Day 4. Trapani to Granatello

EDay 4: Trapani to Granatello (near Marsala). 40km.

A self-catering breakfast in our spacious apartment was followed by a walk around the old town of Trapani. There are many impressive Baroque buildings with a Moorish influence in the main concourse. 

We cycled out past the Trapani Port and then the salt works. We passed heaps of smallholdings before turning back to the coast to the old salt works. Salt has been harvested from the sea for many centuries here. There is a massive, yet very shallow bay, dotted with a few islands like Mozia on which extensive Phoenician artifacts and ruins have been found. 

We visited the Salt Museum at the salt works of Saline Ettore e Infersa where salt is still produced using a manual system. There is a series of pans where the water is pumped by windmills or hand to pans with ever more concentrated solution. The impurities such as carbonates and sulphates  precipitate out in the initial pans, and eventually the salt becomes very high quality, and the Fleur de Sal is scooped off the surface using sieves. The water then evaporates further allowing crystallization of the major proportion. The salt museum is housed in one of the old windmills, with a great view of surrounding pans from the top. The working parts of the mill are made of wood due to problems with erosion.

From here we found a bay teaming with kite surfers giving a great display in the stiff breeze. Great to watch as we had our picnic lunch. Then a short hop to La Arcate, our Agriturismo overnight stop. It is also a function venue where a well dressed crowd were celebrating their children's confirmation. The delightful old owner trotted around helping us with a big smile, shaking his head and gabbling on about "biciclettas biciclettas".

For dinner we were given a huge platter of antipasti and a choice of pasta. Jen settled for ravioli with borage sauce, while I had a generous helping of busiata with sausage and tomato in preparation for the next day's long haul. We are however yet to find wine that gets more than 5 on the WW scale.

North African influence in many buildings 

The old salt works still in operation

Free energy

More free energy.

Day 3. Balata di Baida to Trapani.

Day 3: 69 km from Balata di Baida to Trapani.

Well we set off uphill - not good when we have not warmed up yet. This was a taste of what was to come today- a very hilly ride. With the warm sun on our backs, the infinite eggshell blue sky and the breathtaking Sicilian countryside opening up in front of us, we made our way through small villages and along country roads lined with scabiosa, copper dill, lace flower, convulvulous and broom, the scent of which is heady. 

As it was only 30 km to Trapani we decided to take a detour to San Vito Lo Capo on the North western tip of Sicily. We climbed most of the way to Castelluzzo, and then it was a long downhill to Baia Santa Margherita and beyond there was a steep climb to San Vito Lo Capo which we did not do as we had to head back another 40 km to Trapani. The buildings in the architecture in villages along the way are built in the Moorish style and the bay's and coves were so beautiful.We have not had a swim in the Med, yet just dying to dive in.

This is the best time to cycle in Sicily, although quite hot by our standards, there is still a cooling breeze which is a life saver. I can't imagine what it must be like in July/ August - totally unplayable.

We got our first glimpse of the vineyards around Trapani, olive groves and fig groves, all looking beautiful with the backdrop of ripened wheat fields. We had a picnic lunch as a reward after the long climb back up the hill at a picnic table under some pine trees. A welcome bit of shade after the heat we worked up while climbing. From then on it was downhill to Trapani past the salt works with the skeletons of windmills silhouetted on the horizon.

We got settled into our accommodation for the night, a beautiful large, self catering apartment at Vacazione Apartment San Paolo. Then set off to take the funicular to Erice which Is a beautiful medieval town situated 750 m above sea level behind Trapani. It was probably founded by the Elymians, a native Sicilian people. It was inhabited by the Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, Arabs and Normans. It was one of the towns in Sicily that was re-named by Mussolini in 1934 in honor of it's famous past.

We climbed the steep cobbled,narrow streets which were clothed in swirling mists to discover the Piazza Umberto where we had a delicious meal of Pasta Carbonara before taking the funicular down to catch the last bus back to the Centre of town.

Once in town we walked down the main pedestrian road Corso Vittorio Emanuele which was buzzing with people. Old and young dressed up for Saturday night, strolling through to drink at glass of wine at one of the many wine bars, have a meal or pick up a delicious gelati. Of course we ended a wonderful day with the taste of Pistachio. Nothing to beat the ice cream in Italy.

On route to San Vito Lo Capo.

The Mme Dawes taking a break.

Looking back as we approach Trapani.

A lunch spot appeared at the right time.

Entrance to Erice.

Cobbled streets of Erice - glad we were walking rather than riding.

Lots of kaggelkak for sail.

The center of Trapani.

Terrasini to farm near Balata di Baida.

RDay 2: Terrasini to farm near Balata di Baida. 56 km.

A clear warm day with a moderate breeze off the sea. We had a good Sicilian breakfast at Le Oasi with our friendly host serving fine coffee. Fruit, yoghurt, salami and cheese was substantial enough to get us to Scopello. We chatted to an American family (a cardiologist and his genetic engineering son) who were suitably sheepish and embarrassed by their president who is currently in Sicily for the G7 conference.

We wound our way along the coast, with a few short sections of gravel, through the towns of Trappeto, Balestrate and Castellamare. These are all popular beach resorts in the summer, but fortunately still quite quiet. Garmy got off to a good start, and we would have got seriously without her. Just hope she doesn't get pmts while we're here. It was great having the sea on our right and mountains on our left most of the day. There were a few hilly excursions past olive and lemon orchards just to remind us that Sicily is not a flat island. 

We reached the charming village of Scopello where we had a picnic in the main square. This was previously a tuna fishing village, but now obviously survives on summer tourism with heaps of restaurants, pizzerias and gelaterias. 

Lunch of ham, tomatoes and peaches was followed by a serious climb into the hills away from the coast to our farm accommodation, Agriturismo Finazzo. It is perched on the top of a hill looking back at the sea. Our German/Sicilian hostess provided the required beers and water to protect our kidneys.

Dinner was a typical Sicilian affair - a huge plate of antipasto of all sorts of pine nut, tomato, spinach, polenta, cold meat, olive, mushroom combinations with seriously similar and confusing names, followed by delicious long pork sausages with roast potatoes in lemon and rosemary, then deep fried doughnut-like treats and limoncello, washed down with vino rosso drain cleaner (WW4).  

Leaving Terrasini.

Both of these signs are ignored by everyone.

Fruits of the Med.

Looking back over Castellemare.

Scopello, our lunch stop.

The old tonnara (tuna factory) Scopella.

View from our farm accommodation.

Sicilian antipasto mysteries.

Sicily Day 1

Day 1: 11 km to Terrasini.

We jumped onto the red-eye flight to Palermo from Gatwick airport. This meant that we had to leave Orpington at 03:30 by taxi after only four hours of sleep. We thought we would have ample time as their would be no traffic on the M25. The taxi driver stopped to fill up with petrol and there was quite a lot of traffic on the M25, all the Brits leaving the UK for the summer bank holiday long weekend. Once we got to Gatwick the queues were long. Everything there runs on self service, booking in and loading luggage on the conveyer belt. Being from SA we had to have our passports checked which held things up a bit more and also had to load our bikes through the large luggage area, then grabbed a quick breakfast and made the flight with five minutes to spare. Always a good idea to have at least half an hours leeway when catching a flight. 

We landed in Palermo after a quick smooth 2 hour flight. The bikes were fine. The stand on Ian's bike got a bit bent which was sorted out quickly. The bags have been fantastic, much easier to move around than when they are packed in boxes. We found a spot outside the airport building to assemble the bikes and pack our panniers. It took Ian an hour to do both of them; he is really becoming a pro at it now.

I felt both excited and apprehensive about getting on our fully loaded bikes again. We had not ridden them with all our gear on for a year and I was worried about the Italian drivers. 

The Garmin was charged and did not let us down this time. We made our way on a small road which ran parallel to the big highway through various villages. Everything is quite dry and brown which is insane as it is meant to be spring - it reminded us of home. The drivers were extremely courteous which set my mind at rest. It was so good to be back on the bike again.

Tetrazzini is a small coastal town west of Palermo. I had forgotten how unbelievably blue the Med  is. Our accommodation for the night was at Le Oasi in Via Santa Rossalia which was very comfortable and a very friendly host. After a beautiful walk along the coast we had supper at La Sirrinetta which was an authentic Sicilian eatery, quite rustic with a beautiful view of the sea. We started with an antipasto platter for two which was actually more than enough for us. We tasted chick pea cakes, potato rissoles, delicious olives, cheese and stuffed tomatoes. The pasta that followed was also delicious. Ian settled for a pasta Busiata with tomato and fresh tuna and I had a pasta Congolese with clams and shrimps, both absolutely delicious. We had a half carafe of the white house wine which was very ordinary.

The passion of Sicily is starting to course in our veins, a wonderful start to our holiday !

Ready to go.

Interesting rock formations.

Authentic and friendly restaurant.

Supper time view