Well, we’ve made it through the first week and learned a few more things this week. First, don’t download software updates unless it’s absolutely necessary (we screwed up the Iphone and had to go back to the Wind store for the man to teach us how to get the network back working. Next, choose the right time for updates to any Iphone Apps as it ties up our computer for far too long as the Internet is much slower here than what we are used to. (It took 12 hours for a Navigon update). Third, double check the night before on Google maps for where we are going to the next day so we are somewhat familiar with the route. Fourth, keep the Iphone handy with the translator program - $5 Canadian – well spent!! And of course, stop at the local bar (coffee shop) for a cappuccino before we set off for the day. We’ve been observing the art of the barrista who makes those wonderful cappuccinos that we savour every morning!!!
Trying to find a grassed area to play soccer within Castellemmare del Golfo has been elusive. It would appear that the kids all play on concrete surfaces. Many of the school grounds are gated and locked, so we couldn’t get access, and they didn’t have grass fields either! We went down to the beach near here where there was a marble tiled promenade and played soccer. J and T were victorious over dad, two games to 0.
Well it’s been a week since we have been in western Sicily and we have enjoyed the countryside immensely. The rolling hills planted with grapes and olive groves are splendid. We have enjoyed the vistas of wildflowers, which grace many of the roadsides and hills. We have marveled at the beauty of the old villas and buildings that are in both the towns as well as out in the rural areas. We walked through two natural reserve parks, checked out a couple of beaches – one covered in small smooth rocks, while the other was fine sand and even started getting some color to our pale Canadian skin and walked around some very old castles.
Castellemmare del Golfo is mainly a tourist city, with some fishing. We did enjoy walking the streets of the town – some much narrower than others. In the oldest part of the town, the streets are cobble-stoned and intricately laid rocks and tiles. At the edge of the town is a castillo.
We made two significant day trips, which were really wonderful. The first trip we were trying to find Segesta, but since the GPS app was trying to load an update it was not working. We had not researched the way there by Google maps, so Teresa as going only from memory of a map she had seen. So we ended up taking a wrong turn and had a wonderful 2-hour drive through the countryside but never found Segesta. We decided to go through Trapani – which is a large port city on the west coast to find our way to Erice, which is a town on top of the Mount San Giuliano overlooking Trapani. What a magical place this was. Here was a town where visitors parked at the entrance of this walled city – walls date back to the 8th century BC. Streets were narrow and laid with rock – in square formation – longer rocks which formed the perimeter of the square and small rocks filling in the area. This was the format for the entire road system throughout. These narrow roads were definitely designed for pedestrian and horse traffic and not car. We did see cars/small trucks travel through the streets, but there wasn’t a lot of extra room on either side. It was fascinating watching cars try to turn some of the tight corners – not for the faint at heart. We wandered through the narrow alleyways and into some lovely courtyards and took lots of pictures. We toured a couple of very old churches; this town has 60 of them. They charge entrance fees to some so that they can raise funds to continue with the restoration for others.
The second daytrip was actually to Segesta where ancient ruins date back to 6th century BC. This time we had checked out the route on Google maps, AND we had the GPS working. It turned out we only had to drive about 15-20 minutes from our apartment to find the place. What a neat place this was – a Sicilian-Doric Temple out in the valley stood alone on the hill. Excavation in the area had unearthed a number of structures which had various purposes – watch tower, door into the city, castle, mosque, meeting area, roads, mountain house. Once we reached the top of Mount Barbaro where the castle was built, we came upon a Greek Theatre. It was carved out of rock into the mountainside with19 levels of seats, designed to seat 4000 people and dated to 2nd century BC. It had a spectacular view of the valley. The acoustics were fabulous. Mark went down to the bottom of the theatre and spoke in his regular talking voice - no, he did not try his laugh… and we could hear him perfectly up at the top of the theatre – very cool. From here, we walked back down into the valley to go see the Greek temple. It was majestic - awesome to see! Imagine the manpower it must have taken to build it!! Another wonderful find for our April 20th journey!
April 21 – Thursday. First things first, a cappucino stop before we ventured off to go to the southern shore of western Sicily called Mazara del Vallo. It happens to be home to the largest Italian fishing fleet – as we could see many large boats in the harbour, but smaller ones lined sides of the Mazzaro river which flowed through the city. Today we drove through lots of olive groves and of course fields of grapevines. We noticed a number of wind turbines along the hilltops in this region – capturing the wind blowing in from the sea. Once into the city we drove through a myriad of streets, to finally reach near the waterfront. We walked around the square – seeing really old fig trees, remains of a Norman castle and monuments dating from the 11th to 18th century. We walked along a marble-tiled roadway to the Piazza della Republica which was surrounded by the Cathedral, a Palace and a seminary – beautiful tile work. It’s unfortunate when people make the choice to deface marble statues – which we saw today. After the short tour, we stopped for a gelato and then went back to the car. Trying to get out of this town was a challenge and thank goodness for the GPS – it would have been a nightmare without it. So many narrow streets seem to meander places – and we actually had to take them! Good thing the thing recalibrates when a turn is missed!!!
Once we left there, we decided to try and find a 1,350 m long grotto near Santa Ninfa. Unfortunately, when we did find it, it was blocked off. From the display pictures, Mark figured we’d need some serious caving gear to tour in there – the pictures of the crystals found inside looked pretty cool. The ground near the cave was pretty neat- the rock formation was crystallized.
sounds heavenly
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