So far, there is no other place on Earth, that brings me a cornucopia of controversial feelings as Sicily. It’s a well-known love and hate relationship or a bittersweetness. On the one hand, Sicily is a real paradise. On the other, it might become a frustrating place to live. Therefore, these are some reasons why living in Sicily is beneficial and why sometimes inhabitants curse this place.
Cons of Sicily
- Recently I saw one guy asking for advice on how to arrange a wedding in Sicily. Apparently, they were thinking to come there for a longer vacation and hit two birds with one stone – a wedding and a honeymoon at once. “Good luck for you” – I thought. Then I noticed that most of the people expressed exactly the same idea. Trust me, you don’t want to deal with Sicilian (or Italian for that matter) bureaucracy. Imagine that there are a lot of small counties within an area. I visited three different ones to clarify what exact documents we need to submit before our wedding. In all places, I heard different stories. And in the end, we just decided that it’s just easier to take a flight to Spain and have our wedding ceremony in Gibraltar. This is just one example. If I would tell you another story, about our internet provider, that would take at least 10 pages.
- I give a three-times ironic hooray for Sicilian traffic, nonexistent public traffic included. Have you ever seen a subway that waits at one stop for 15 minutes? Well, you’ll see it in Catania. If Google directions suggest you take a bus from place A to place B, be sure that you’ll get there faster on foot instead of waiting for a bus that may not arrive at all. What about trains? Well, they might be on time, but also they might be an hour late. It depends on the moon phase and the stars’ arrangement. And last, but definitely not least – rude drivers. Parking a car almost in the middle of the street with flashing lights on? No problem. Parking on both sides of the street that dramatically slows down the traffic flow? Hold my beer. Do not stop when a poor pedestrian tries to cross a street literally risking his life? That’s completely normal. Do not obey rules, drive through the red light, and forget about speed limits? It’s a daily routine.
- And here comes the time to talk about people. I understand that in every country it is possible to meet nice persons as well as complete assh***s. But in Sicily, here are some particular tendencies. A lot of them are just too laidback. They state “Domani” or “non ti preocupare” literally meaning “tomorrow” and “don’t worry”. Unfortunately, sometimes you just can’t wait for tomorrow and you need answers here and now. Sometimes locals try to fool anyone who speaks with an accent by rising prices, for example, in a market. Sometimes I just felt that I can’t fit there perfectly just because I do not yell, gesticulate, and do not rush to curse everyone.
- Trash. I honestly don’t understand how it is possible to live like this. How you can trash such a wonderful island – your own home? Do you litter everywhere in your own house? I still cannot find the answer to this question. In Sicily, you can see trash everywhere – piles and piles of them on the side of the roads, on the sidewalks (including dogs’ poop), and in general in the most unexpected places, for example, a forest. In the beginning, I was shocked. Later on, I actually got used to it. Maybe that’s the real problem that in the end, people stop noticing it. Luckily some non-profit organizations took this issue into their hands and hopefully, in several years, we’ll see some positive changes.
Pros of Sicily
- If you love food, you need to get there. However, you won’t find all kinds of different cuisine in Sicily, but what they offer is amazing. Traditional foods like pizza and pasta, as well as some local specialties like arancini and horse meat, can be found there. Not to forget to mention gelato, rich Sicilian BBQ, traditional sweets like cannoli, fresh fruit, and vegetables, seafood…Did I forget to mention something? Might be. It’s just too difficult to mention everything. It’s funny though that one of my favorite dining places was GOLDEN where it’s a popular “all you can eat” option. For 25 euros per person, you can stuff yourself with sushi, pasta, and other delicacies until you can barely move. I already miss this place.
- The scenery, in Sicily, is breathtaking. I remember when my friend visited us and we went to Palermo. She said that for some reason she didn’t expect to see such a hilly landscape. In fact, you can find regional parks with beautiful hills (I can’t say mountains since the real mountains are in north Italy), crystal clear sea, all kinds of beaches (sand, rocks, lava rocks, stones), gorges and much more. As long as you’re not too lazy to discover the beauty of this island.
- Once, from a local, I’ve heard a rough comparison that Sicily is “like a bitch of Italy”. To understand better why it is called this way, we need to go back in time. This island, throughout its history, was conquered multiple times by different cultures (Romans, Greeks, Arabs, Spanish, Byzantine…). Luckily for us, nowadays we still can see the influence of most of these invasive cultures. Every corner of Sicily whispers old-time stories – from Pantalica’s necropolis to Palermo’s old town. Traces of visible history are exposed to everyone who is willing to see them.
- A local guy told me that Sicilians are “metereopatici”, which means that their moods are strongly affected by weather conditions. To simply put this way, when it is warm and sunny, Sicilians are happy, when a storm is rumbling nearby, locals get upset. Well luckily, at least 250 days per year are sunny and I don’t remember even one time that the rain would pour more than three days. That explains why Sicilians are so relaxed and smiling. It’s because of the sun. And what I liked the most were these evening gatherings to seaside restaurants and town squares. People are sitting there for hours – socializing, laughing, and simply having a great time. At these moments it felt that there were no troubles around and all that matters is that given moment.
Living in Sicily in a nutshell
The main advantages of living in Sicily are beautiful weather, rich history and culture, amazing cuisine, and breathtaking landscapes. On the other hand, Sicily might disappoint you with its endless bureaucracy, dysfunctionality, piles of trash everywhere, and terrible infrastructure. I strongly suggest living there at least several months before making a decision to permanently move there.
I must say I suffer that same frustration with the bureaucracy here as described. However, in the matter of trash and litter, it does indeed depend on where you are and when you are there. Two examples: I have seen small towns in Western Sicily where it seems that everyone goes to the edge of the community and dumps their trash. Some towns in the same province are so free of litter and trash, that should you drop a piece of paper and return there 15 minutes later, you will not find it. Second example, when I first came to Sicily, I traveled to my grandmother’s town. I did so with such devotion, that I was crestfallen when I saw its condition. Not just trash, but garbage could be found on almost every street. After finding the house when Nonna’s was born and grew up, I vowed never to return. When a cousin came to Sicily to see us five years later, I hesitantly took her to the town. I could not believe my eyes. New and solid construction, no trash anywhere. A new mayor had made all the difference.
Kathleen, thank you for your shared thoughts. I would like to believe that in the future that never-ending trash problem in Sicily will be finally solved once and for all.