The Highs and the Lows

May 19, 2018

Salt pans with Trapani in the background.

Today we are spending a day exploring the area around Trapani, the high parts on foot (Erice) and the low parts by bike (the salt pans). Our plan is to take the gondola to Erice in the morning and explore the ancient salt pans by bike in the afternoon.

We always seek out local transportation when we travel so today we will take the bus to the base of the gondola. After a breakfast that included scrambled eggs and bacon along with Francesca’s cake, we headed to the tabachi for tickets. Easy peasy. The vendor motioned that we could catch the bus opposite his tabachi. After searching for a bus stop and waiting there for 20 minutes, we discovered that the bus stop for the gondola was actually about 200m up the road. There we waited another 15 minutes. Once the bus came and we got onboard, we were told in Italian something about it taking 20 minutes. Fair enough, we thought. What we didn’t understand was the crew was going to go to the depot for a 20 minute coffee break. Seriously? Yes. There was a driver and two other “staff” running the bus. One drove, one took the money, and the other seemed to be overseeing the other two. We were their only passengers. They parked the bus and headed over to a coffee shop after lighting up their cigarettes. About 15 minutes later a crew of three came to change the advertising banner on the side of the bus, cigarrette butts hanging from their lips. One of them knew what he was doing. We watched while they mounted the new banner. Eventually, the driving crew returned and we headed off. No doubt we could have walked to the gondola by now. The bus passed by the stop we had waited at and picked up another 5 passengers from the opposite bus stop who happened to be off a Windstar luxury sailing cruise ship. We were taken on the most scenic of bus routes before we eventually arrived at the base of the gondola. Thank goodness it was running!

Another way of sampling tidbits of Sicily.

Erice is a hilltop town that sits overlooking Trapani. The trip up from n the gondola took about 20 minutes. Erice is a Unesco Heritage site and as such it is very well preserved. It also houses a good number of residents and there are plenty of restaurants, hotels and trinket stores as well as opportunities to purchase ceramic art directly from the artisans.

Up, up and away. Erice sits at about 700m above Trapani.

We strolled the streets, peeking inside churches when possible, spending more time in the most renowned of them. Each church had a special collection of artefacts gathered from Erice. It is hard to put into words what it was like to see religious items from so many centuries ago. The inside of these churches showcased the importance of art and the work of artisans amd craftsmen to those civilizations.

All the streets of Erice are built in this pattern. I see a quilt in this.

The ceramics here are so beautiful. This is the symbol of Sicily.

Another gorgeous ceiling, this was fairly recently renovated.

It feels strange to walk over these crypts in the floor.

The black accents on this ceiling detail are exquisite.

We stopped by a small restaurant for a panini and a drink and sat down at a table right next to the gelato case. OK, who can gaze at all that gelato and not have some? Not me. We had hazelnut gelato which was divine.

Gelato cases like this are abundant and popular with the locals.

We got back to the gondola at about 2:30pm and to the base by 3pm where we waited for the bus. It came fairly quickly and when it did, it b-lined back to the starting point near our b&b. We made a pit stop to get changed for our cycle to the historic salt pans.

The salinity in the mediterranean is apparently quite high and they developed the art of salt extraction here centuries ago. Many tons of salt have been extracted over the centuries but in recent years the methods have been modernized and the salt is exported more as a specialty item. This is a seasonal process as it relies in the heat of the sun to evaporate the water. It was interesting to see where salt comes from but I have to admit the contents of the ponds did not look appealing. Perhaps we were a little too early to see the formation of the salt crystals. Nevertheless, I acquired an appreciation of the art of extracting salt from see water.

We visited the Salt Museum. The colour of the water is different among the pans, depending on its ‘age’.

Terra cotta roof tiles are laid on the piles of salt. It is always windy here.

This point is where the Tyrhhenian and Mediterranean Seas meet. Trapani sprawl in the background.

After our adventure to the salt pans, we returned and headed out to join the evening passagiata. It was lively, to say the least. And tonight we were treated to a bride, strolling to one of the local churches arm in arm with her father, with a train that must have been 15’ long. This is the day of the Royal wedding, so I think she picked a good day to get married.

I couldn’t help but notice the number of fashion boutique stores as we strolled the old town. Sicily is most definitely on top of fashion and design and it has the energy and vibrance to match. It belies first appearances in every way.

We stopped to admire this mime for a few minutes. OK, so it helped that she had a nice dog, but we enjoyed her performance too.

Mime on the pedestrian street in the evening.

I didn’t even mention dinner tonight, but we are beginning to see a trend here. Sicilians are so proud of their culture and their food so you can’t really go wrong. We ate at delicious fish dinner at Macri that we finished off with a pistachio panne cotte and a glass of marsala wine on the house. What a way to end another great Sicilian adventure.

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Today's ride: 22 km (14 miles)
Total: 116 km (72 miles)

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