Day 11: Sep 18 Museo del Sale, Nubia, and Marsala

Sarah spent the early part of the morning hunting for ripe oranges and dates. 

Pre breakfast snack?

Sadly apart from windfall, all trees found were not quite ready for harvest.

The date palms look colourful but the fruit was not yet edible!

An interesting morning visit to the old salt marshes and salt mills near Nubia. Museum complete with guide from the founding family.

According to the guide, Arabs invented windmills before the Dutch and brought them to Sicily

This area produced thousands of tonnes of salt for Europe each year in previous centuries. 

Now big trucks take most of it to nearby Sciacca where it is used to preserve fish. 

The entire area is now preserved as a heritage site. We learnt that the demand from Norway was once the highest due to the amount of cod preserved there.

We toured the salt evaporation ponds,(salterns or salt pans). These are shallow man made ponds designed to extract salts from the sea. 

The seawater is fed into large ponds using an archimedes screw (pump) and water evaporates naturally, allowing salt to form.

This used to be harvested by manual labour and shovels/rakes, but now we noticed a bobcat in use. 

Salt is piled up in heaps by the side of the salt pans and covered with tiles to protect it from rain (it turns grey in rain) the wind is used to dry it out. 

 Each of the salt pans turns different colours based on the concentration of the algae. 

We found some light green and pink salt pans in Nubia

Good views of Erice (on the hill) and Trapani in the distance (see Day 1 of our blog)

Next a whirlwind tour of Cantine Florio in Marsala. We loved the use  of corton steel in their sign and bench

 The terrace was shut but the shop open. 

We succumbed to bright lights and flash merchandising and purchased some Marsala (medicinal only - good for titanium hips apparently)

Marsala had its own churches and arches and paved streets, but most impressive were the big trees in a large Piazza.

Finally we leave Sicily and our Giro via a Ryan Air bucket flight with lots of relieved claps and a bugle on landing. 

Our final thoughts

On reflection September is a hot month to visit. 37C today by 10am. Avoid June, July and August unless you enjoy 40C+

We would not recommend a road bike cycling tour. The main roads do not have enough space for cycles and cars and the driving is the craziest we have seen in Italy. If you are off the beaten track you would have to contend with potholes, mud slides and all sorts of refuse strewn across your path. If you insist on a cycle tour, take a mountain bike and lots of spare inner tubes.

If you like cultural visits to old Norman churches and crumbling Doric temples, this is the place for you.

You need a guide book and a good map (or GPS) if touring. The signs are totally inadequate.

If you enjoy Italian food, you will not go wrong in Sicily. Check out the reviews on line before you choose a dinner location  (but bear in mind that some reviews will always be negative as you cannot please everyone) 
Be adventurous; try out the specialities on offer at each restaurant.

Avoid the main touristy areas. We liked Taormina best as a town but it was too full of people, tripperish shops and bars overcharging you for simple stuff. 

If you can manage driving (we covered 1350km in 10 days) it is worth visiting places not on the main tourist routes or staying there after the tour buses have left e.g. Enna, Modica.

We missed out Palermo and Cefalu (too far to drive on this trip) and Messina and Catania (too big and busy), so if anyone who reads this goes there, please let us know what we missed!

Ciao Amici

Arrivederci!

Day 10: Sep 17 Selinute and Mazara del Vallo

A long nail biting, seat of the pants drive in the little Panda for 407km all on the SS115 which hugs the bottom of the SE and SW of Sicily. 

Few interesting sights along the way, mainly bridges over huge valleys, fields of vines, olives and oranges (all of which Jo failed to capture on the camera- such was the intent of Sarah to reach our destination before nightfall)

We did pause for a coffee at Castello di Falconara. This castle is perched on a cliff overlooking the Med only to discover that we had forgotten to ring ahead (open by appointment only, naturally!)

Onwards and at speed , whizzing past Agrigento (with a great fly past viewing of the temples) and finally after 4 hours we reached the archeological site at Selinunte. 

Yet more Doric temples and parts of columns strewn all over the site.

This time no big tourist buses and as we arrived at lunchtime, we virtually had the place to ourselves.

These Greek and Phoenician ruins date from 7th Century BC and have a similar chequered history. 

Destroyed by Carthage (a huge north African empire based in modern day Tunisia) in 409BC, this site was forgotten as the two rivers either side of it silted up and locals used the stones to construct their own town and cemetery (necropolis) on top of it.

We enjoyed the freedom to roam around the ruins as we liked but wondered why it was allowed considering most of the site has not yet been excavated fully. 

The site was located very close to a sandy beach and another small village so quite a scenic spot.

Tipped off by Jo’s physiotherapist Beatrice (a Sicilian) we headed for Mazara Del Vallo. Quick search on Wikipedia:

"Mazara was founded by the Phoenicians in the 9th century BC, with the name of Mazar (the Rock). It then passed under the control of Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, Vandals, Ostrogoths, Byzantines, before being occupied by the Arabs in the year 827 AD”  

If you add "occupied by Spanish, French, Austrians, Germans", you have a quick list of the number of times someone has arrived to boss around the locals.

It is now a fishing town but instead of fish we found a truck selling yellow melons (seen throughout this area) 2 euros a bucket

Mazara Del Vallo has a peaceful feel to it and there are some great open spaces.

Close to the Norman arch we found an interesting use for ceramic tiles on steps.

There are also some beautifully restored buildings including the Basilica and Kasba. 

The area feels like there is still work in progress with buildings and one Museo (Satiro) under reconstruction.  

Sarah managed to find her way into a Jesuit monastery complete with half naked statues on the doorway. Are they warding off evil spirits?

Next step Marsala to search for a couple of Cantine, Florio and Pellegrino. We found one (well signed) and missed the other (no signs) By 6pm both of us wanted a rest and for once we both declined the opportunity to taste wine. 

Arriving at Fontanasalsa, we found the hotel had overbooked and we were shunted off to the place across the road. Not a great ending to our Giro Di Sicilia. Fortunately the owner was far more friendly and welcoming and we were presented with 2 small bottles of Olive oil as parting gifts.

Olives dominate this area and harvesting begins in a few weeks!

We have already seen trucks loaded with grapes heading off to be processed.

We are off home today so will do a final wrap up tomorrow. 

Day 9 - Sep 16: Scicli and Modica chocolate tasting

A very leisurely breakfast in a wee garden perched amongst the crumbling houses on the slope above Modica centro storico. 

Casa Talia is a complex of restored shepherds' cottages/ bedrooms with a couple of rooftop gardens perched in a tranquil spot way above the main street of Modica. 

Today we decided to head for Scicli (pronounced SheKlee) as recommended by the Italians we met at dinner. 

It is a smaller version of Modica and Noto and also one of the eight towns/villages restored after the 1693 earthquake, and also recognised by UNESCO as a world heritage site. 

We parked outside the main centre and wandered around the deserted streets. 

Not much rain in these parts as the river was a trickle and temperatures reached 36C this morning.

Perhaps Scicli is not a place many tourists visit. 

Plenty of churches and historical palazzos.

Jo was more interested in the gargoyles than the churches.

Some very ugly and scary specimens in Scicli.

Were these put there to scare the population as well as to scare off evil spirits? Greeks believed the latter. The tradition has continued.

Placed on churches and facing outwards to remind people that the only safe place is inside.

Our plan to go to the beach was thwarted by the fact that there is very little beach on the SE coast of Sicily that is not spoilt by overdevelopment; big ugly modern towns or industry. We agreed that for gorgeous beaches we should stick to Australia.

After a short drive along the coast, we abandoned the idea in favour of an afternoon of reading and chocolate tasting.

A welcome break to finish my book first.

and then a bit of exercise up and down steps to a few more churches. 

Most impressive was Chiesa San Georgio (seen from afar in the breakfast photo) but more impressive close up. 

 It has a strange angelic gargoyle complete with sheep!
The woman looks scary but the sheep???

Sarah liked the inside. It was originally a temple dedicated to St George built prior to 1090 but extensively modified since.

By the end of the day we had seen so many churches that even Sarah who loves the cool, peace and smell of a church was surfeited.

More steps down…

Modica is famous for its dark chocolate. The recipe was brought into Italy by the Spanish who learned it from the Aztecs.  

We did the touristy thing and felt obliged to visit several shops to taste. 

The range on offer was extensive.

Our favourite place was Antica Dolceria Bonajuto, where we learned that this particular dark chocolate is very good for weight loss.

We aslo decided to sample the local speciality - Cannelli with ricotta and pistachio along with chocolate flavoured beer as an aperitivo. 

Chocolate beer tastes a bit like stout and is quite delicious.

Day 8 - Sep 15: Taormina to Modica via Siracusa and Noto

We left early - although it took Sarah 10 minutes to extract the car from its parking spot and turn it around! 

We were bit shocked at the sprawl of Siracusa but managed to park like a local- at an angle and anywhere you see a space and do not have to pay. 

Luckily for Jo this was not too far from the first  stop; Archimedes’ tomb in the very historic Siracusa. 

That bit of rock with the triangle on it is Archimedes' tomb - he was a Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor and astronomer who lived in Siracusa in the 3rd century BC. 

A stone’s throw away is this Greek theatre - 5th century BC - where various Greek tragedies were premiered. Extensively altered by the Romans to accommodate gladiator fights. 

Lots of catacombs in the ancient part of Siracusa. This view is a complete valley of them.

Amongst the catacombs and quarry we found a huge fig tree. Jo is dwarfed by it.

We skipped the rest of the catacombs in other parts of the town (bit morbid) 

Instead we headed off on foot/ crutch to Ortygia (an island part of the old town of Siracusa) across a bridge and into a marina area.

More ruins, Temple of Apollo found underneath some Spanish barracks

A few wonderful narrow cobbled streets with old houses.

Of course some cars still try to attempt the impossible

The biggest Piazza Duomo we have seen for a while.     Buildings recenttly cleaned funded by UNESCO. 

We headed towards the Castello Maciare at the end of the island only to find it had just closed for the day (what is it with us and castles)

Back on the road we headed 45km South to Noto. 
This is a town that was totally destroyed in an earthquake in 1693 and rebuilt by several architects in the 18th century. Unusual for Italian towns most of the central historical part is all Baroque. 

Another stroll around the outside of churches and up and down more narrow cobbled streets.

Final drive for the day was to Modica. We had taken the smaller roads avoiding the autostrada and came into Modica from the wrong direction for where we were staying. Sarah is getting expert at hairpin bends now on single lane cobbled streets after so much practice. She is also enjoying driving on the pavement...

When we finally reached our accommodation Jo was unsure as to which place we had booked in to

Fortunately it was just as quirky but as discrete as this door but a bit more up market! 

The view from the room is spectacular in the afternoon

Tonight we headed for an authentic Sicilian dinner at a local restaurant. "Osteria dei Sapore Perdute" During dinner we started chatting in Italian to the table next door as they struggled to select a local wine (and like us, they turned their noses up at the inn's own brew - all served in hip flasks!); we recommended one to them! Next thing you know we had their entire family history; he played the organ in Norwich Cathedral and had met the Queen, She owned a place on the beach a few Km from here (we were invited to visit!); their dinner companions (daughter and son-in-law) worked in Milan and he was a top chef and she was something or other super important. They both move to London shortly. Got some recommendations for places to visit and to avoid and where else to eat. All in Italian. Even they think the driving is "brutta" (ugly) in Sicily. Now that we are back with internet, we realise we went to the wrong restaurant tonight! This is a pretty small town - but has 160 restaurants, apparently! Bellissima Sicilia!