On Fri, 22 Feb 2013, Alfred Molon wrote:

The other point is that local eating times are quite different
from those in Northern Italy (and surely from those you are
accustomed to). Difficult to find a snack-place at noon for lunch
(more likely around 14), or a restaurant before 20 in the evening
(more likely 21).

Usually we do not eat so late (i.e. after 8-9pm). We have small kids
who need to eat early in order to go sleeping early.

But surely if you would travel to a place in another timezone, you would
shift your eating times and adapt to the local ones. Consider e.g. Spain
or Portugal (the latter is offset one timezone from MET, the former
isn't but de facto it is concerning eating times). I guess noon or 7pm
will be too early for lunch or dinner in Sicily, while they won't in
northern Italy. EARLIER than that will be too early even here, but
probably not in Holland or Norway.

Personally when *I* was a kid and we travelled I got quickly adapted to
eat at odd times to maximize sightseeing times (e.g. buying some take
away food and eating on a train) more than placing my legs under a
restaurant's table and wasting one-two hours. Surely more adaptable than
my father was !

Said that, I'm surprised to hear of (generalized) high prices in Sicily
although I won't be surprised to hear of high prices in northern or
central Italy. Specially for places which advertise as "restaurants" and
for the evening meal. In big cities there are places like "tavola calda"
or "self service" ... follow the office clerks. Usually you can seat and
have an (usually abundant) "piatto unico" (single dish) hot lunch. Could
be pasta (with some meat or fish sauce) or some combo of meat and
vegetables or fish and vegetables. Prices used to be reasonable in
Sicily (more than in Milan). At least in Palermo I knew a couple of such
places near Quattro Canti di Campagna (the "country" ones not the "city"
ones, i.e. near Teatro Massimo).

Also bars there often have an extremely good selection of pastries. In
Palermo there was a bar advertising "sicilian and swiss pastry" ... you
know the saying "Hell is Palermo without pastry shops (D.Maraini The
Long Life of Marianna Ucria)". Concerning "cannoli" one has to be
careful, according to the locals. The true filling should be made with
ricotta (sort of cottage cheese), and therefore one should eat cannoli
only in the fresh season, and possibly ask to have them filled at the
moment.