Thursday in Sicily

 [Thursday 21 April 2005]

After a leisurely morning we drove to the old tonnara at Scopello and walked around a bit before driving further on through Scopello to the south entrance to Lo Zingaro nature preserve. 

tonnara

parking lot for the preserve

coastal path through the preserve

We parked and then walked in for about 3 kms – the path winds its way right along the sea shore but rather high up the side of the mountains but making for fantastic views – before turning back to the parking lot. We then headed towards Palermo but got off the autostrada at the Partinico exit and took the back roads through some of the most dramatic and rugged mountainous terrain we had yet come across on our way to the cathedral of Monreale. 

Monreale, in front of the cathedral

At Monreale we stepped inside the cathedral and were struck by the fantastic sight of thousands of mosaic images – in fact Monreale is noted for its mosaics, rivaled only by the Byzantine mosaics in Ravenna. Truly, as the saying goes, if you come to Sicily and don’t see Monreale, “you arrive as a donkey and leave as an ass.”

From Monreale we drove down into the outskirts of Palermo to pick up the bypass back to the autostrada. Once again we were faced with the stark reality that to drive in or even near Palermo requires one to be heavily medicated. It is crazy indeed and further confirmed for us that we will take the train into the city on Friday.

Wednesday in Sicily

 [20 April 2005]

Our first objective was to see the ruined village of Gibillina (“ruderi gibilina”). In the horrible 1968 earthquake, which destroyed many of Sicily’s tiny villages and caused further ruin and havoc, one of the few villages not rebuilt on its original location was Gibillina. In fact the new village was constructed out of whole cloth as it were near the present autostrada, about 18 kms from the old site, and was the result of a collaboration of artists, engineers, architects, etc.; a most curious thing to see today. Anyway, we drove around somewhat aimlessly in the back mountains looking for the old village of Gibillina but we were finally confronted with one of the Sicilian realities: road closures for landslides, etc.

After failing to get to old Gibillina we then set off on back roads towards Marsala where we toured the huge Florio wine factory. As we pulled in and parked there was a tour just being put together and, seeing our car with French plates one of the tour guides came over and started speaking to us in French but then seeing we were perplexed asked if we spoke Italian and then English. In any case, we ended up joining a tour group from Louisiana so it was a lively time for sure.

From Marsala we headed north to search out the salt pans of Trapani – again which we failed to find since, as it turns out, they are covered to protect the salt from the rain. We wound our way along the base of Erice as we headed back to Scopello for the evening.

Tuesday in Sicily; Segesta and Selinunte

[Tuesday 19 April 2005]

Today was our big day for ancient ruins. First up was Segesta. Located a short drive from Scopello, this unique archeological site was situated in an absolutely stunningly beautiful location. 

We then headed over to the western coast, towards Trapani to climb the mountain to the village of Erice, a spectacular little city in the clouds. Unfortunately that’s exactly where it was that morning so we backtracked a bit and then headed south to another of the more well-known archeological sites, the ancient city of Selinunte, on the southern coast.

Monday in Sicily

[Monday 18 April 2005]

After breakfast, Gianni, our host, took us in his car and gave a tour first of Scopello, which was once just a small fortified farm overlooking one of the now numerous defunct “tonnaras” (tuna processing plants) and is now a resort community catering to local Palmeritanians getting away for the weekend to northern Europeans on self-catering holidays. 

We drove into Castellammare del Golfo, where he was born and raised and worked for many years as a banker. He showed us the highlights of this beautiful seaside community but also the places which figured prominently in his youth as well as where his mother had been born and the building which had at one time housed his father’s furniture factory before he left for the US. 

We spent the rest of the day relaxing from our trip and that evening at a local agriturismo.

Castellammare del Golfo