DAY 2 - 9 Sep Calatafimi Segesta to San Stefano Quisquina

First rain for months fell today. And it certainly rained heavily. 

To say that the road from Agriturismo Antiche Granai was tarmacked would be an exaggeration. 





Some bits were tarmacked, but a lot of the surface was covered in mud; shingle and puddles hid potholes. 

This was before the rain started

Along the roadside we found cactus flowers/fruits. Multicoloured but dangerous for tyres.

It would have been a severe challenge on a road bike. 
20-30km per hour was the top speed in a car. At times Sarah wanted me to get out and test the depth of the puddle with my crutch!  Then the heavens opened and the roads became streams. After a summer of drought, the Sicilians themselves admit that they cannot cope with heavy rain or the 3 days of snow they occasionally have in winter. At least Sarah’s 4 wheel drive training came in handy (not that we had 4WD in a Fiat). Muddy, wet, hairpin bends, steep declines, sloping half bits of shingle, with the rest of the road hanging off the side of the hill, rockfalls on the roads, Sarah negotiated them all. 

When we did get a glimpse of the surrounding area from our ridge routes, it was spectacular. 

We arrived in Corleone more by luck than judgement as the signs disappeared many times. Even the sign for the place itself refused to be captured because of torrential rain.

















The Fiat made it to the town square and we squelched to a halt on a flat surface. We had just watched other cars parked on the side of the road up to the town being drowned in flood water. 

Running between bars in search of "il bagno", we gulped down a coffee to keep us warm and headed into the centre in search of the Anti Mafia museum. Luck was in. Situated around the corner from the town hall

we only had 10 minutes to wait for an English tour guide and an hour later we had dried out for 5 Euros each and learnt as much as we could about the Mafia in Siciliy. Here are a few tit bits:

• The Sicilian mafia has one head - or one "uncle". The top family used to be based in Corleone; they were called Corleonesi but had a different surname; the head is not called the Godfather 
• The top Sicilian Mafia family is now based in Palermo and still exists taking protection money from businesses but more into business and politics, with "only" occasional violence 
• The top family generally does not live lavishly - hence fugitives have managed to flee for decades
• The mafia has grown up by filling the gap (lack of attention/ interest) from the governing country (now Italy) - as locals needed someone to turn to and to fix things for them. 
• Since the 90s things have been changing in Sicily - with young people no longer prepared to stay silent but there is still a significant brain/ youth drain from Sicily and change takes a very long time.
• The Naples mafia is completely different - made up of lots of families all actively battling and murdering each other. Still very very active and violent.
• The President of Italy is Sicilian. 

From a very soggy Corleone we drove on cross country. Sarah resisted the temptation to visit the sweet shop even though in Corleone these shops seem to sell drugs and liquor as well as sweets!

As cinema buffs, we loved Cinema Paradiso so could not pass up an opportunity to visit Palazzo Adriano where it was filmed. 

Lots of photos taken (as we really need to see the film again) and a very large pasta lunch eaten at 14:30. 









Be warned, often in small family run restaurants, you enter and are told what to eat. This may not necessarily be what you wanted but it is always very good.

More windy roads down to San Stefano Quisquina and back up a country lane to tonight’s accommodation at Pigna d’Oro Country Hotel. Another spectacular location.

I think we are the only guests here. This is a big hotel so it is a bit ghostly with so few people around. Perhaps this part of Sicily is not popular in September or we are just off the well-worn tourist routes.