SW Sicily: Salt Flats, Kasbah and monuments

Back on Sicily after a somewhat harrowing ferry ride, at one point the entire left side of the boat, including the windows we were looking out, was completely underwater and leaning hard left.  Mind you we were on a hydrofoil, lifted out of the water, so we were leaning pretty hard.  The captain backed off the throttle and we eased down into the sea, stabilized and then off we went again.  down in the lower level is better when rough but not being able to see anything but clear blue ocean out about 8 windows will give you a little lump in your throat.  Here's the ferry we rode:  Eduardo

We picked up the rental car at the downtown Hertz office in Trapani, went to a produce store for some awesome cherries, tomatoes, olives and fruit for lunch and then headed out for our B&B, La Suite di Segesta, located within about a mile of the the beautiful Segesta temple. (We're visiting the park soon)  We grabbed a couple pizzas and a bottle of wine from this place real close, parked the car right in front of a no stopping sign, and watched the sunset over the temple.  Naturally a couple dogs stopped by.  Good stuff.   

The next day was really interesting.  We trekked back toward Trapani and visited the Museo del Sale to learn and see the salt pans of western Sicily.  Salt is one of the most important and valuable commodities in all of history, the word salary coming from salt, and production of salt in western Sicily dates back about 3000 years.  The coast is flat, the weather dry in the summer to enable the continued evaporation and concentration of the salt water, the wind prevalent, thus the windmills, and the need always existent.  For a mere 3 euro each we were treated to a tour, in English, by the owners wife and provided a solid history of how the work was conducted.  A euro more enabled our entrance to the salt pans themselves, where the water today is pumped into shallower pans as it gets to 25% salinity, the pink pans.  The water then evaporates, the salt piled up, and the pans are then dried completely, the clay sand repacked and come March the process begins again.  From Phoenicians to Carthaginians, Romans to Arabs, to modern day Italians the Sicilian sea, land and people have provided the blood & sweat to get the salt.

We cruised south along the western coast of Sicily and stopped in Marsala for lunch where we had the first thing to eat that we both didn't enjoy, bruschetta topped with sea urchin eggs.  Had to try it, won't have it again, not good.  I had Spaghetti Marsala for lunch, in Marsala, it was good, Kathie's was as well, a tomato and shrimp pasta.

We then travelled to rock, or at least check out, the Kasbah.  Yea, you got that right, Rock the Kasbah.  Understand that Sicily is the original melting pot of the world, people from all over the Med, northern Europe, Africa, the Middle East, they've all at some point landed in Sicily and staked their claim.  And many stayed as the island is lovely, a true breadbasket of farmland, beaches and the sea, its great.  Here in Sicily you find a significant Arab influence, and in Mazara del Vallo, just 150 miles from Tunis yet 300 from Rome, you find the Kasbah, a traditional Arab neighborhood.  The tile work along the narrow streets was interesting, the signage unique, something to be seen and appreciated.  When people, with good intentions of course, can get along and accept each other then a community's culture can really improve and add tremendous value.  That's not to say I like the culture of sticking things in my face to sell at dinner time, or some other culturally accepted practices especially in regards to the treatment of women, however I do believe that we can learn a lot from the melting pot that is Sicily, that's all I'm sayin'.

Classic Arab church.

We took the scenic route back to our B&B and made the drive up a winding backstreet to Ossario di Pianto Romano.  It was a striking image of a monument on a hill, so why not.  What a treat, first of all the panoramic view was amazing and the monument itself pretty nice.  But then the treat, Kathie was surprised as out of the woods came an older gentlemen with the keys to the monument, bringing her to me, unlocking the gates and taking us inside to hear the story.  I got about 20-30% of what he said and it was remarkable.  This place was the monument marking the battle from the nearby town where that Garibaldi told his general on May 15, 1860  "Qui si fa l'Italia o si muore" ("Here we make Italy, or we die"). This was the spot where the Bourbons began losing control of Sicily, helping to finally unify the country into the singular Kingdom of Italy.  Signor Rizzo was so pleased to have us and show us the monument, including a female Soldier named Frederica who was KIA but other documents show as Frederico, they were certain there wouldn't be a woman fighting.  She is memorialized here, among many others, on this beautiful hillside in SW Sicily.

We had an uneventful pizza dinner watching Ronaldo & the world cup, and swatting away mosquitoes.  The wine and pizza were good, but we won't be back to the ristorante even after the 10% sconto.

It was a really nice day in SW Sicily!

Ciao bella!