The Scala dei Turchi (Turkish Steps)
July 8, 2015
The Scala dei Turchi is a natural chalk formation jutting out from the coast of southern Sicily. It means "Turkish Steps," I assume because it resembles some rock formations in Turkey. There are layers of pure white chalk that form literal steps up from the coast. Although we had planned a beach outing there, we ended up going there at sunset instead (making plans in Sicily is basically useless). While not swimming (i.e. scrubbing dirt off of our bodies in the Mediterranean) was a bummer, I think we picked the perfect time to see the steps. We were definitely intruding on some romantic moments between couples by taking silly pictures, but watching the sunset from the steps and getting to scurry up the sides of them was well worth it. We also got covered in white chalk from the cliffs. I think we invented the next J Crew jean wash and it's marketing campaign - the Scala dei Turchi wash: a lovely adaptation of the 80's acid wash but with more white everywhere. We were absolutely covered. I'm sure our wait staff at the restaurant we went to next was quite confused about our appearance. After scrambling around the steps more and taking in the sunset we let our stomachs dictate our next move and sadly left the Scala. We were in agreement that the Scala alone was worth renting the car, even if we had only spent a short amount of time there. Hopefully next summer I'll be able to return to the steps and take a good long dirt-scrubbing swim.