Sicily,
May 2012
From time to time there is a possibility to fly to
Sicily for only 10 euros return ticket for a weekend.
Renting a car for 2 days isn’t so expensive. With the
full insurance with Hertz it cost around 100 euros. This time I decided to visit
places close to Trapani.
Erice
This is a small town on the hill and I called it the
town of marzipan. To the town leads a winding road giving passengers a lot of amazing views. Of course,
other option is the cable car from Trapani.
The town is very old and majestic. Streets are paved and winding and made out
of stone. A lot of people visit Erice to relax and contemplate.
We found here a lot of shops with marzipan. The
marzipan sweets were perfect, they created sweets in a shape of oranges or
cherries and they were incredible.
We parked our car near the ‘Porta Spada’. When we
entered the town we turned right and we spotted old stairs. We decided to have
a picnic on the wall with an amazing view. Close was and old church, the first
one from many in Erice. In the town centre there are a lot of shops with
souvenirs. For us it was important to pay by credit card and there were only
few shops accepting this method.
There is also the castle Venere which was closed but
it looked incredible. We didn’t eat anything in the town because we decided to
go to the Zingaro Nature Reserve.
Zingaro Nature Reserve
This reserve has two entrances, one from the San Vito
Lo Capo and other from Scopello. A parking place is free but the ticket costs 3
euro per person. The reserve is quite big inside with many paths, beaches and
museums. It is a green place with small hills and clear water for swimming. We
decided to have a small walk and then relaxed in the sea.
The water was so refreshing and there were a lot of
fish. We had bread so it was a good fun
because the fish were eating the bread almost from your hand.
Palermo,
I spent a whole day in Palermo which is a very busy and dirty city.
The main street leads to the ‘Quatro Canti’, a crossing of two streets with 4 fountains.
In the city there is a problem with a free parking. I know a free place near
the Via Maqueda. This is a one way street and near the building no 70 there is
the Via Fiume street where I parked without any charge.
It is worth to see the Vucciria Market with the Garraffello
square where is an old building of the National Bank and other destroyed
building integrated with refurbished ones. In the evening this is a magic place
with a small local bars and local people. The main attraction in the centre is
The Cathedral of Palermo,
a free entrance. Due to a long history of additions and restorations the
cathedral is characterized by the presence of different styles.
If you are not afraid of macabre and bizarre you
should visit Capuchin Catacombs. My travel company wasn’t interested to visit
this place so I haven’t been there yet.
There is a lot to see in Palermo, many churches and some markets. The
Hermits church of
St’John’s from 12th –
century, this Norman church is recognizable because of 5 Arab inspired red
domes. The entrance costs 4,50 euro. What I can really recommend is that you
should spend an evening somewhere near the market place. We were on Ballaro where
Piazza Ballaro crossing with Via Casa Professa. We bought local beer called FORST and ate local food.
The tourist information is working from Monday till
Friday and the office is on the Castelnuovo square.
San Vito Lo Capo
This small town close to the sea is a tourist spa.
Clear and nice with a few walk routes is a good place for climbers and for
someone who would like to stay on the sandy beach. We decided to go to the for
a small, 1h long walk to the ‘Cala Mancina’ which is a cave. When we were walking
we saw a yacht wrecked on the rock. The yacht was quite new, probably during
bad weather the crew had an accident. The cave wasn’t very big but the walk was
fantastic and there were a lot of places to swim.
Segesta
The old city of Segesta
was probably founded by the Elimi and destroyed by the Syracusan in 307 BC. Now
there is a museum with not finished temple and a theatre on the hill. The
entrance fee is 6 euro and the bus to the theatre 1.50 euro. They close it at
6pm. Inside there is a parking place for cars, a picnic area and a very nice
old buildings.
Around 1
km from this place there are thermal springs. There is SPA nearby but if
you want to have a romantic evening with wine and candles there is a place near
the commercial one.
If you have a GPS navigation, follow this direction
37’28’’23.01
12’53’’33.02
The place where you need to turn left and the SPA are
here:
37’58’’26.22
12’53’’29.15
but if you do not have one and you found the SPA you
need to turn left into a small road. I
was there with Fiat Panda and the road was ok, but you need to watch out. See
the picture below.
The thermal springs are around 60 degrees hot and it is a perfect place to relax.
The thermal springs are around 60 degrees hot and it is a perfect place to relax.
