{"id":2657,"date":"2026-06-26T18:11:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T16:11:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/terran.ch\/?p=2657"},"modified":"2026-11-03T13:57:39","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T12:57:39","slug":"2657-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/terran.ch\/staging\/en\/2657-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Sicily Terran: Action-Packed, but uncomplicated"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Traveling with \u201cGrandparents for the Climate.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

By plane, the trip to Palermo takes less than two hours. But as members of \u201cGrandparents for the Climate,\u201d we\u2019re staying on the ground. The journey by train and ferry takes a little longer, but that\u2019s exactly what makes it even more exciting. Getting around by public transportation in Sicily also turns out to be surprisingly easy.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t our first time in Sicily. This multifaceted island, so rich in evidence of a turbulent history and breathtaking landscapes, draws us back once again. This time, we\u2019re heading to the northeast, a region we still know very little about. On our previous trips, we traveled by rental car. It was convenient, but not always stress-free. So this time, we want to try the train and the bus. We plan to spend a few days in three different towns and explore the surrounding areas from there: Cefal\u00f9, Taormina, and Enna.<\/p>\n

Early in the afternoon, we board the Eurocity in Zurich. We\u2019ve allowed an extra hour for the transfer in Milan, because experience has taught us that time can sometimes be tight. This time, it wasn\u2019t necessary. So we have time to enjoy a delicious first espresso<\/strong> <\/span>and buy some artisanal gelato. And suddenly, that feeling washes over us: we\u2019re in Italy.<\/p>\n

The vacation begins at sea<\/span><\/h4>\n

From the Genoa Piazza Principe station, a taxi takes us to the port. After showing our tickets at the GNV shipping company counter, we head\u2014dragging our small wheeled suitcases\u2014toward the MS Suprema along a pedestrian-only path. The slightly more expensive cabin we booked this time turns out to be quite comfortable. But we\u2019re soon drawn to the railing. Night slowly falls over the city while below us, trucks and enormous semi-trucks continue to be maneuvered into the ship\u2019s hold.<\/p>\n

We spend the entire next day on the ship. Inside, in the bars and lounges, it\u2019s hard to escape the numerous televisions blaring at full volume all day long. But outside lies the immensity of the sea, the wide wake the ship leaves in its wake<\/strong><\/span>\u2014and aren\u2019t those the outlines of an island visible in the mist on the horizon? The day passes slowly amid reading, chatting, strolls on the various decks, and simply relaxing\u2014a wonderful way to get ready for vacation.<\/p>\n

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Cefal\u00f9<\/span><\/h4>\n

We feel a little lost when we get off the ferry in Palermo in the early evening. All the passengers have disappeared, getting into their cars or onto buses, and the few pedestrians have been picked up by their loved ones. But the staff at the small ticket office located at the port entrance are very helpful and call us a taxi. Just half an hour later, we\u2019re at Palermo\u2019s central station. The station is small: a few platforms, a ticket office in a lobby with a polished marble floor. It takes me less than five minutes to buy two tickets to Cefal\u00f9. We\u2019ll find out later that we could have bought those tickets through the SBB app<\/strong> <\/span>as well. A direct train leaves for Cefal\u00f9 every half hour.<\/p>\n

The town is magnificent, with its long sandy beach, the imposing Rocca Rocco, and the Arab-Norman cathedral adorned with a splendid mosaic depicting Christ Pankreator. It\u2019s certainly crowded, but as soon as you turn onto the street running parallel to the souvenir shops, provincial life resumes its peaceful rhythm. In an old lingerie shop, with countless drawers built into a wooden wall, I find a \u201cpetticoat,\u201d a substitute for the slip I left at home.<\/p>\n

Taormina<\/span><\/h4>\n

After three days, we resume our journey. At the small station, we wait for the express train to Messina. But the train doesn\u2019t arrive: \u201cpower line failure\u201d\u2014a problem with the overhead wires. Every few minutes, announcements about this echo from the loudspeakers\u2014in Italian and English. At first they\u2019re hard to understand, but thanks to their constant repetition, we eventually grasp them perfectly. It\u2019s annoying, but at least the small waiting room is cool, there\u2019s a caf\u00e9 right next door, and lively conversations are taking place among the waiting travelers. After two hours, the Intercity finally arrives. It\u2019s surprisingly modern and comfortable<\/strong><\/span>; the white cars are emblazoned with the words \u201cEurope loves Sicily.\u201d In Messina, we have to change trains, but since a train leaves for Taormina every half hour, our delay isn\u2019t a problem at all.\"\"<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll stay a little longer in Taormina, which also serves as a starting point for a hike up Mount Etna. Accompanied by Daniele, a young biologist who works for the small local tour operator Etna People, the eight of us set off through increasingly sparse vegetation to reach some of the volcano\u2019s ancient craters. We learn a lot about the gradual transformation of hard volcanic rock into fertile soil and about Mamma Etna, this volcano that is sometimes threatening but also generous.<\/p>\n

In Taormina, we also have time to get our clothes washed. When traveling by public transportation, it\u2019s best to travel light.<\/strong><\/span> The coin-operated laundromat, located in a suburban neighborhood, is very crowded. A customer explains to me that I need to put four two-euro coins into the washing machine. The manager approaches and tells him, laughing, not to steal her job. Then she\u2019ll iron my blouses and skirts, much better than I could do myself.<\/p>\n

Enna, in the heart of the island<\/span><\/h4>\n

Just three hours with only one transfer: the trip to Enna is shorter than expected. This time the trains are on time, and on the stretch where the line is interrupted, the replacement bus service runs perfectly. We just have to ask for directions to find the bus stop. This gives us a chance to strike up a conversation with a Sicilian woman<\/strong><\/span> who is on her way to Enna to visit her daughter.<\/p>\n

Enna towers atop a rocky outcrop several hundred meters above the plain. The historic center isn\u2019t a very popular tourist destination. There are old restaurants, frequented almost exclusively by locals, serving delicious specialties (Sicilian-style artichokes!), people who, if you ask them where the bakery is, will immediately escort you there, and a young artisan who crafts magnificent leather bags. You could spend hours strolling along the large esplanade and admiring the view of the expansive landscape and Calascibetta, the twin town situated on the rock across the way.<\/p>\n

Palermo \u2013 Naples<\/span><\/h4>\n

On Monday, a taxi takes us back to the station located on the plain. Besides us, there\u2019s also a Chinese man traveling alone and two backpackers. The train arrives on time and takes us to Palermo in just under two hours. We stay in the Sicilian capital for another three days. Then we take an overnight ferry and spend another five days in Naples, before a Freccia Rossa takes us back to Milan in just four and a half hours. From there, we still have a good three hours to get to Zurich.<\/p>\n

\"\"It was a wonderful vacation. Maybe a little more tiring than a trip by plane with a rental car. No, actually not really, because we set our own pace and often enjoyed taking a taxi. But above all, we had time to admire the scenery, to let ourselves be carried away by chance encounters, and to make unexpected discoveries.<\/p>\n

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