It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot, and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.
– Charles Dickens, Great Expectations
Another month has come and gone, and it’s now officially spring. One quarter of the year is already behind us. Where does the time go?
To help us keep track, Robie and I started this regular update to remind us what we did during our precious retirement years.
Travels
We began the month in Syracuse, Sicily.
After not traveling in February, we hopped a ferry from Pozzallo the first week in March for a visit to Malta, the former home of the Knights of St. John. Returning to Syracuse for a final 10 days, by mid-month we were packing up and moving to Palermo, Sicily’s capital.
In Europe, trains are our preferred mode of transportation. They’re inexpensive, reliable and comfortable with an ever-changing view outside the window. But this month trains in Sicily were not particularly dependable. On our return from Malta, the last train from Pozzallo was cancelled due to mechanical issues and despite a vague promise from Trenitalia about a bus, Robie and I were forced us to share a cab with two other stranded passengers. Filing a refund request, we crossed our fingers that we’d get our money back (we did!) but knew Trenitalia wouldn’t cover the additional €40 for the taxi (they didn’t).
So when we disembarked in the rain at Catania Airport to catch a connecting train to Palermo and found the line cancelled due to a van blocking the route somewhere down the track, I didn’t hold out much hope of getting help from Trenitalia despite the mention of another bus in their cancellation email.
As ten of us stood around the unmanned station trying to figure out how to get to Palermo or at least Catania Centrale, one station further north where we might find alternate transportation, a bus pulled up. A young guy from a group of Americans dashed out in the rain to ask the driver if he could take us to Catania since our Palermo train had been cancelled. Despite the driver not knowing English, the American’s few simple words in Italian were enough for him to communicate and soon we were stashing our luggage in the hold and piling onboard the warm, dry bus. But our impromptu guide wasn’t sure whether we were going to Catania to catch another bus or if the driver would take us all the way to Palermo. Within minutes, we were on a highway traveling west across the island watching green countryside pass.
Our first stop was the tiny railway station in the center of the island at Enna, a town that according to James Holland in Sicily ’43 was the Axis headquarters during World War II. After letting off one passenger, the bus turned away from the highway and stopped at Caltanissetta to let another disembark. When the driver also left the bus, our Italian translator worried we might be stranded there until the driver jumped back onboard and announced, “Palermo,” flashing a grin with a thumbs up signal.
An hour later we made it to Palermo.
Trip Planning
Despite our Trenitalia issues, Robie and I went ahead and booked a 9-hour train from Palermo to Naples next month rather than take the overnight ferry. Then we doubled down on Italian trains and reserved the last leg of the trip from Naples to Rome by rail. (Fingers crossed they all run as scheduled.)
From our homebase in Palermo we’re looking into daytrips to Trapani for the town’s famous Good Friday procession and a possible visit to Agrigento on Sicily’s southern coast to see Greek temples. But so far, we’re having so much fun exploring the ornate churches, busy streets and lively markets of Palermo that we may not leave until it’s time to head to Naples.
Holidays and Festivals
Our second day in Palermo, Robie and I followed the crowd heading inside the Church of San Giuseppe dei Padri Teatini. Little did we know March 19 was the church’s saint day honoring San Giuseppe or St. Joseph.
As Robie and I stood in the back watching the packed service, we were handed a bag stapled with the image of St. Joseph. Inside was a single pane di San Giuseppe, the traditional Sicilian bread roll made with anise shared on St. Joseph altars.
What we’re cooking and eating
As expected, we’ve been enjoying lots of delicious food.
We ate pastizz in Malta, a cheese-filled, flaky street food.
In our apartment kitchen in Syracuse we made fried artichokes, store-bought artichoke ravioli that got bathed in lemon parmesan sauce and homemade pizzas with crust from da Carmelo since we knew the apartment in Palermo wouldn’t have an oven. Before moving from Syracuse, we returned to our favorite fishmonger for fresh oysters, ate a farewell meal with pasta alla Norma and cacio e pepe, and enjoyed another Sunday afternoon in the piazza del duomo watching families gather.
In Palermo, our Sicilian food tour has been focused on the city’s street markets. So far we’ve enjoyed eggplant caponata, fried squash blossoms, stigghiola (lamb intestines), sardine meatballs, a meat-filled pastry called ravazzate, and Robie’s latest obsession, grilled, bacon-wrapped spring onions. At home, we learned to cook pasta in a sauté pan, a skill anyone living out of rental apartments should know in case their place – like ours in Palermo – doesn’t come with saucepans.
What we’re reading and watching
Robie plowed through another Jack Reacher adventure and is now rereading Steve Berry’s The Bishop’s Pawn. I finished Sicily ’43, the detailed account of the Allied invasion in Operation HUSKY during World War II and will tackle a biography on the artist Caravaggio next.
While we’ve missed most of the March Madness tournament due to the time difference, we made do reading post-game recaps. In the evenings we started a Stephen King miniseries, 11.22.63 centered around the Kennedy assassination and Peyton Manning’s Quarterback Season 2 following Joe Burrow, Jared Goff and Kirk Cousins during the 2024 season. We also began a new cooking competition called The Final Table and the 10-episode series, Greatest Events of WWII in Colour, a British documentary currently available on Netflix.
Other projects we’re working on
Robie’s been busy boosting our Reid & Robie Instagram account and adding videos to our YouTube channel. We hope you check both out – especially the lovely Palm Sunday procession that passed right under our balcony!
Health and Wellness
Thankfully, my Achilles seems good again, and in Palermo we finally found multivitamins since those little buggers can be difficult to find in Europe. 💪
Budget and Finances
We began March with a spending budget of $4,929, but after spending $1,309.63 in the first week during our 4-night, 5-day trip to Malta, I feared we were going to end the month overbudget. Fortunately, street food in Palermo isn’t just delicious, it’s also cheap entertainment. Strolling through markets filled with fresh produce and seafood, noisy hawkers and the aroma of grilled meats isn’t just fun, it’s a great way to sample mouthwatering food for less than a sit-down meal at a restaurant. By eating most of our dinners out in the markets, we were able to end the month with $146.15 to spare. Whew!
But the best financial news of the month came from our diligent tax accountant who told us we didn’t owe anything for 2025! The sweet surprise allowed us to reallocate funds earmarked for the U.S. Treasury Department back into travel – always a better investment!
Conclusion
Springtime in Sicily means sitting at outdoor markets soaking up the sun and sipping lemon- and orange-flavored spritzes while enjoying sizzling meats and seafood straight from the grill.
It’s an amazing time to be in Europe!
The weather is here. Wish you were wonderful.
Reid & Robie 