One-day trips around Sicily: Piano Battaglia

One little known fact about Sicily – it’s cold in winter. And people are constantly get surprised that I notice that.

Yes, technically +11 C is not cold, if you are in a place with normal level of humidity. But unfortunately Palermo is not one of this places, which makes surviving summer and winter here extremely challenging. 

I first came to Palermo on April 6 2014. In about two weeks I was coming back to the office from lunch and met one of my colleagues downstairs, but the entrance to the building. I was wearing my coat, the biggest scarf I owned and a pair of boots, and I was still freezing – the wind from the sea is usually so cold it really gets to your bones. My colleague, who was also wearing warm clothes asked me: “But do you feel this cold or for you it’s okay?” At that moment I couldn’t even feel my nose, so I just nodded as a puppet and mumbled something like: “Oh, I can for sure feel the cold”.

But I was ready for this – I did my research before the project and knew that the humidity is going to be crazy (even though it didn’t really prepared me for my first Sicilian winter! I will never ever forget December 31st 2014 – first snowstorm Palermo have seen in more than 30 years, 100000000000% humidity and putting blankets on windows to keep my room from turning into a freezer). And yes, I feel much better in Kyiv at +4 that in Palermo at +12. But nevertheless - Sicilian winter is beautiful. Blue sky, orange trees, flowers, beautiful sunsets and… no snow. Because I was never a fan of snow, especially in a city – it’s messy, makes everything more difficult and eventually gets gray and dirty.

But this is my second winter on Sicily (we can even say – second year without any winter, because such a radical change of climate really messes up with your perception of seasons) and to my huge surprise I realized the craziest thing – I started missing the snow! Yes, that white, messy, cold stuff that falls from the sky and which I never liked.

So when my friend wrote me: “Let’s go to Piano Battaglia, there’s snow there!” I didn’t even think twice. 

And it turned out to be the best decision ever. A day full of winter beauty, laughter, unbelievable views, snow angels and polished by a cup of hot chocolate in one of beautiful wooden “shelters” – and I’m back on the track. 

I got my winter fix!

So if you ever on Sicily during winter, this place gets my strongest recommendations. You can rent a car in Palermo and reach Piano Battaglia in about 1,5 hours. It’s a perfect was to ski, sledge, spend a night in a cozy “refuggio” with a fireplace and a warm family atmosphere or just spend a day like we did – walking around, playing snowballs, making a barbecue and having tons of fun.

Disclamer: all the photos belong to me and my friends. Any reposting without proper credits is forbidden.