Day 15 - Last Day in Sicily

Duomo (Cathedral) at Monreale

Today was our last day in Sicily and there wasn't much left on the itinerary. In fact, the only things left were the Cathedral at Monreale and some shopping in Palermo later. Hard to believe things are coming to an end, but that's the way every trips seems to end.

We had one more "adventure" in the morning and that was to mail a key back to the hotel I had accidently taken it from. The adventure part was the Italian Post Office. First, the Post Office system does much, much more than mail and I'm pretty sure I was the only one actually mailing something as I didn't see any packages. I don't have a clue what everyone else was doing but it certainly took a long time. Half of the office seemed to operate like a bank and I saw one woman get maybe a thousand in Euros. I was in the postal side's line for nearly an hour before it was my turn. Everyone else seemed to be filing some kind of paperwork. Fortunately the clerk took pity on me and filled out the envelope for me and we were on our way again.

Mosaic Interior of the Cathedral

After the post office, we drove to the cathedral. It is located on the outskirts of Palermo and was 90 minutes by bus if you knew the right schedule and right stops. The car seemed infinitely easier and safer even though it meant driving through crazy traffic again. It was about the same a driving through New York City traffic except that motorcycles everywhere complicate things.

The cathedral was started in 1174 by William II of Sicily and built in the Norman style. The interior, like most of the old churches is done in mosaics in the Byzantine style. Very beautiful.

Palermo

One last picture and that is a shot of Palermo taken from Monreale, the city down below in the distance. It was sunny on the day we arrived and mostly sunny today but the other three days we were in Palermo all had some amount of rain so we now have it in our minds that it always rains on Greek Temples and in Palermo!

Day 14 - Erice and a Night at the Opera

Duomo in Erice

We started our day with a tour of Erice. Erice is an ancient town founded by the Phoenicians before the Greeks arrived, It sits on a mountain top very high above the city of Trapani. To reach it, we drove through Trapani and parked at the base of the mountain and took a cable car to the top. There are only about 1000 people living in Erice but they are served by 10 or more churches, the most beautiful is the Duomo (cathedral) of Erice. The cathedral isn't much to look at from the outside but the inside is elaborately decorated. Today was Sunday morning but we were in town before mass started so we were able to look around.

Streets in Erice

The streets in Erice are more like alleys and you just kind of meander through the maze. It is a very touristy town and there are lots of cute shops and places to eat. We stopped in a small place and had tea, cappuccino and a canolo. I'm using the singular in Italian here as we only had one, but it was so big that we split it.

Castello di Venere (Castle of Venus)

There is a castle there dating back to Norman times called the Castle of Venus because it was built on top of an earlier temple dedicated to Venus. It has a great view of the valley below and the sea to the north.

From Erice we drove back to Palermo which was about a two-hour drive, back to the Ibis Style Hotel were we started our trip. Two more nights and we head back home.

We went to a performance of Rigoletto at the Teatro Massimo tonight which was fantastic. Of all the things we have done on this trip, the trip to the opera was probably the best. The singers were really good and of course it ends tragically as do most operas. Poor Gilda! Rigoletto is a work by Giuseppe Verdi first performed in 1851. This particular performance was organized by John Turturro (the Italian-American actor) and he was there to take a bow. It was the second night of its run and the opera was very well received.

We shared a box with 4 other Italian women and we chatted with them quite a bit. They were very accommodating with us as we were all on a bit of an angle to the stage and you have to move your individual chairs around so everyone can see.

Day 13 - Marsala, Segesta and Trapani

We left our hotel this morning and headed to a tour of the Cantine Florio two hours away in Marsala. Cantine Florio is one of oldest wineries in Sicily (1833) and is known for its production of Marsala wine, all in the same winery located right by the sea. We had what turned out to be a private tour (only the two of us signed up for the tour in English) and we learned a lot. The basis for Marsala is the Grillo grape, which is grown in this area, and the Grillo wine is then fortified and aged for a minimum period of time depending on the type of Marsala. There is no maximum time as Marsala never goes bad. We tasted four types of wine and considering it was 10 am, they were all really good. They ranged from an aperitif, to two table wines and finally to a dessert Marsala.

Goad Herd with the Right of Way

From Marsala we drove out to Salemi via SS188 through the wine country of this part of Sicily. This part of Sicily in many ways is the old Sicily of a hundreds of years ago. There are vineyards as far as you can see, interspersed with groves of olive trees and ancient farmhouses.  We saw one very old man, with his car parked by the road, hand-picking olives and putting them in a cloth bag he had around his neck. We hoped that those were his olive tree! Of course we had to stop to let a goat herd pass by at one point, complete with a shepherd and three herding dogs. This is not to say that there aren't signs for modern civilization as we also passed about a hundred windmills generating electric power.

Temple at Segesta

From Salemi we went northward to Segesta which is close by. Segesta was a minor Greek city when the Greeks occupied Sicily. The temple dates back to 420 BCE but was apparently never completed. There is also a very nice amphitheater on the hill above the temple.

As has been our luck with visiting Greek ruins, the skies became cloudy and it began to rain just as we got back to our car.

Our final stop today was at the Salt Museum just outside of Trapani and within walking distance of our hotel. This area is all "saline" or salt pans for miles around and salt has been harvested from sea water here for thousands of years and is still done today. What was done in the past by a large team of people doing manual labor is now done by 10 people. Salt was so important during the Roman period that people were paid in salt and that is the derivation of our word "salary."

I can't show the operation in a single picture but there are five salt ponds (called pans) used in the operation with the last pan the one where the salt is harvested from. As you can see in the picture that windmills were used to pump water between pans and also to grind the salt into a finer consistency. Today electric pumps and other machinery have streamlined the operation.

Tonight we ate at the restaurant now located inside the mill. Jeanne had pasta and I had fish served with couscous. Couscous is popular in the area around Trapani where the Arab influence is still heavy in the food of the region.

Day 12 - Agrigento and the Valley of the Temples

Temple of Concordia

Today started out overcast with rain in the forecast but it was our day to see the Greek ruins called Valley of the Temples so we headed out with our rain gear. There are seven temples located there, in various states of ruin, the oldest dating back to the 5th century BCE. The Temple of Concordia is one of the best preserved Greek structures anywhere in the world.

Temple of Heracles

The Temple of Heracles is less well preserved but it still has one wall of columns standing. The name "valley" is a bit of a misnomer as the temples are located on a ridge far below the town of Agrigento but high above the coastline which is about 2 km to the west. It drizzled on us the whole time we were there but nothing serious, although we could hear thunder in the distance.

We drove into the town of Porto Empedocle for something to eat for lunch on the way back to  our hotel. While we were there, the owner heard that we are Americans and he came out and we chatted away in Italian for a long while. He told me that families of Francis Ford Coppola, Nicolas Cage, Robert De Niro and Frank Sinatra are all from Agrigento. I have no idea if it is true or not but it is a good story. I told him we are fans of Montalbano and showed him the pictures we took of his house in Punta Secca and the set in Scicli and he loved them. The author of the Montalbano books is from Porto Empedocle and he told me the house where was born is right by the church (a block away). He asked if we had been to Memphis and I said yes. He is a big fan of Elvis and pretty soon he, Jeanne and I were singing Elvis songs. He had a good voice and we really belted them out. We closed with "My Way" by Sinatra and neither of us remembered many of the words but that didn't stop us. At the end we all kissed Italian style (he, his wife, Jeanne and I) and we headed back to our car in a downpour. It is strange how the smallest of experiences can become some of the best memories.

Day 11 - Villa Romana del Casale

Landscape in the interior of Sicily

Today we said goodbye to Punta Secca and started making our way northward up the western coast of Sicily. As we drove along the coast to Gela, we saw mile after mile of the countryside totally covered with plastic greenhouses where they grow the tomatoes and other vegetables that Italy is known for all on a year round basis. At Gela we headed inland and toward Piazza Armerina on our way to see Villa Romana del Casale. The land there immediately turns more hilly and arid and you occasionally saw a prickly pear farm or two, but not much agriculture otherwise.

Room of the Ten Maidens

Our first stop was at an ancient Roman villa (Villa Romana del Casale) which dates back to the 4th century AD. In the 12th century it was covered by a landslide and was only rediscovered in the 1920s and excavation work still continues today. It is most famous for its floor tile mosaics and quite fortunate that the landslide covered it for centuries keeping it well preserved. Many of the rooms are elaborately decorated with these tiles depicting scenes about the hunting and capturing of exotic animals in Africa and Asia and their shipment back to Rome. One of the most popular rooms is the "Bikini Mosaic" room showing girls doing sports such as weight lifting, running, discus and throwing a ball. The girl in the toga in the lower left is giving a crown and a palm to the winner. Unfortunately when we were there the place was overpopulated by tour groups which really detracted from the experience.

Scale dei Turci

From Piazza Armerina, we drove to our hotel just outside of Agrigento in Realmonte. All in all we drove about 3 hours today.

The hotel is located right above the Turkish Steps (Scale dei Turci) where allegedly Turkish raiders once climbed up to invade the town. It is actually a unique calcium formation called Marl which I believe is similar to the "White Cliffs of Dover."

Dinner was an interesting experience. We drove up in the hills to go to an Osteria in Realmonte where we waited with some others until someone called and found it was closed for some unknown reason. A group of older men suggested we try Volpe. We went where they told us but the restaurant was named Eclisse. We ate there anyway and had a very nice meal  (spaghetti for Jeanne and veal for me) at at least half of the price we had been paying elsewhere. They were super friendly and even they gave us a nice appetizer of panelle, bruschetta and olives. The owner stopped by and we chatted in Italian about America and his trip from New York to Miami on a Harley. Turns out the owner's name is Volpe and the townspeople just refer to the place by his name. That was small town Italy at its best.

Day 10 - Baroque Italy

Ragusa

If you go to almost any town of significant size in southern Sicily, you will notice that they all have a similar appearance. That's because there was a major earthquake in 1693 which leveled most towns and when they were rebuilt, they were all built in the architecture in fashion at the time which was Baroque. This is especially true of the three major towns in southwestern Sicily - Noto, Modica and Ragusa but also smaller towns like Scicli.

Today we drove to Scicli and Ragusa to see the architecture but also to follow the trail of Montalbano. It is hard to underestimate the impact that the show has had on the local economy as most of the tourists who come to this corner of Sicily have come to see to see the sights that were popularized by the show. As proof in point, while we were having breakfast on the B&B balcony, a tour bus stopped by and maybe 50 people stopped and took our photographs. I felt like I should signed some autographs.

Montalbano's Police Station in Scicli

Many of the filmed scenes talk place in Scicli which is used as the fictional town of Vigata where the series is set and were the police station is located. The building in reality is the town hall of Scicli and they offer a Montalbano tour which we took. I didn't think there would be much to see but fortunately for us they had just finished filming an episode and they still had the set on site. We were able to walk through the set (mostly behind glass) but they let us have our pictures taken behind the desk where the TV inspector does his work.

The tour was a lot of fun for me because I was able to joke around with the tour guide who spoke some English so I promised to correct his English if he corrected my Italian. I'm a curiosity here because I speak just enough Italian to converse with people and they always want to know where I'm from, were my parents from Italy, where did I learn to speak, etc. (and probably why I don't speak better but are too polite to say it).

Train with Church of Saint George in the background

After Scicli, we drove to Ragusa Ibla for a walk through town. Ibla is the older section of town. The newer part of Ragusa was built upon the hill overlooking Ibla but today they have grown together to form one contiguous town. There is a beautiful Baroque church (Il Duomo di San Giorgio) located on the main piazza but it was unfortunately closed when we were there. We took the "Barocco" train for a tour around the city. We would have liked to have had just a little bit more time in town but the rain started just as we were headed back to our car so that ended the tour.

Montalbano's desk

As we're waiting for dinner time here, I'll add a few observations. This part seems more of what I think of as "Sicilian" than the other areas we have been to. Maybe it's because it is more isolated. The people are darker in complexion and they greet you with a "Salve" instead of a "Buon giorno" as you hear in the rest of Italy. The landscape seems more ancient as it is very rocky and you see miles of fences constructed with rocks simply laid on top of each other.

For dinner we walked to a restaurant near our B&B called Enzo al Mare, which of course is seen on the Montalbano series as his favorite restaurant. I had the Orata (Sea Bream) and Jeanne wasn't interested in seafood so she had Insalata Caprese and grilled vegetables.

Montalbano?

Finally, I'll include a photo for the people that I know who are familiar with Montalbano.

Day 9 - Riviera dei Ciclopi and Punta Secca

Riviera dei Ciclopi

Today we left the Hilton and shifted from the east coast of Sicily to the West. Sounds like a long drive but it was only 3 hours including a side trip to see the Riviera dei Ciclopi (Cyclops Coast). Of course the name is purely to lure tourists, but I'll pass on the story. The name comes from the Homeric legend according to which the towering black rocks that rise out of the sea – actually great hunks of solidified lava – were thrown by the blinded Cyclops, Polyphemus, in a desperate attempt to stop Odysseus from escaping. Maybe. Interesting but I'm not sure a long drive to see them would be worth it.

Montalbano's House

We are in Punta Secca to see and stay at the House of Montalbano. Montalbano is a policeman in an Italian TV crime series that dates back almost 20 years and his house, now a B&B, is featured in the film. The show is hugely popular in Italy and Europe but not in the US. With my Italian class, I have seen almost every episode and likewise the other people staying here are here for the same reason. In fact I had a long discussion with a British couple on the balcony about the show and the world in general. The wife was a big fan and they were here 4 days and are coming back next year. The world discussions are always interesting but I'm a bit getting tired of apologizing for Trump.

Beach at Sunset (from our balcony)

We had some quality beach time although it is getting near the end of the season and the water is a bit cool. Really probably like New Jersey beaches at the best of times, but still a bit cool for us. Best beach I've been to in Italy as many of them are rocky, but this was a flat sand beach and you could walk out 50 meters before it went over your head.

For dinner we drove to the Ristorante Agrituristico Rosacambra, which was recommended to us. I think that agrituristico kind of means farm-to-table but much more like eating with a large family. It was fixed price and you eat what they have cooked for the day. 6 appetizers, 2 pasta courses, 2 main courses, dessert, fruit, wine, water, coffee and limoncello. All for the ridiculously low price of 22 EUR each. We were totally stuffed and still they insisted on sending some of the leftovers home with us.