Trip to Bagheria

Buongiorno,

I´m still writing articles about places in Sicily. I wanna tell you about all those citties I had a chance to visit and perhaps motivate you to come to Sicily one day. I´m studying hard for my exams. So my life isn´t that interesting at the moment anyway..

So, why Bagheria? Two years ago when I went to Sicily I remember that one guy from the party told me he comes from this city. And somehow I couldn´t forget it. Then I´ve found a mention about Bagheria in my guidebook. So, it was decided. Now unfortunately I couldn´t read any more information about this city because I had forgotten my guidebook about Sicily at home.

What do I think about Bagheria? First let me tell you this. When I travel I want to find in every city 2 things: the square and the church. Well, in my opinion you won´t find many nice squares in Bagheria. So, from this point of view I´m a little bit disappointed. On the other hand you can find plenty of nice churches there.

Here are some facts:
- 15 km from Palermo
- population over 50 000
- very popular among aristocratic families from Palermo (until the 19th century)
- lots of famous villas

This city is full of villas.

Villa Aragona

Villa Palagonia is the most famous villa in Bagheria (from 1705).

Villa Palagonia

Local road.

I can´t help myself but I like these kind of streets and always taking photos.

Modern church.

And that´s how their square looks like...

It´s not so nice, is it?

This is my favourite view. I can imagine sitting here, looking at the church and doing nothing...

Chiesa Madre di Bagheria.

Of course I had to ask somebody to take a photo.

Piazza Vittorio Emanuele III.

Honestly, who would you recognize me?? I wouldn´t.

Chiesa delle Anime Sante del Purgatorio (my favourite church).

Via Corso Umberto I.

This street is full of shops.

Two monumental pillars (Villa Palagonia) in Corso Umberto I.

Random beautiful old building.

The nature in Bagheria.

I want to be on the photo as well :-)

And that´s it guys. So, what do you think about Bagheria? Is it worth it or not?

Ciao
Ci vediamo dopo

Castelbuono as a place with the best "gelato" in Sicily

At least that´s what I was told by our organizers :-) Anyway, the ice cream here is good so :-) After a trip to Cefalu our plan was to visit a town called Castelbuono which is not so far from Cefalu (around 23 km). I´ve just discovered that this little town is also mention in my guidebook. In other words, it´s worth for the visit as you´re about to see right now. 

Here are some facts:
- province of Palermo
- population around 10 000
- famous for the castel
- grew up in the 14th century

Main street begins now.

Local church.

The castle.

First of all I always want to see the square. (Piazza Margherita)

with my friend Francisco from Spain

This one is very nice, don´t you think?

the fountain

I found very beautiful small Italian Cafe. If we had more time I would definitely come here.

Typical small street can´t miss on my blog.

I like this clock.

This is one of those moments, when I just look in the air and realize how much I love Italy. You might not recognize it but that´s how I´ve felt even if there is nothing special on this particular photo.

And finally we are having dinner.

Pizza Margherita

It´s very nice inside the restaurant.

With my roommate Georgiana from Romania

Do you see our red noses? Yes, we didn´t use any sunscreen at all because we thought we are going to be just fine. Actually I was really laughing to Martins during the day when I saw him. Although I stop laughing the moment I saw myself in the mirror!!

with Martins from Latvia

And here we go. The best ice cream in Sicily.

Nocciola con la panna

I have to say that I enjoyed the time here very much. I´m really starting to prefere more and more smaller towns over the big ones. You can always feel the right atmosphere in the air. And that´s what I love the most.

Ciaoooo

My second time in Cefalù

Ciao a tutti,

as you probably know, this wasn´t my first time in Sicily. I visited this beautiful island 2 years ago. I had my guidebook with me which says that I should definitely visit Cefalu. After Taormina (I´ve been there too) it´s the second most visited place in Sicily. Due to my Erasmus project, the fate has brought me back to Cefalu. If you told me 2 years ago that I will come to this place again, I would never believe that. I mean, it´s very nice place and attractive for tourists but I prefere the East Coast of Sicily and places like Catania, Taormina etc.

To get to the point. The part of our Erasmus project was a trip to Cefalu. Now, let me show you some photos and maybe convince you to visit this wonderful city (if you ever plan to visit Sicily).

What you can do in Cefalu:
- go for a walk in the historic city center
- shopping in small boutiques
- go to the beach
- walking tour- top of the rock

Duomo is the most important Norman church in Sicily.

don´t forget to go inside

The square in front of "Duomo".

As you might know I love streets like these...

Eating my favourite Italian ice cream "gelato".

After nice walk in the city centre, let´s go to the beach.

Porta Pescara

It was very hot. So if I wasn´t such a big coward I would swim with my friends.

As you can see I always represent my hometown Liberec :-)

This is just perfect moment...

I never know what to do when somebody takes photos of me, how to stand and everything. So, my friend Kamil told me to do this. I am doing my best, trust me:-)

Taking some photos with my Czech and Latvian friends (you need some memories, come on)

Ivars, Lenka, me, Martins, Kamil

After beach we are going to Rocca di Cefalu. It´s a place with the best view of the city. One advice: do not take any flip flops. This is a walking tour to the top of the rock.

Castel at the top.

Breathtaking views...

When I travel, I always look for places when you can see the whole city from the top. Why? Because the view is the best and it´s totally worth it.

the best view of Cefalu

Another advice: Take a bottle of water with you. First time I didn´t have any (run out) and the temperature was more than 40 degree and I was really dying. This time it was "only" 20 something and it was still challenging a bit. I have learned my lesson.

We all did it

I did bother my friend Lenka to take a photo of me in the same place like somebody else did 2 years ago. So, you guys can see how much I have changed over 2 years. Is it better or worst? :-)

August, 2013

About my personality, I hope it is better. I have more experience now and feel like I know a little bit more.  About looking, I´m not sure which photo I prefere. Let´s say that both are "acceptable" (my favourite word).

May, 2015

At the end: This was my second time in Cefalu. My friend Francisco from Spain told me that in Spain they say something like if I visited this place already twice, the fate will bring me back again. There has to be third time. Let´s see :-)

Arrivederci