Day 3 • Palermo, Castellamare del Golfo, Segesta, Erice

We had another lovely breakfast with a view this morning before revisiting the Vucciria market then heading to the airport to pick up the rental car. Driving in Palermo is not recommended for visitors so if you are going to rent a car, do it from the airport so you can get straight on the autostrada. As we were approaching the train station, a bus driver said his plush, modern bus was going to the airport and that the fare was the same as the train. I totally recommend it - it was so much more comfortable and easier than the train and air conditioned! It took about 45 minutes to get to the main terminal.

We drove to Castellamare del Golfo for a quick stop, a charming fishing town on the north side of Sicily. The emerald green sea and colorful fishing boats made for a great photo op.

fishing cove at castellemare del golfo

We walked around the seaside and there were not many other people around. It was very quiet and not much was open but we were not there during siesta. We did find one cafe open and had panini at a small street side table.

waiting for the paninis

We didn't intend to stay here although if we had the time it would have been a nice overnighter. But today we (and busloads of Italian high school kids) had another destination - Segesta. Segesta was one of the major cities of the mysterious Elymian people, one of the three indigenous peoples of Sicily. It is one of the best preserved temples from antiquity, built sometime in the late 5th century BC and its location among wildflowers and green hills is striking. With not a modern sight in view, you can really feel transported back in time.

magestic segesta

There is also a well preserved theater which is quite a bit of a walk uphill. One can take the paved road or a natural path that is more direct and that is what we chose. The wildflowers were in bloom and the earth was teeming with what Sicilians call babbaluci, or snails. I stopped here and there to touch flowers and run my hands across the tops of the grasses. Big mistake because in the car ride after the visit, my hands were starting to develop a rash. The rash got progressively worse, and in about 48 hours were so inflamed that I could not sleep and had to go to a pharmacy for help. But there will be more on that later.

look but don't touch!

we had the place to ourselves until busloads of Italian teenagers rained upon us

theater at segesta

ken likes to get to shows early

After Segesta we drove a country road to Erice. It is a village on a mountain by the same name, and most of the year it is shrouded in mist. We could see it from a few miles away, covered in clouds. We followed the road up the mountain through pine trees and fog.

the approach to erice

the mist

Down below the sun was shining! We had a reservation at La Pineta, just outside the city walls. It was more like a summer resort, consisting of private cottages and open, public areas with lounge chairs and a bar. So we arrived way off-season and we greeted by the proprietor who did not speak any English. My smattering of Italian got us by without a problem. After checking in we walked just across the street into the walled city of Erice. The combination of the mist and the lack of people (being off-season) lended an eerie atmosphere. The stone streets were beautiful.

the stone streets of erice

We were feeling snackish and found a snack bar open. We ordered an arancine con melanzane, warm oozing with cheese an eggplant. And just up the street is the famous Pasticceria Maria Grammatico where we bought a small box of delicious pastries. We wanted a glass of wine but we didn't find a restaurant or cafe open so next door was a small market where we bought a bottle of Nero D'Avola and I asked the woman there if she had an opener. She handed one to me and I opened the wine to a loud "pop!" to which I said "La musica!" and we all laughed. It was now about 5pm and we wanted to rest a bit before dinner so we started to walk back down the labrynthine streets and got a little lost...

it is easy to get lost in erice

I decided to wear shoes tonight that had heels and my footseteps echoed through the streets on our way to find an open restaurant. It was so quiet and misty tonight, it felt as if this place only existed for us or like we were on a movie set. There were a total of 2 restaurants open! We chose the lower-key looking place as they always have the better food compared to the linen table cloth ones. And this was no exception! Ken got the spaghetti alla pesto trapanese and I could not resist the pasta con le sarde. After dinner we meandered our way back to the hotel - and got a little lost - again.