East coast Sicily Day 13 - Scicli

We go to Scicli by train and so discover that not only is Pozzallo railway station dilapidated and boarded up but also there isn't even a ticket machine. Ticket offices are becoming few and far between but usually in smaller stations where there aren't any there are automatic ticket machines. Not in this case, and therefore we erroneously presume that since there's nowhere one can buy a ticket one can do so on the train. The train is reasonably punctual and we immediately tell the guard that we need to buy a ticket. Impossible, if we buy the ticket on the train his automatic machine automatically includes an automatic fine for getting on the train ticketless. Apparently we should have known there was no ticket machine and bought the ticket at a travel agency in Pozzallo 20 minutes walk from the station. The logic of this defeats not only our unSicilian mentality but also the guard himself who scowls at us and says we shouldn't have told him we were ticketless and then studiously ignores us until we get off the train, fine-free and still ticketless, in Scicli.

Obviously the first thing to do in Scicli, where there is no hope of obtaining a ticket in the station either, is to find where to buy one. A traffic warden sends us in the right direction to a travel agency about ten minutes walk from the station towards the centre of Scicli. Here, there is a long queue of people wanting to by a train ticket as quickly as possible mixed with people enquiring about transatlantic cruises for the summer after next. Some irritation ensues from everybody also from the two girls on duty at the desk even though it is obvious to everyone except them that it would have been less stressful for everyone to have a separate ticket queue.

Eventually we get out with our tickets and can relax and restore our depleted energy reserves with a 'testa di Turco' each and cappuccino. These cakes, ricotta filled  oversize invitations to pure gluttony are a speciality of Scicli and would probably be enough for lunch.

But just in case we stop at Palazzo Rosso where there's the best selection of Scaccia and 'Rosticceria' we have ever seen. With our small rucksack tightly packed we set off slightly uphill on the right to explore the oldest part of Scicli, going past Palazzo Beneventano and then up towards the ruined San Matteo church which has a fine view over the town. 

After exploring the upper part we head down to the centre and stop for our picnic in the square, taking advantage of some empty tables and chairs of a bar that is closed. Then we wander around the old centre, famous as one of the main settings for the Montalbano detective series, including the town hall which is the 'police station of Vigata', but another beautiful example of Barocco Siciliano in its own right, and of which Palazzo beneventano is the most beautiful.

We like Scicli very much and make our way back to the station following a slightly higher road, pleased with the day and the fact we have actually got tickets for the train.