Uncategorized Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Sicily Uncovered: An American Traveler's Sicilian Road Trip

Punta Bianca
With Scala dei Turchi being closed, Punta Bianca is really a great alternative and because it is in a preserve, it isn’t built up with commercial and residential buildings. It would be a great place to picnic, and is fully accessible by car off of the main road. I parked in one of the many turnouts before the road starts to go down toward the water, because I wasn’t sure of its condition. I was disappointed to come all this way to not be able to walk on Scala dei Turchi, but I think this was actually better. Spectacular location. Really turned a disappointing afternoon around for me, so I say, forget the crowds and disappointment at Scala dei Turchi and go here instead.

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Scala dei Turchi
Scala dei Turchi is a famous white limestone oceanfront cliff, just west of Agrigento. As I was working on my serious v-neck farmer’s tan walking around Agrigento, my mind started shifting toward the beach. My host had recommended Lounge Beach at Scala dei Turchi as a place for lunch and/or appertivo, so the plan was to hit the beach and get something to eat. Once I arrived at the beach and found parking, I noticed the wind was really picking up- to the point laying on the beach was near impossible without being sandblasted. Then to top things off, there was a security guard blocking the entrance to Scala dei Turchi and there was no way around. Unfortunately, two nutjobs vandalized the rocks last year so they are trying to figure out when and if they are going to let people continue walking on these rocks. My host mentioned that there are rumors it would go private and you would have to pay to enter. Maybe that’s a good thing, but it really is a shame. There are so many businesses around that stretch of beach that rely on people visiting. Other than the rocks there is no particular reason to visit this beach. Hope they can figure it out. I did find a great alternative, and I was able to walk on the limestone. See my next post.

As for Lounge Beach, the food was great and it is located right on the sand. For parking in this area you can park on the street for free and take any of the several foot paths down to the water. Lounge Beach has a little Ape vehicle that runs people up and down as well. The Internet is slow where I am at so uploading fewer photos. Once restored I willl update posts.

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Agrigento
My final tour of ruins on Sicily’s west coast. The park does limit entrants to around 700 per hour, and the busiest times are the cooler mornings and late afternoons. I purchased a ticket in advance by downloading the Parco Valle dei Templi di Agrigento app from the App Store. I purchased a ticket for the park and museum which was 13,50 Euro, and an audio guide for 3,99. The audio guide was well worth it, just remember to bring your ear buds. There is an airport style security checkpoint at the entrance, which seemed kind of odd, and the security personnel pointed to my travel tripod and said I was not to use it within the park. Yeah ok.

The Temple of Concordia is the most complete and was the most impressive temple, it along with the Temple of Giunone are visible from SS115 below. It is a walkable park, though they do offer bus transportation. There are wide paths with smaller offshoot paths to walk around and explore the ruins. Favorites were Zeus, Eracle and Concordia.

As fascinating as they are, I’m now burned out on ancient ruins for a while. My plan was to hit the beach at Scala dei Turchi for the afternoon, which I did, but it didn’t quite go as planned.

I’ll add a post later on Scala dei Turchi. Today I’m leaving Agrigento for Chiaramonte Gulfi, a place known for its olive oil and wines. It is about a two hour drive, and I plan to go via Enna.

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Selinute
I’m running about a day behind on posts, and the internet at my new stay hasn’t been great. I stopped by Selinute on my way to Agrigento yesterday amid the threat of thundershowers and knowing I had at least another 90 minute drive to my farm stay. I had my first experience trying to get gas, which is a little different than the US. There is one pay terminal for each island of pumps or even for the whole lot, you can pay by cash or card but if you pay by cash you will not get change if you can’t fill that amount. Turns out the pay station terminal wasn’t working properly with my card and the attendant had to help. He asked where I was from, guessing New York first, I told him I had lived in Boston which he liked and then said I was now in California to which he laughed and started air dribbling a basketball and said “Miami Heat #1!” I guess he is not a LeBron fan.

Honestly between their gas pumps and ridiculous highway interchanges, I don’t know why Italians make it so complicated on themselves. I’ve been wanting to get a picture of one of these interchanges I’m talking about, but I don’t want to get t-boned either. Take my word for it- absurd.

Back to Selinute- These are the guys who beat my buddies over at Segesta. The park is more manicured and touristy than Segesta, and the temples are bigger and more impressive. Maybe that’s why they won. The one thing I really liked here was that visitors are actually allowed to walk through some of the temples and get very close to and touch others. They were doing some work on the pathways, and seem to be improving the park.

I’m writing this after having seen Agrigento, which gets a lot more attention in the tour guides. I’ll upload some photos of Agrigento also. It is hard to pick a favorite between Segesta, Selinute, and Agrigento- they all have magnificent structures of enormous size. That said, if I could only go to one, I would pick Selinute, for it’s spectacular location by the sea and the ability to get up close and personal with the structures. Second would be Segesta and third Agrigento which of the three I found to be a little too touristy.

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The Great Salt Road & Mozia
I’ve been impressed with the story of salt in Western Sicily, so I thought on my way east I’d make a quick stop in Marsala to see their salt pans, have a glass of wine and would be on my way to Selinute by noon. Little did I know, the small island of Mozia, located a quick boat shuttle from the Marsala pans, had more to offer than I ever expected. The boat to Mozia cost 5 Euros round trip and the Mozia museum was another 10 which you pay on the island, to find it just type in Mamma Caura Restaurant to your GPS. I’m starting to feel badly for the Phoenecian Carthagenians- they were highly skilled settlers but really bad at defending what they built.

The island of Mozia is privately owned by the Whitaker Foundation and they appear to be in the process of updating a lot of their signage ot include more bilingual signs. The museum itself was the highlight for me with thousands of artifacts on display showing an advanced civilization along with some unusual surprises. The ruins on the island are extensive, but are truly in ruins, and pieces of pottery could be found almost everywhere you looked.

So here’s the thing. The Salt Museum in Trapani was great, I really enjoyed the tour (which they provided in English), but the walk around the salt pans, in comparison to those in Marsala was meh. I’d skip the Trapani salt walk if I were to do it again. The first 8 photos are from Trapani and the Salt Museum, the rest are from Marsala and Mozia.

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Leaving Ballata Farm Stay onto Agrigento
Today I’m leaving my countryside farm stay in Ballata, and will be heading to Marsala before working my way toward my next two day stop in Agrigento. I need to catch up on some photos and information posts and will do that soon, but first, here is quick look at my alarm clock from the past two mornings.

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Erice and Trapani
Erice is a medieval town above Trapani. Most of what we see of the town today, including the Castello di Venere, was built in the 12th Century by the Normans. It is a picturesque village with cobblestone streets, imposing walls, towers, lookout points, and tourists- lots of them. It was the first place I’ve been where the tourists annoyed me. This is an actual town where people live and the walking crowds felt like Disneyland in certain areas. I felt badly for the locals trying to navigate the crowds in their cars to and from their homes. It is an Instagram “influencer” paradise. There is a cable car you can take from Trapani to the top, but I luckily came from another direction and ended up parking on top (given the crowds I think this is better). I arrived a little after 10 AM and the parking was easy. Download the EasyPark app before you go (you can pay other ways but this is best). I paid 5 Euro for 4 hours and felt like that was a good amount of time to explore the town. The area including Erice was originally settled by the Phoenicians over 2000 years ago, and was prized for its salt pans. I’ll admit, I wasn’t very excited about watching water evaporate to make sea salt, but now understand why everyone said it was worth the visit. Will upload more photos later today

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My Italian needs work
It is definitely possible to get by traveling as I have so far without speaking much Italian, but it would be frustrating and challenging. I have at every opportunity made attempts to practice speaking with people and for every success there have been many looks of confusion and a merciful switch to English with a smile (mostly the young people). I have used the Google Translation App to refresh my memory and assist with pronunciation. The app will also translate the text of signs if you direct your camera at it. Road signage isn’t as clear as we’re used to in the States, and there are some confusing intersections, merge lanes and lights that are in places we aren’t used to. I feel like most of the road signage is intuitive, and for those that are not I just hope it’s not something important.

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Can confirm: Sicily has mosquitoes (and deerflies)
Let’s talk about the weather. Palermo was HOT with temperatures in the low 80s and humidity levels around 82%. You’d think coming from New England this wouldn’t be so bad. Perhaps my time in California has made me soft. The sun is more intense here than in Southern California, especially in the afternoons. Fair-skinned people be warned. The evenings have been comfortable as the temperature and humidity subside. No getting sweaty as you towel off from a shower.

Today (Erice and Trapani) was the first day that we’ve had rain since I’ve been here, and the humidity was near 90% all day, but the temperature in the mid-70s and generally comfortable. Unfortunately a lot of the photos are going to have washed out skies because: A) The skies were cloudy and brightly backlit and B) I haven’t figured out how to compensate for this with the settings on my camera.

Oh yeah, I got eaten alive by mosquitoes at Castello di Venere in Erice. Fortunately, I had prepared for this by packing several mosquito repellent wipes in my luggage. Unfortunately, I left them all in my room back Balata (more on Balata and my hosts later). Guess I should have packed some after-bite.

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Segesta
I spent yesterday afternoon at the Segesta Archeological Park. Surrounded by green hills made up of a patchwork of farms growing a variety of crops, sits this amazing archeological park. The imposing Temple of Segesta is visible from quite a distance as you approach the park. The murky history of the structures, who built them and why, adds to the mysteriousness of how anyone could have built such structures. The prevailing theory is that they were built by the Elymians, an ancient tribal people who inhabited Sicily during the Bronze Age and classical antiquity. The Elymians were thought to be Trojans who fled Troy and settled in Sicily. The temple is estimated to have been built between 430 and 420 B.C., possibly because of a war between the Elymians and neighboring cities (notably Selinute). Fighting between various cities and struggle for control, eventually led to the city’s destruction and abandonment around 900 A.D.

The parking lot is at the roundabout as you approach the park, immediately adjacent to the ticket office and welcome center. The ticket for walking the park was 6 Euros and I paid 2 or 3 Euro for a guide book and map (highly recommend). There is an auto road and a bus that runs groups up and down, and the ticket for that is slightly more. Unless you are physically unable to walk a couple miles including a few hundred feet of elevation, I really think you get a lot more out of a visit by walking. Bring some water, a snack, camera, shoes with good traction, hat and sunscreen. The temple and the theater were the most impressive and intact of all the sites, but if you read the descriptions on the signs for the other sites, the enormity of what these people built becomes more impressive. Be sure to check out the panoramic views at the top of the park overlooking the valley.

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