Sicily with a baby – what you need to know?

Behind us is the first flight, the first time in Italy, the first ride in a rental car, the first volcano, the first ancient temple…. one can list endlessly. First time for the three of us!

Although it was not the first trip abroad, this one was special because it was the first one so far away and by plane. Previously, we were, among others. Lithuania, from where it’s a stone’s throw to Poland, we can get in a car and return at any time. Admittedly, Sicily is not the end of the world, you can catch a plane, but still the return is more troublesome. Close and far at the same time, and that’s why we chose it for our “test flight,” on the assumption that Italy is always a good option.

We’ve already written quite a bit about the flight itself here and here, so we won’t repeat ourselves, and will focus on the stay there itself.

Italians love children

And the smaller the baby the bigger the dose of love :) Going with a 6-month-old infant, we expected on the spot some comments or pinches in the style of “why with such a small child they go?”. Why? Because we encountered such comments in Poland, so despite the cultural differences, we had 50 answers and cutting retorts in English prepared, just in case ;-)

Not once, I emphasize: NOT ONCE did anyone say a bad word or comment on anything. Not that we should care, but we wanted to shine with a cutting retort :D At every turn we were met with smiles, puzzlement and even admiration. Bella or bellissima we heard from several times a day, and Olivia with innate modesty only smiled at the Sicilian people we met.

The sight of a nursing mom also did not disgust anyone, and as many smiles as we were given only added to the courage ;)

Restaurants

We were able to go everywhere with the baby without a problem, to any cafe, store or restaurant (if we found any open already). No one did not make any problem with it, in fact, they helped, pointed out the place where we can comfortably fit with the stroller, opened the door.

Even when we went for pizza in the evening, we were welcomed, the waitresses would come up and entertain Olive. Zero ominous stares. The situation is worse in terms of adapting to the needs of children. You can search with candlelight for a children’s corner or changing tables, but the number of restaurants we visited was so small that it is certainly not a representative sample.

The biggest surprise for us was a scroll in the least expected place – a pub on Etna. The place was a bit like Polish hostels, oilcloths on the tables, reheated food, and yet there was room for a changing table.

Moving around Sicily with a stroller

I don’t know if it’s us who are demanding or if we get hit like this, but once again we often had trouble getting the stroller to pass peacefully.

This consisted of several factors: old cobblestone roads, unadapted sidewalks and driveways and typical Italian drivers :) It is known, when you go to the old town you should not expect poured asphalt and smooth pavement. We understand this and still prefer to admire the old neighborhoods rather than smoothly flash through the city with a cart.

Often, however, even when we moved away to newer neighborhoods we had trouble getting the stroller through, because either the curbs were very high or the sidewalks were off-set so that we couldn’t fit in and often had to just walk down the street. Add to this the Sicilian temperament of the drivers and you have an explosive mix :)

As for the monuments, here seemingly there are wheelchair ramps, but rarely, and unfortunately the range of attractions to see is also smaller. Fortunately, our stroller is lightweight and folds up quickly, so we had no problem climbing single stairs, and for attractions where we knew there would be a lot of unpleasant paths for stroller wheels we took a sling. Nothing difficult for the willing.

Availability of baby items in Sicily

Italy, by the way, like any other European country, is no third world country and there is nothing to take a large stock of pampers, wipes, food. It is a pity to carry, because locally we have a large selection of markets, and in them you will get what we have and even more. An example of a shelf of baby food in Italian Lidl:

Depending on what you’re feeding your child, you’ll get both prepared meals and a large selection of fruits and vegetables, including organic. It is convenient to rent a house with a kitchen, where you will always be able to cook something fresh to eat (pay attention to whether there is a feeding chair in the equipment, or if the owner can arrange such).

Fortunately, the region abounds in numerous plantations, so there is a good chance that the vegetables and fruits purchased are almost straight from the bush and have not traveled thousands of kilometers (Italians pay a lot of attention to fresh, good quality products – instead of importing tomatoes, for example, they prefer to use dried ones seasonally). Anyway, note how many eco/bio products available in Poland are actually from Sicily :)

Summary

Italy and Sicily are a very good option for a vacation with a baby.

Even if not all attractions are adapted, and restaurants lack children’s corners or changing tables, the openness of Italians to children and their approach makes up for everything :)