Getting Lost on Backroads in Sicily

It's been almost a year since I updated this blog, but for good reason. Since we moved to Sicily full-time two years ago, I've gotten my Italian citizenship, earned an Italian driver's license, built out my consulting business, learned to navigate the Italian national health system, and had three migraine surgeries.

I'll write all about all of that and more later, since I've decided it's time to get back to blogging again. But for now, I want to share a story and some reflections about one of my favorite activities here in Sicily: getting lost on backroads.

Why We Love Sicilian Backroads

Before I got my Italian driver’s license and our little Fiat Panda (only one year ago!), Marco and I used to sit at the overlook park above our house and ask: 

“Which direction do you want to drive first?”

We didn’t care about the destination. We just wanted to know what was over the next hill. We wanted to see roads and vistas that weren’t on the Melilli bus routes. We wanted to head off in a new direction and see where it would take us.

Sometimes those backroads took us nowhere. On one of our first drives, the road dead-ended when the concrete literally crumbled into a gully.

Sicilian backroads are a grab bag of the unexpected and unpredictable.

There are so many secret moments of beauty on Sicilian backroads, like this little spot.

You turn one corner and find yourself at the top of a plateau, caught breathless by the majesty of craggy cliffsides, rolling gold and green peaks, and narrow roads that twist and turn as if gravity were an afterthought. At higher elevations inland, you find conifer forests, solar farms, and plenty of mooing mucche (cows). As you head down into the valleys, prickly pear cacti, silver-leafed olive trees, and wildflowers (and flower bushes) line the roadsides.

When you take the highway in Sicily, you miss all this. And it’s too beautiful to miss if you can help it.

Which way to Augusta? Completely illegible road signs are common on back roads.

So, every time we go somewhere new—whether it’s for a doctor’s appointment or just for fun—we always try to find a backroads route. Finding that route is not always easy. 

GPS is often only semi-functional on backroads. Signs are often so faded by the sun they’re unreadable, or they’re missing entirely. And routes are anything but direct. To compensate, we always leave plenty of time to get lost.

Driving in Sicily - a Few Basics

Before we go further, a note on driving in Sicily.

Driving in Sicily is a three-dimensional sport. You watch the road ahead. You watch the oncoming traffic (and the oncoming car veering into your lane as it passes, because it always passes).

You watch for motos zooming up behind and around and in front of you. You watch the vehicles coming up from behind and riding in your trunk until they find a moment to pass (visibility be dammed).

You watch the state of the road itself: Is the shoulder crumbling? How big are the potholes? Is it one lane with cars driving in both directions, and if so, who has the right of way or “precedenza”?

After attending an Italian driving school, taking the Italian road theory exam, and spending many hours driving with an instructor, I now have theories about the written and real rules of the road in Italy (perhaps inspiration for an upcoming post!). For example, the rules of precedenza (right-of-way) are so complex here that no one remembers them after the exam. In practice, the right of way is like Tinkerbell: Whoever most strongly believes they have the precedenza, actually has the precedenza. (So, get out there and believe.)

Is driving in Sicily safe? As safe as anywhere. Is it a bit terrifying? Absolutely. Is it also fun and exhilarating? Yes!

All this adds a little extra spice to getting lost on Sicilian backroads. You’re not just figuring out the route, you’re navigating the three-dimensional rules of the road (and potholes, have I mentioned potholes?).

Going to the Movies at the Etnapolis Mall

Last weekend Marco and I went to the movies together for the first time since before the pandemic. Of course, getting to the English-language showing of Supergirl, which we found at a theatre at the Etnapolis mall on the slopes of Mount Etna, was a pretty epic adventure.

Since the movie started at 11 am on a Sunday in a town we had never been to, we decided to do a “test run” first to practice driving on unfamiliar backroads.

Our intended backroads route to Etnapolis.

For our test drive to Etnapolis, we decided to experiment with an inland route that was supposed to take an hour and 31 minutes. It was mostly smooth until about two hours in, when a series of closed-off roads confused us, and we accidentally got on a highway going the wrong direction. But before that, though, we got to drive by Sigonella, the joint US-Italian airbase, for the first time. Total driving time was close to three hours.

On the way home, we took a different route that left us driving in circles around the Catania Fontanarossa airport parking lots and access roads until we found our way to our trusty coastal road (ex-SS114). That route took just under two hours door-to-door.

For movie day, we knew we needed to plan for the potential of getting lost yet again.

We allotted 2.5 hours of driving time by leaving at 8:30 am (for the 11am movie) and decided to combine the two routes. We would take the coastal road to the Primasole bridge, then follow the signs to Sigonella that we’d noticed on prior drives. In advance, we used Google Street View to study the confusing turn where we’d accidentally gotten on the highway on our test drive.

This stretch of back road is in shockingly good shape.

And this time—we did everything right. We made it to Etnapolis with time to do three indoor walking loops before heading into the theater. Getting home on the same route was a piece of cake.

Overall, it was a great day. We learned a new backroad route and, despite the very mixed reviews, thoroughly enjoyed watching Supergirl. We’re already planning our next movie excursion.

Getting Lost in Sicily Is Part of Learning to Live Here

As our journey to Etnapolis shows, the first time Marco and I drive somewhere new, we inevitably get lost. The second time, it’s a little better. The third time, we’re pros. (Okay, sometimes we’re not actually pros until the fifth time!)

We’ve now become experts on backroads to Augusta, Brucoli, Catania, Siracusa, and Valle dell’Anapo. We’re on the cusp of being pros on backroads to destinations south (Avola, Noto, Modica, Ragusa, and more).

Being a pro on a backroads route means not having to bother with GPS or Google Maps. We can enjoy the drive, listen to music, brainstorm book ideas, practice our Italian, take in the stunning scenery, and explore with abandon.

It means feeling a little more at home, a little more at ease in this new country.

And it’s a lesson I keep reminding myself about as I embark on some new book-writing projects.

Getting Lost Is Useful for More than Backroads

Marco and I are both writers (we even met in a writing MFA program!). Marco has a novel out (it’s won awards), and I’ve published short stories and essays (and won writing competitions with an unpublished manuscript). But I really, really want to publish a book. That’s one of my dreams. So this year I've carved out the time and mental space to get serious about a couple of book projects.

One of the curses of being a writer is that you can often picture the book you want to write—you can SEE the whole thing: the plot, the characters, the voice, the adventures, the emotions, and even the ending. You KNOW what the finished book can be.

But when you sit down to write, it’s utter chaos. On page 50, your plot crumbles into a gully. On page 150, you somehow end up on a highway going the wrong direction. It’s messy and chaotic and, honestly, a LOT harder than the work I do for clients.

It’s tough not to get frustrated, and the desire to give up (or just wallow in feeling like a failure) can be pretty strong.

But when I feel that frustration and disappointment now, I keep reminding myself of all the time we spent this past year getting lost on backroads in Sicily.

The first time we drove to the little seaside village of Brucoli on backroads, it took us two hours (and we got lost multiple times). This summer, my parents and I drove there in 30 breezy minutes, no GPS or highways required.

It was the same story the first time Marco and I drove to the airport in Catania, and the first time (and second and third and fourth times) we drove into Catania for various appointments. Now, getting to and through Catania is second nature.

This castle off ex-SS114 may be called Castello di Castelluccio OR Castello di Pippo Baudo. I'm not sure, but it's always marvelous to get a peek at it.

Driving a scenic Sicilian backroad by memory—with confidence, joy, and minimal stress is an incredible feeling. You put on a favorite song, expertly avoid potholes, and cruise through some of the most stunning scenery in the world.

But none of that good stuff is possible unless you’re willing to get lost a few times first.

And I mean REALLY lost. The kind of lost where you’ve been in the car for hours, you really need to pee, your shirt is plastered to your back with sweat, the road you’re on has more potholes than pavement, and the gas tank is running low.

That’s the kind of lost that means you’re on your way to discovering something magical—but only if you stick with it. You have to keep moving forward, keep making wrong turns until, one day, you recognize where you are and know where you’re going.

Then it’s time to learn a new route so you can start all over again.