September 15, 2022: Segesta Temple & Trapani Salt Flats

September 15, 2022 cjbishop@yahoo.com

We are taking a road trip west of Palermo to see some sights in the area including a Greek temple at Segesta, a medieval town (Erice) and the salt flats in Trapani. It will be a busy day.

Breakfast at the hotel is fairly extensive by European standards-hard to decide what to have.I leaned towards having the fresh fruit and croissants (of varying types) which were abundant here. The bacon offered is usually undercooked and the eggs are runny and not hot. Yvonne loves to make a breakfast sandwich of ham and cheese on a breakfast roll. The biggest problem was getting a large cup of coffee (an Americano) as they have automated machines to make your cup fresh, but there is no button for an Americano. The closest I could find was a “longo” which sounded promising, but wasn’t, as it simply doubled the normal expresso drunk by most of the locals. But I learned to outsmart it by requesting two longos in a single cup, resulting in almost the equivalent of an Americano- close enough!

One of several rooms set up for breakfast.

Our day road trip was to the west of Palermo where the landscape started to appear greener(read later that is because they get more rain). We all were surprised as to how hilly (mountainous?) the region is. But before I continue I must discuss driving in Palermo. It is both unbelievable and impressive. Drivers simply ignore lanes and normal driving rules. They make three lanes where there should be two. They will leave their lane, enter the opposite direction lane and come at you head on, only to merge back into their proper lane at the last moment. Motorcycles and scooters are always in the opposing lane if they see a gap in traffic. But what is most amazing is that there is no honking of horns, no finger salutes, and seemingly no accidents (I saw no dented cars). it just seems to work. Try that in the US. I was impressed.

19 passenger Mercedes van was our transportation.

2 seats on one side, single seat across aisle. Lots of room to spread out.

City traffic in Palermo. Note the car on the left trying to merge back into the proper lane.

Our first stop was at the ancient city of Segesta (seh-JESS-tah)where the remains of a Greek temple and theater are located. The Doric design temple was built around 420 BC (only about 25 years after the Parthenon in Athens) but was never completed (no roof or interior worship room-the cella) and no one knows why. There is a small theater at the same location but it was a steep walk up a hill to see it and it was already getting hot so we all skipped it as there will be others to see on this trip.

Fairly barren landscape right outside Palermo.

We were surprised at how high the mountains are in Sicily.

The path to the temple at Segesta. It was already hot when we arrived so we walked pretty slow.

After a quick lemon granita and bathroom break at the complex we continued our journey to our next stop-the medieval town of Erice. Located high on a hill it dates back to 1200 BC but grew mostly after the Normans arrived in the Middle Ages. Guisi led us on a town walk using the “whisperers” as they are commonly called-a marvelous addition to touring that has emerged since we first started traveling years ago. It is you the freedom to hear what the tour leader is saying without having to be right next to her. We love them!

Typical street in Erice. The pavement is hard on your feet. Cannot imagine how people did it without proper shoes.

A narrow street created on purpose to hinder invaders.

Almost all windows have shutters which I assume are to control their intense sun.

A lady who lived for awhile in a convent and was treated badly while there “stole” their recipes and now has a famous bakery. We bought her recipe book!

Small of the cookies made by Maria Grammatico.

The walking tour ended and it was time for an included lunch at a small restaurant called “Gli Archi di San Carlo” in Erice. Normally the tour then proceeds to take a cable car down to the lower town of Trapani. However, the area is also noted for its winds and the cable car is often shut down because of the winds. Today was such a day and we had to return to our bus and be driven to Trapani to view the salt flats and learn how salt is mined in the area since the eighth century BC!

Inside the small, out of the way, Gli Archi di San Carlo restaurant.

Busiate pasta with trapanese pesto and fried potatoes

Cassatella tart filled with ricotta cheese.

Salt was originally used to preserve the tuna caught here in abundance. Salt was more valuable than gold in ancient times. Trivia for the day: Romans paid their workers a “salario” which comes from the Latin word “sale” which means salt. Trapani is good for mining salt because of its sun, its winds, and its shallow, smooth, clay-lined sea beds. Antique windmills were used to pump sea water into the shallow ponds where evaporation eventually extracted the salt from the water. We visited an operating family owned facility that has a museum with implements used in the past to harvest the salt. They also gave us a short presentation on how they collect and harvest the salt from the sea water from the past to the present. It was back breaking work back then, done by hand; the process is pretty much mechanized today.