Sicily with a stoma

Firstly, I must apologise for being MIA lately. I’ve been very quiet on the blogging front again but that’s because I’ve been out and about, doing what I love and what I do best … travelling and getting my belly and my bag out around the world!

Secondly, I should pre-warn you that this blog isn’t really going to be very ostomy focussed! I always try to keep my Stomalicious posts on point, but I’ve been travelling with my ostomy for 4 years now and to be honest I feel like a bit of an ostomy travel pro these days! My travel stories are more about the actual travels than my ostomy, which is how it should be!

I’ve written several posts with tips on travelling with a stoma. I don’t have much to add following our trip to Sicily. If anything, each trip gets easier. For me, it’s not that different to normal life with an ostomy at home (which I’m fortunate is relatively trouble free). As I’ve said before, it’s all smooth pooping!!

So, onto Sicily. A place that’s been on my ‘must see’ list for a long time, and although I’d been to Italy several times prior to this, I was leaving Sicily for something (or someone) special. My dad.

Dad was born in the village of Palazzolo Acreide in the South East of the island before immigrating to Australia with his family when he was 5 years old. Going with dad held a lot of meaning and it was a special and emotional trip for both of us. He himself hadn’t been back since before I was born until he decided to go with my Auntie in 2012. He invited me to go with him on that trip (even offered to pay for my airfare), but my Crohn’s was at its worst at the time, and no matter how much I wanted to, there was no way I could fathom travelling at that point. Then dad decided to travel through Europe for his 70^th birthday this year, so of course I jumped at the chance of finally being able (and well enough) to join him on a grand tour of Sicilia!

From an ostomy perspective, the biggest factor in Sicily was the heat. It was in the mid to high 30s (celcius) most days and didn’t drop much below low 20s at night either! This meant a lot of sweating, but I had no problems with my bag and still only changed it every 3 or so days, plus of course ensuring I drank enough to stay hydrated (aperol spritzes helped with that)!

We started in Palermo, the busy, bustling capital city full of the new and the old with a lot of contrasts. We explored all the different quarters full of incredible architecture with countless old churches, palaces, piazzas, facades and fountains and something to discover down every street. Great street food (how can you not love Italian food)?! Apart from the sightseeing, I loved the local bar we found that had table football (or foosball as I call it!) where dad kicked our butts (and it was 2 against one)!! Out of town we also visited the incredible mosaics and cloisters of the Norman-Byzantine cathedral above Palermo in Monreale, and the very well preserved Doric temple in Segesta.

Next stop was the enchanting hilltop town of Erice with its cobblestoned streets and terracotta rooftops. Incredibly photogenic and a real calm and relaxing vibe. We loved the views from the gardens overlooking the castle, and seeing dad banter with the comedic accordion player he remembered from when he was there 5 years ago. We spent a lot of time chilling out playing cards and drinking wine on our cute apartment patio. After beautiful clear blue skies it was quite strange when on our second night a thick fog enveloped the whole of the town creating a completely different rather eerie feeling! We sat outside eating pizza just down from the main piazza and could barely see 100 metres in front of us!!

Enroute to Sciacca, we enjoyed a seafood feast at Da Vittorio in Porto Palo (check out the Sicily Unpacked TV documentary) – simple, delicious, fresh – you can’t go wrong! The marinated gamberri rossi were TDF!! More sea and seafood at the port town of Sciacca where we only spent 1 night but it happened to be the last day of the festa for St Peter so we were able to take part in the procession following the parade down to the wharf where they loaded the saint statue onto a boat and did a loop out to sea and did a blessing, followed by a funfair, festivities and fireworks back on land! 

Leaving Sciacca we checked out Caltabellotta with its incredible 360 degree views where you can supposedly see 21 surrounding villages in amongst the valleys of the Sicilian countryside and Mediterranean sea in the distance. The town itself sits on the hill, the buildings clinging to the hillside like mosaics.

By far my favourite part of the trip was visiting dad’s hometown and the remaining rellies in Palazzolo Acreide. Everyone was so lovely and welcoming despite my abysmal Italian! The town itself is much less touristy than other places we stayed which is nice in itself, but still has all the quintessential Italian village aspects including some beautiful piazzas, churches (San Sebastian where my my nonno’s brother painted the apostles on the roof), the longest baroque balcony in the world, and even some ancient ruins. Old men sitting out front of pasticcerias having their morning coffee, chatting and playing cards, and the obligatory passegiata! The whole feel of the town just has that “being Italian” vibe! Love it!

We enjoyed visiting Nzina (dad’s cousin) and her daughter Nunzia and family and seeing the house where dad lived until he was 5. Meeting Pippo (another cousin) and Marinella’s newfoundland the size of a bear (named Morgan) and drinking Marinella’s 95% proof homemade limoncello in their lovely back garden. Visiting Nzino and enjoying several espressos with a side of dolci with his sons Santo & Salvo.

We also paid tribute to my Zia (great aunt) who died in Melbourne only a few weeks before we’d arrived by reading the eulogies from her funeral at the town cemetery by her mum’s (my great nonna’s) grave. It was such a special experience being there with my dad. I definitely feel my Italian roots and am so glad we finally made it to the hometown together.

Final stop on our Sicilian sojourn was the touristy Taormina. The hillside town overlooking the sea with the smoky Mt Etna as a back drop, the ancient Greek theatre, picturesque little laneways to discover and lots of nearby villages to explore was the perfect spot to end our Sicilian adventure. Our apartment was right on the main Corso with a balcony perfect for people watching and enjoying our own evening aperitivi. Amongst other things, we took the cable car down to the rocky beach below Taormina for a dip in the Ionian sea where I road tested my new tankini (verdict still out!), and did a road trip to Savoca where parts of The Godfather movie were filmed. For our last night, we watched a performance of Beethoven’s symphony number 9 (Ode to Joy) in the ancient Greek theatre with the sun setting behind Etna – a fitting finale!

Grazie mille Bella Sicilia!!

Happy travels,
Laura x