I have this old trope running around in my head. It is something about the trains in Italy always running late. From everything I know about modern Italy, that just doesn’t feel like it can really be true. But we are not in modern Italy. We are in the far south of Sicily, 20-or-so hours by bus, train, and ferry from Rome. We are in an area where most people really-and-truly do not speak any English. Here in southern Sicily, that old trope may not be so old after all.

We are trying to make our way up the coast to Siracusa, or more specifically, to Ortigia, a small island tightly connected to the rest of Siracusa. Ortigia has kept its 3,000+-years-of-history vibe while Siracusa has made full strides into the 21st-Century.

Pozzallo, where we were, is a big village. It is a seaport town and the main gateway to Malta from Sicily. It is where the ferry from Malta lands 3-ish times a day. We decided to spend a few days in Pozzallo for two reasons: it seemed like it might be a cool, interesting place, and it seemed like a fine place to start acclimating to Italy. We found a nice 100-year-old classic (and very well kept) hotel in the middle of town, and it was exactly what we had bargained for.

We could walk most of the town in an hour … which was important, since we had to do it a few times. Plus, it gave us a chance to realize the challenges of encountering true language barriers. I am getting good with Google Translate … but I still have a long way to go. We tried to get a kebab and salad without pita for lunch … almost like in the picture on the wall of the cafe, a kebab, but with no pita. I failed.

Per usual in the universe of international travel, we ended up at a better, more convenient place where I got to eat my first arancini, a fried Sicilian street food made of rice and filling. Being on the eastern side of Sicily, I ate an arancino, a cone-shaped delicacy associated with Catania. It is cone-shaped to resemble Mt. Etna … as opposed to the arancina, which is round … more feminine, resembling an orange, and associated with Palermo instead of Catania. Same food, different shape … and of major Sicilian importance!!!! Plus, we were right across the street from the bus stop where we may or may not be able to catch the 2:40 bus to Siracusa.

So back to that “Italian trains are always late” trope. We dedicate a not-insignificant amount of our travel time to checking out how we are going to get from Point A to Point B. We scored big on that front in Malta, when we checked out the ferry terminal a few days before we sailed to Sicily. Just like Google Maps said, we had a 15-minute walk from the “Bombi 1” bus stop, but it was down a steep, rough hill alongside seaport warehouses. We got to the terminal, checked it out, confirmed the ferry schedule, and then learned that there was a bus stop directly outside the building … but the bus that stops there only runs once per hour. SCORE! When we did it with our luggage a few days later, we timed our journey perfectly and had no problems at all.

We did the same thing on our first morning in Pozzallo. We walked up a hill to the train station. We arrived a few minutes after noon. We saw that a train was scheduled to arrive at 12:24, so we waited (and enjoyed a delicious fresh orange that we picked off the tree at the train station). At about 12:30, we figured if the train was late, we would hear it, so we could leave and start walking back toward the village. The train never came.

Here is what we subsequently learned. (Welcome to remote southern Sicily.) … And bear in mind, we like totally DO NOT know the language!

• The trains were not running because of damage from Mediterranean Storm Harry.
• The trains were running, but not the 12:24 train. Only the 3:30 train.
• There was a 11:40 bus from Pozzallo to Siracusa.
• There was not an 11:40 bus from Pozzallo to Siracusa, but there was an 11:40 bus that left Pozzallo with a mid-route transfer to Siracusa.
• There was not an 11:40 bus from Pozzallo with a transfer to Siracusa.
• There was a 2:40 bus from Pozzallo to Siracusa.
• The 2:40 bus from Siracusa to Pozzallo was not running on Wednesday
• We could take a taxi to Siracusa for about €100. (The bus cost €6.)

We also learned that there was an art supply/stationery store that sold bus tickets about a kilometer away. Off we went. That is when we learned that many Sicilian businesses close between 12:30 and 4:00. We arrived at 2:30. The place was locked up tight.

Wednesday morning, I started again, still having no clue how we were going to travel the relatively short distance from Pozzallo to Siracusa. I left Rebecca at the hotel and hoofed it back up the hill to the art supply/stationery store. Indeed, the 2:40 bus should be running just fine, and I left with 2 one-way tickets to Siracusa in my pocket.

We (fortunately) arrived at the bus stop two hours early. That is where I failed in my attempt to get a pita-less kebab and enjoyed my first arancino.

End of story: the bus arrived right on time. Two hours later, we arrived at the bus terminal in Siracusa … having to pee like crazy since the inter-city bus had no bathroom.

Segue to the next chapter: we found a bathroom and found the bus to Siracusa.

Next chapter: we arrived at our B&B. Sergio, our host, escorted us to our room and opened the shutters over the window. Our room peers down directly onto the Temple of Apollo, an amazing ruin in the heart of Ortigia. We plan to stay here a while. It is heavenly. Stay tuned for more stories!