SOUTHERN SICILY // TIPS & THINGS TO DO

After writing the first post on Mandranova I felt compelled to do another one and the things you can do and go see whilst staying there.

The first day of the holiday was spent sitting by the pool, reading and perhaps venturing down for a bit of lunch at the main house. Which is an impressive spread of salads, pasta, cheese, meats, cake, fruit and it's all delicious!

If you are looking for that time out, to read, rest and potter about Mandrandova and it's surrounding ground are perfect for just that. To help make sure you learn to switch off, they only turn the WIFI on during breakfast, from 9am to 10am, outside reception. It was quite amusing to see the majority of guest scrambling for seats near reception. As soon as it hit 9am all the IPads and smart phones were out & silence descended. Scary hey!?

Mandranova offer a few activities during your stay if you fancy.

- Guiseppe does an hour walk // talk about the production of their famous Extra Virgin olive oil. This is free and is well worth going on. He is a superb entertainer and will have your full attention for the entire time. You may even be recruited in a ‘role’ to help explain.

- Silvia’s cookery class (€60 includes evening meal) - Silvia will discuss the menu with you the day before and take you through all the steps in preparing it, sharing her culinary skills and using locally sourced ingredients and garden-grown vegetables. Didn’t end up doing this and really wish i had!

- Giuseppe also offers a ride on the Tornado (€70) - Mandranova's 38-foot boat - along the coastline, stopping for lunch which has been prepped and made by Silvia herself! We had planned a day out in the car that day so didn’t end up going, but heard great reports from the other guests. Sipping prosecco and eating delicious food. Also if you do decide to do this, I was recommended to try and get a seat in Giuseppe’s land rover, as that was an adventurer in itself!

DRIVING IN SICILY

FIAT 500 as modelled by Ben Pickett

During our stay at Mandranova, we found having a car vital for going on adventures further afield. We were both apprehensive about driving abroad and were quite happy not too! After falling for the Mandranova hotel on the Mr and Mrs Smith website we decided to just embrace the driving aspect.  (Ben embracing the car above)

Since I moved to london nearly ten years ago I rarely need to drive, finding the best form of transport is on bike or foot. So once in Sicily, having not driven much in my own country, I found myself jumping in the driving seat on the wrong side of the road! On top of this I had also read story after story about the crazy and sometime scary driving in Sicily. You know what... I was not just fine, but ended up loving driving whilst there. I think it may been something to do with Fiat 500 being so small, and feeling I was in a go-kart!

Oh that reminds me, here is a BIG TIP when you hire a car in Sicily hire the SMALLEST CAR known to man. Trust me anything bigger that a Fiat 500 will not survive the tiny narrow roads or the small gaps it between traffic you will be expected to get through. 

My recommendations for maps & directions whilst you are there is have a selection of sources!
We purchased both the TCI and the Michelin maps of Sicily, which are fine for a general guide to what direction to head in but a pretty much rubbish for driving around or through towns.
Before leaving the UK we printed off map sections off google maps and used Michelin Routemaster to plan our route from Cantania to Mandranova.

But best of all was the TomTom app for Western Europe that Ben downloaded before we left. At £54 it may seem a lot too pay, however it downloads all maps to your smart phone meaning that it isn’t completely reliant on 3G coverage (which you won’t have all the time) When getting lost down the back streets in Palma di Montichiamo, this was a complete life saver as was the fact that the Fiat 500 was so small - WOW who knew roads could be so narrow!?!

ADVENTURES OUT IN THE CAR

We new that the area of Sicily we were going to was the least touristic but not in the sense it was untouched more to the fact that there are a few industrial towns like Gela, that has descriptions like “the air tastes a bit chemically’ which doesn't pull the tourists over.

However that said there are some fantastic areas to go and visit. The coast of southern Sicily has some fantastic sandy beaches, such as those at Triscina, Selinunte, Porto Palo di Menfi, Sciacca, and Eracelea Minoa, and cliffs, including the remarkable white chalk ones of the Scala dei Turchi near Agrigento. Here are a few of the places we went and visited.

Naro via Palma di Montichiamo. Palma is worth a drive through, purely on the fact that it is very much a genuine, local town that is crazily hectic! Lots of cars, lots of people and very narrow roads. Don't be surprised if you go down one of the narrow streets and the in front decides to stop and to someone on the pavement for ten minutes, meaning you cannot reverse, get round but only wait. It's the Sicilian way. It’s actually quite good fun driving through as long as your map reader is on the ball! As I mentioned before, Ben also had the task of working out where the hell we were and finding a way out. He did, we did!

We drove onward up to Naro and had a little wander around, however by the time we got there is was Siesta time and it was pretty much a ghost town. However we did find this fantastic little cafe, cum patisserie/gelato at the top of town. 

Family run, we were served by a young girl who was directed by who seemed to be her Grandfather. He was so lovely and tried talking to us Italian hoping that we’d understand. He made lots of heart felt hand gestures and kept smiling at us. We had some delicious ice cream from there! I had Pistashio and Ben went fro Strawberry. The old man had such an effect on me that if I am ever in Naro again I will have to go back there! Just wish I’d got a photo of him.

The next time we decided to venture out in the car we decided to go a bit further! Starting off at the turkish steps, early, as we had heard they got incredibly busy and then up the coast to Sciacca, stopping off at Eracelea Minoa on route.

Sicilians on Scala dei Turchi

On arriving at the Scala dei Turchi (Italian: "Stair of the Turks") after a short 40 min drive the weather had started to turn and in the distance we could see a very large dark storm cloud heading our way. By the time we'd walked down the path, along the beach and started to make the climb up the white rocks, the sky had become an impressive blue, black and purple spectacle!

It was quite fantastic to be on such brilliant white rock whilst been surrounded by storm clouds. A storm that was just about start. Not only did it look fantastic in contrast to the surface of the turkish Steps but it also meant that the usually overcrowded site was reasonably quiet. But soon the storm clouds started to unnerve us so we decided to head back to the car. Perfect timing, as soon as we were back in the car, the heavens opened!

Info:
The Scala dei Turchi is a rocky cliff on the coast of Realmonte, near Porto Empedocle, just outside Agrigento. It has become a tourist attraction due to its unusual white colour.
The Scala is formed by marl, a sedimentary rock with a characteristic white color. It lies between two sandy beaches, and is accessed through a limestone rock formation in the shape of a staircase, whence the name. The latter part of the name derives from the frequent raids carried on by Turks.

Tips:
- Wear sunglasses even if it isn't sunny. You need protection from the blinding reflection of the rocks plus if there is a slight breeze, the sand that is whipped up into your face.
- Get there early as possible, we arrived at 10.30am and already thought it was busy. By the time we left it would've been near impossible to park.
- Parking is along the road near the entrance to a cafe "Scala Dei Turk". Walk down the steps past the cafe and onto the beach. Turn right along the beach and up onto the white rocks. You can't miss it!
- Keep an eye on the tide! Otherwise you'll find there is no beach to walk back along.

Sciacca; an hours drive from the Turkish Steps is Sciacca, a working fishing town that is well worth a visit. We went to Porto San Paolo on the harbour for lunch. Highly recommended! Amazing views, superb service and good food. Oh by the way you won't find any Sicilian pizzas at lunchtime, as it takes a long time to heat pizza ovens so are usually only served in the evening.

We shared a selection starter, it was delicious. This is what i put on my plate ;)

Seafood risotto. Might not look exciting but was absolutely delicious!

Lobster Fettuccine

So tasty So full, no room for pudding!

Eracelea Minoa

We planned originally to stop here for lunch on route to Sciacca, but due to some deluge of rain we decided to head straight Sciacca. Fortunately on the route back to Mandranova the weather was fantastic and the sun had begun to set. It was the perfect time to go, the beach was empty and the sky was stunning. We grabbed a beer at a wooden bar cum restaurant on the beach and just sat looking out to sea. It was one of those times you feel you need to pinch yourself. It was so peaceful.

Lido Garibaldi - Bar / Pizzeria / Restorante

20minutes later the euro pop was turned on and we headed back to the Fiat 500 to make are way back to Agrigento after deciding that we didn’t fancy hanging around for another 30minutes for them to open up the restaurant. So instead we nipped to Angel pizzeria, a fast food pizza joint 5minutes from the hotel, picked up two great pizzas (turns out that fast food pizza places in Sicily are as good as our good pizza places here!) and ate them back in our room with a bottle of Ice Cold white wine!