Trapani and Erice

Trapani, with Erice atop the mountain

 

As part of our “take it slowly” campaign for this season, we made a short trip across the strait from the Egadi Islands to Trapani on the north-west point of Sicily. We’ve been in a small marina called “Vento di Maestrale” beside the fishing harbour for the last seven days, enjoying the town, the clear water for swimming and the comings and goings of the tuna fleet. There is a large fish market each morning on the waterfront right behind the marina where the catch is delivered direct from the boats. A kilo of sardines, cleaned and split is just 5 euros, a kilo of tuna between 10 and 15 depending on the quality. The vendors are loud and rude, spruiking their fish and insulting the catch and the manhood of their competitors – it’s great fun! Fresh produce stalls are set up daily around the fish market entry – in season at the moment are deep purple eggplant, late tomatoes, zucchinis, all kinds of wild greens, ripe stone fruit - everything you might need to cook up an amazing dinner. Here, seasons mean seasons! Fresh peas were available for one month; after that, “I’m sorry, Signora, peas are finished!” Yesterday there were no figs, today they are everywhere, plump, sweet and only three euros for a kilo. Somehow, foods are more precious and tastier when they only appear briefly, at their appointed time.

Tuna and swordfish fresh from the boats

Part of the tuna fleet

 

Fish market

Trapani is an easy town to like. Its name is a corruption of the Greek word for sickle, and Trapani’s narrow sickle shape means it has a waterfront on each side. To the north are white sand beaches (mostly free from the tightly packed grids of umbrellas and plastic lounges for hire that you find elsewhere) while the southern edge is the harbour and a substantial salt works with blindingly white mounds of salt and a traditional windmill. Much of the town seems to be old palazzos renovated as apartments, and many buildings have the remnants of family crests, ornate balconies and huge heavy doors which must once have admitted horses and carriages to an inner courtyard. Of course it’s Sicily, so you are never far from a good restaurant or café. Not surprisingly, Trapani’s best specialise in fresh seafood.  Terry could happily live here, one of the very few places we’ve been to that this is the case.  The islands are only a couple of hours’ sail away, with lots of bays to anchor in.  You can circumnavigate Sicily in a reasonable amount of time.  It’s not far to the mainland and Rome if you want a big city for a while and there’s actually surf on the Island of Marettimo.  It’s an attractive proposition, but we still have a long way to go.

The Cathedral

 

Life sized icons, carried by the various guilds during Holy Week

There are a few foreign tourists, but it seems to attract mainly Italians from northern parts, who spend their days lying in the sun and their nights cruising the bars.  That is, except for the massive Cruise Ships that come in, sometimes two at a time, with crowds bound for Erice.  They’re not really tourists, though, as they only spend a part of a day here then rush off in their hundreds to the next ‘part of a day’ in some other location.

                                                                     The wine shop

Main street in the evening

We spent the first couple of days attending to minor boat jobs – a water tank that might have been leaking, but fortunately wasn’t. A drain outlet that might have been blocked, but fortunately wasn’t. Repairing the snubber which took a bit of a hammering while we were anchored in Favignana – we took it to the local chandler to have the metal eyes replaced and the frayed bit cut off and re-spliced. Total for the job - €11!  We tried to get someone to come and look at the radar, but he put it off until “domani” … and “domani” …and “domani” so it probably isn’t going to happen.

Vento, the marina dog

And finally it was time for a visit to Trapani’s main claim to tourist fame, the old city of Erice perched 2,480ft up on top of Monte San Guiliano. One of the marina guys dropped us off at the foot of the mountain and we boarded the cable car to the top. It was truly spectacular seeing Trapani’s sickle laid out below just like a map. And the ride just kept going – the sea, the Egadi islands, the green and terracotta patchwork of farmland – it felt like you could see the whole of Sicily from up there! It is hard to imagine armies scaling the mountain and still having the energy to take the town, but it appears that all the usual suspects did: originally Phoenician (with Greek influences), it was sacked by the Carthaginians, then conquered by Arabs, then the Normans under our old friend Roger. A Norman castle still stands, built on the site of the famous Temple of Aphrodite. The temple was supposedly staffed by 1000 sacred courtesans, which would probably have given visiting mariners an incentive to climb the mountain. The town is mostly Aragonese and very picturesque with its winding cobbled streets and flower-filled balconies. We managed to find Erice’s single geocache to add to the pleasures of the day. Do make the trip up the mountain if you’re in these parts – it’s well worth it.

View from the cliffs, castle above

 

Terry looking out over Trapani

 

Castle built by Roger the Norman over the Temple of Aphrodite

So, last evening here in Trapani. The weather has settled, we’ve raided the market for fish and fruit supplies and had a delivery from one of the local supermarkets. We’re planning to head into the Gulf of Castellammare, then Cefalu before crossing to the Aeolian Islands. Taking it slowly. Everything is clean, orderly and working. Except for that radar. Oh well … domani.

Streets of Erice