I have blogged about Castelbuono before, but not recently, so I am doing it again!
We took an English friend there last summer, and she took all these lovely photos. Thank you Adrienne!
Castelbuono has a medieval castle with a very long ramp at the entrance and several arches to negotiate before you get there:
The town is full of enticing side streets with geraniums, cats and old ladies to be spotted among the laundry, all with a stunning backdrop:
We visited some of Castelbuono’s fun little shops, where I was tempted to buy yet another tea set for my collection.
We also found a food shop selling potato crisp flavoured chocolate (it was nice) and Padre Pio beeswax candles (we didn’t taste them).
We tasted lots of free samples of sausage in a sausage shop, all of which were hand made by the owner’s Mum.
We spotted a marching band having a little rest and a coffee before setting off to play their music:
A saint in the local church signalled that everything was OK, so we went on…
To see some more shops
Where we went a little wild buying traditional ceramics….
…and then went home to eat up our sausages!!!
The Dangerously Truthful Diary of a Sicilian Housewife 
The photo second from the bottom looks as though it was taken in Ireland. Is there really a PUB in that town? 🙂
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Ha haa! Yes, honestly there is!
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I’ve yet to visit Castelbuono. Will keep it in mind for my next trip to Sicily. Thanks for sharing.
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When i Google large cities in Southern Italy,most of the housing i see are apartment buildings,is that true? Are private homes only for the wealthy ? If you could guess,or know,are those houses in 2nd from bottom photo,wealthy peoples homes.
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Yes, the vast majority of people in European cities cities live in apartments. The UK is the only place in Europe where you can find houses in cities which are affordable for average people, though in some cities that is changing too… In London,for example, people even struggle to afford a flat.
Housing throughout Europe is far more expensive per square foot than it is in the US because land is so much more expensive… Compare European and American population densities to explain why!
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And to answer your question specifically, the houses in that photo would be apartments for average families, but Sicily is one of the unusual areas of Europe where there are still quite a lot of houses too, usually owned by people whose rural grandparents had them…. They are not worth selling as there are no jobs anywhere near them so they are hardly worth anything and can only be used as weekend homes. There are also houses and pieces of land formerly owned by old people who passed away with nobody to take them over as all their kids moved abroad. There is a phenomenon of ghost towns forming all around Sicily for this reason.
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Thank you
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hi Veronica,
first “auguri di Buona Pasqua”.I like Castelbuono, which, together with Cefalu Petralia Gangi and other villages in The Madonie mountains is ,in my opinion, the best in Palermo area.You look like having your heart definitely split between Sicily and England…., which means a higher degree of sensitivity!
All the best
Antonio Di Maria
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Thank you for your lovely comments and Easter wishes… And a lovely Pasqua to you and all your family too!
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Interesting stuff about the housing. My daughter and husband are about to buy a place in London and my son and partner a place in Sheffield. Both roughly the same size. The one in London almost 6 times the price.
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Yes… The reason I chose to base the charity I am now running in Stoke-on-Trent instead of London, even though I would really have preferred London and it would have been more practical for many reasons. Ho hum.
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