marvelous trip to Sicily! This was the fourth time I have been to Sicily but the different of this trip was that, I could finally get there during SWIMMING SEASON!!!!! Previously I went to Sicily in the month of April, May and September and I couldn’t enjoy the blue blue sea and clear water instead of just staying on the beach and enjoy the magnificent view. (of course it was good enough by just sitting on the beach indeed)

Therefore once I decided my trip in June this year, the only choice of course was Sicily! Favignana and Lampedusa are my dream places~!!!

Transportation:

I didn’t fly with Qatar this time, and I chose Lufthansa as it was not that expensive, and the most important reason was that, it has connected flight to Palermo, Sicily! This perfectly matched my plan and saved me the money from buying another flights to there by local airlines and the time!

For Lampedusa, a small island located south of Sicily, (it is indeed more close to Tunisia), as June is not the peak season, there are only flights from Palermo, Milan, Bologna by Alitalia. Or you may take overnight cruise from Agrigento which is not cheap indeed. So I took the direct flight from Palermo. Infact, more flights are available starting from late Jun operated by other airlines so July and August would be a better season, but also mean that it will be crowdy on the beach.

Itinerary:

Day 1 – Arrived Palermo for a night, and took flight to Lampedusa the next day morning. (I have been to Palermo before, so it’s good staying at Palermo for around half day and hanged around)

Day 2 – Early flight to Lampedusa at 8am, flight duration: ~1.5hr, arriving at around 9.30am. Most of the hotels offer free shuttle (public transport is not convenient on the island, to be honest, so that’s why we also rented a scooter to go around the island, too!)

Day 3 – Isola dei Conigli, of course! It was ranked no.1 by Tripadvisor users in 2013 as the most beautiful beach in the world. That was when I heard about this island!

Day 4 – Lampedusa. Flying back to Palermo at 4pm, so I still got more than half day there. (As the airport is very small, you just have to get there 30-45mins before your departure time.)

Day 5 – Originally planned to stay in Palermo for a night as the coach to Trapani cannot match my flight schedule. However, luckily that I found a B&B which offered free transport to and from Palermo Airport and the price a night is not expensive!!!! So we went to Trapani directly and saved at least 2-3 hours travel time and money, again!

Day 6 – Erice, a small hill town near Trapani. Wanted to visit there for a long time and it’s good for a day trip from Trapani.

Day 7- Marsala, its salt pan attracted me a lot but, I realized that there were no salt pan in June, but only around August to September when the weather is very hot! I don’t know why I couldn’t get this information from the internet, otherwise, I would plan to visit Wine cellar instead as Sicily is also famous for its wine!

Day 8 – FAVIGNANA! Another highlight of my trip this time. I have been to Favignana (Isole Egadi) few years ago, just did some cycling and visiting the sea but I was falling in love with it! The blue blue sea and the clear water is soooooo beautiful and so I planned a night on the island.

Another point is that I have had the most delicious BLUE MUSSEL on the island that I haven’t had elsewhere! The mussels were sooo fresh and smooth~ (you couldn’t understand how it feel until you tried it! That’s what I finally convinced my husband until he tasted it!)

Day 9 – Back to Trapani in the late afternoon. Took a cooking class there.

Day 10 – Terrasini - Citta del Mare, this was not planned in my itinerary at the beginning. However, as I changed my plan and brought Euro 2016 tickets, I finally could try the TOBOGGAN (the slide which directly goes into the sea!)

Day 11 – Went to the Palermo airport direct at around 6pm for Marseilles in France.

Day 12 – Marseilles and Euro 2016, ENGLAND VS RUSSIA

Day 13 – long way trip back to Milan for my flight back to Hong Kong….

I have changed my plan several times and it did wasted some money on flights/hotel bookings, but it worth it as I have gone to the places I LONGED TO GO for ages!

Remarks:

The public transport in Sicily is really not that convenient and tourist-friendly. Not frequent timetable between cities, but I would say that it’s not really that bad especially on delays/cancellation afterall.

In view of communication with the locals, it was okay if you were in big cities like Palermo, Trapani or Catania, however, most of the people there, e.g. in hotel, B&B, restaurants they didn’t speak English. This was the only time that I found that I speak better Italian than English, because even you tried to speak slowly in English, word by word but they barely understood and there was a time that the Host of a B&B asked me why I didn’t speak in Italian instead as I spoke better in Italian!

And again, I would say that Sicilians are really so friendly!

Regarding the safety issue, it is not the old days and there may still have some Mafia, but no, it’s very safe in sicily, much more safer than in other European cities. I think maybe because they are not those big cities like Rome or Milan, you won’t find too many beggars, or Gipsy on the street. Of course, I always say that if you are a careless people, absent-minded, and just didn’t keep your wallet/belongings in your bag or a safe place and it won’t be safe for you even in Hong Kong.

Last but not least, this was my fourth time to Sicily and if you are planning for your first trip there, this may not be the best itinerary to see all the popular cities. I’m thinking to write another article on some suggested itineraries in Sicily later! Stay tuned!