Scario

 

Scario is just a small fishing village and holiday resort south of Napoli in the Gulf of Policastro, but we found it a delightful place to spend a few days. Nestled in amongst the rugged cliffs, caves and grottoes of the south west coast of mainland Italy, Scario shares the picturesque qualities of the Amalfi coast without its overexposure. The houses are weathered stone or stucco in creams, pinks and yellows, and the town clearly takes pride in its gardens. At this time of year fruit trees are laden and there are vivid flowers everywhere, while shade trees provide relief from the intense sun of high summer. The town’s backdrop is mountains skirted by pine and cedar forest.

Tourism seems to be fairly low-key. Families from Rome have their holiday villas and apartments here, along with a scattering of foreigners, but the town seems to be a ‘real’ town with butchers and hardware stores as well as the restaurants and bars, along with a sense of community.  On the evening we arrived, the church was filled to overflowing with people celebrating Mass accompanied by the local children’s choir. The evening passegiata along the waterfront was always a friendly and colourful affair, with stylish summer fashions, new babies on display, the elderly arm in arm with a strong young grandson or daughter and of course all the children high on gelato at midnight.

Waterfront promenade, before the evening crowds

 

The old boys gather for cards

 

We had a couple of excellent meals at a family ristorante called La Piazzetta where I had a lovely rich seafood risotto and a lesson in the correct way to eat cigale.  Terry had pasta with mixed mushrooms.

 La Piazzetta

Besides a sheltered harbour at reasonable cost, Scario also has clear water for swimming, pleasant places to walk – and did I mention the gardens? We happened to see a post in the real estate agent’s office offering a ‘small villa with garden’ for €98,000 – very tempting!

 

 Old buildings nestling amongst the villas

 A beautiful waterfront

 

Under the Volcano

 

It’s easy to see that most of the Aeolian Islands are the peaks of volcanic mountains, with their feet thousands of metres below the sea. They are rugged and steep-to, offering little in the way of anchorages and great opportunities for high season rip-offs in the few small harbours. From Cefalu we made for the island of Filicudi, where there are moorings available – at a cost. €50 to the grumpy bloke in the dinghy and we had the pleasure of a rocky night on a mooring ball in the bay. We stayed aboard as we didn’t feel like spending any more in the town, but I did paddle the kayak in next morning for some bread and a coffee. It seemed a pleasant enough place, and the volcanic slopes, terraced all the way up, are an impressive sight.

 

 

Next day we planned our passage to do a ‘drive by’ of Stromboli at sunset. Stromboli is a continuously active volcano, releasing pressure a bit at a time rather than building up to a major eruption like Etna or Vesuvius. It really is an awesome thing to see, with the massive sciara del fuoco (flow of fire) like a vast, steaming bitumen road down the north west slope of the mountain. As the sun set, a fleet of tour boats gathered to watch the rose-tinted clouds drifting over the crater and its regular bursts of fire. Watching a volcano erupt is one of those thrilling, primal experiences, especially when you can hear and feel its rumbling power. You wonder why people choose to live in the shadow of these unpredictable monsters – until you see the vineyards, citrus groves and fields of vegetables thriving in the rich, deep volcanic soil.

 

Sciara del Fuoco (note the yacht for scale)

 

Stromboli erupts

 

Then off into the night, assisted by a light breeze, to Cetraro then north to the Bay of Naples.

#14th Instalment of the Beer Tour of the World

Beer, Food & Liquor Reviews

 

#14^th  Instalment of the Beer Tour of the World

 Franziskaner Weissbeer Dunkel

Not a great fan of Weissbeer but this is Dunkel – Dark – and richer than the sharp bitey wheat beers I am not fond of.  Part of the Spaten brewery of Munich (they combined some years ago).

I like it a lot, but it is for drinking with a winter meal, not around a summer BBQ.  Latest convert is my mate Robbie.

 

Prinz Brau

Not all that flash.  Waste of good tin actually; probably could have made a whistle from it instead.

 

Warsteiner.

Nice.  Available in LIDL for about 59c per 500ml bottle.  Very common in supermarkets all over Italy.  Decent drop, although the bottles tend to be a bit sweet occasionally – perhaps this stuff ages differently?  Not sure but cold it’s good.

 

Badger Champion, Badger Tanglefoot and Badger First Gold.

My friend Bernard is a Badger devotee.  I didn’t like the First Gold as I thought it too fruity.  The Champion is heading that way with Elderflower in it but it’s only a hint and is not a bad drop.  The Tanglefoot is sharp and bitter.  Haven’t made my mind up about it yet.  Need more to go on.  Bernard, open some more.

 

Oro Tari

http://www.birratari.it/language/en/

This is a Sicilian craft beer from a very new micro brewery.  The website is a bit difficult to navigate but it is quite rich in detail (no language flag for English but the En at the end of the bar will do it)

Another artisan beer.  A bit sourish, with not as much head, but nice enough.  They do a reasonable range and also have a tasting room.  Be worth a visit if you’re in the vicinity

  They make about 9 beers and the Oro is what you might call a standard.  It is very much like the lager style beers we have in WA and is very nice indeed.  Comes in 750ml bottles, no small ones so they’re good to share.  Or not.  These guys are only about 5 years old and they are doing a great job.  Can’t remember the price but it is worth it.  A rich lager with, thankfully, no attempt to flower it up.  It is a real pity that I found this on our last night in Licata before heading north, instead of the first night when we could have organized a tour to the brewery, which is not all that far from Licata.  Found it again in an Enoteca/restaurant in Cefalu.

Wonder if they’re related to the Conti’s in Western Australia (Wanneroo)

Trapani beers

A newish brewery that seems to be part of a wine-making enterprise.  Can’t exactly identify it on the net.  Had two of their very limited production beers, a simple Classico lager and a Weiss.  Both were expensive, at least on the main drag in Trapani, but both were big bottles for €8 and very nice indeed, and I don’t normally like Weiss beers.  Made by Donnadicoppe, which is the wine concern, and each with its distinctive beer coaster, it would be worth trying at least these two if you ever find yourself in the glorious city of Trapani.  p.s. I could live in Trapani.

 

86 Red.

Had an 86 before, called Bavaria 86 but it is from Holland.  It was 7.9% and I liked it a lot, though cautioned one and all about overindulgence at this level of Alc. 

This one is disgusting.  Tastes like it has been sweetened with saccharine.  Without a doubt it’s worse than XXXX or that SA Southwark thing or VB.  Had a couple of sips, Carol had a couple of sips, rest down the sink.

 

And I’ve taken to Reds lately, too.  Not this one.  Just goes to prove that life as a beer taster is (sorry, gross metaphor coming) “not all beer and skittles”.  Had to say that.

 

Birra Messina

Not sure of the history of this but it is a standard sharpish nice lager.  Then I saw that it was made by Heineken.  Surprised me as it’s not their usual rubbish.  Maybe they bought this brewery and then left it to run itself?  Unlike them, but there must be a reason why it tastes OK.

Not expensive, either.  Got it in a small supermarket in Trapani for about €1.20 for a 500ml bottle.

 

Birra Vittoria Grazie Mille.

www.birravittoria.com

 No website found – the above link takes you to a single page.  An artisan beer from Sicily.  8% but doesn’t taste all that strong.  Very nice – strong golden colour, with the usual bottle-fermented sediment.  Strong head – mine came with a narrowed-neck glass and overflowed instantly.  Perhaps an open glass would be better.

 

 

Semedorato

www.semedorato.it

Big bottle for €1.10.  Premium lager.  Ok but nothing special. Better value around if you look but I wouldn’t hand it back if I was offered one.

 

G..Marabrea e Figli.

www.birramarabrea.com

 I’ve had the Strong before but this time was offered the blonde in La Piazzeta in Scario.

Was very nice indeed, from a family that has been brewing since the 1840s,  To give a better picture of the offering, it almost qualifies as a major brewery and can be found in great numbers of restaurants and cafes.  Easy to find so no excuse not to try it.

Two Risottos by the King of Risotto - the Marabrea is out of focus because the two risottos are more important.

La Piazzetta - The King of Risotto and his wife.

 

Rainer Pils

Not to be confused with the Rainier beer of Washington state, which has Mt Rainier in it.  You would be surprised at the enormous number of Americans who can’t spell Rainier.  How do I know this?  Because searching for Rainer on Google throws up entry after entry of what is obviously Rainier beer, but badly spelled.

I said all that because I really can’t write anything nice about this beer.  It was in the closest restaurant to our boat in Roma.  The Affligem Red had run out (pity, I am a big fan of Affligem) and I was assured that the Heineken tap did not contain Heineken.  I should have known that Heineken would not allow one of their taps to be used for a competitor’s beer and sure enough, this Rainer is brewed by Heineken in France.  Tastes about as good as 1664 or perhaps not even as good as that.   A large glass of not much at all.  Waste of money.

 

Affligem Rouge.  (Affligem Double)

www.affligembeer.com

Yes, back in Bistrot and the Affligem has been restocked.  Nice red beer, not as in-your-face as stuff like the McFarland Red that Robbie and I had in Rome last night.*  A bit understated and subtle and very pleasant indeed.  Referred to as Affligem Double, not strictly as Affligem Red  (*not a criticism of McFarland Red, reviewed before.)

 

Alta Quota Principessa.

www.birraaltaquota.it

A Latium beer, artiginiale. #1 in their lists.   Quite nice if a little foamy.  Maybe the fact that it is about 110° in the waterbag has affected it.  Made with Spelt, not Malt (con Farro).  I liked this one a lot.

 Alta Quota Giovio

The red version.  A little sweet for me.  #5 of the Alta Quota offerings.

Scopelo, Palermo and Cefalu

After a week or so in the marina in Trapani, it was time for a sail and a nice quiet anchorage somewhere, so we headed east with the sails up and the motor at low revs. We tried out the pole, spreading the genoa full abeam to catch as much of the wind as we could – it worked well. The Sicilian coastline along here is spectacular: mountains and sheer cliffs that drop into vivid blue water, extraordinary rock formations, and nestled amongst all this, small villages, cultivated fields and deep green pine forests.

Genoa poled out, a nice sail

At about 14.30 we found a beautiful small bay near the town of Scopelo. In between almost vertical cliffs of golden limestone, an old tunny fishery had been transformed into an attractive small hotel, The water was crystal clear and I didn’t need much persuading to jump in to check that the anchor was set. Unfortunately it wasn’t visible, buried deep in long seagrass, but we seemed to be holding ok. We spent an idyllic afternoon, swimming and snorkelling around the bay which, unusually for the Med, was teeming with fish; reading, relaxing, enjoying a cold beverage or two. As the evening drew in, we became less confident about our holding and re-anchored further from the rocks. Then, as so often happens, a perfect daytime spot turns into a bit of a nightmare as the wind strengthens and changes direction and you get that rolly motion of wind against swell. Well, we got through the night, regularly checking our position, and were happy to be up and off early next morning.

Converted tunny fishery in Scopelo

 

 

A bit of weather seemed to be threatening and we needed a few supplies, so the obvious shelter within range was Palermo Harbour itself. We’d spent a week in Palermo previously, staying in a B&B, but visiting a place by water is always a different experience. It’s a busy harbour with many competing yacht clubs and marinas (each really just a pontoon with a sign) so we decided to head to the Agip fuel dock to top up our diesel and proceed from there. In the end we didn’t proceed far as the fuel dock runs an adjoining dock and they offered us a reasonable deal for three days. We were right next to the rowing club so morning coffee was taken on deck watching teams of extremely fit young people negotiating their craft between yachts, fishing boats, tour boats and various other obstacles. They would certainly take medals for a rowing steeplechase!

Crowded marina in Palermo

Rowers in the harbour

 

Most of our time in Palermo seemed to be spent shopping – or rather, wandering the narrow alleyways trying to track down slightly obscure items: a certain type of clip for the fenders, Hercules pegs (the big curved ones that don’t break or let stuff blow overboard), upholstery cleaner, beef stock cubes, Greek yoghurt, a flagstaff ...       We discovered some of the more ‘alternative’ parts of the dignified city we saw on the first visit, and it was fun using ‘un poco Italiano’, ‘a leetle English’, amusing mimes and Google to identify and purchase our things. Our local bar was the ‘Beachfront Bar’ – literally on the beach – dominated by a huge art installation resembling the prow of a ship which veered around with shifts in the wind. The bar, and indeed just about anywhere in Palermo, is a great place to watch the passing parade – Sicilian life seems to be played out with drama and high style, and very much in public!

On the way to the Beachfront Bar, sculpture in the background

Palermo graffiti

 

But now it was time to move on, a little further east before crossing to the Aeolian Islands. From the Cruising Guide, Cefalu looked like a promising spot, and it turned out to be very pleasant – we had no idea it was Sicily’s second most popular holiday destination, after Taormina. You can see why. The coast is ruggedly beautiful with ‘La Rocca’ towering over all (and guess what’s on top of the rock? Yep, a castle courtesy of our old friend Roger the Norman!

Cefalu from the water

 

Views on the walk to town

Temple of Diana, halfway up the 'hill'

 

Look closely - this is someone's back garden, overlooking the sea

 

Roger was here

It’s an old fishing village transforming itself into a tourist resort: relics of the past alongside restaurants and boutiques, but in a way that feels authentically Sicilian (ie a bit chaotic and haphazard but lively and interesting!)

The harbour is on one side of the promontory and the town on the other, so it is a bit of a walk, but there are awesome views of the sea below and the Aeolian Islands, not to mention ‘La Rocca” towering overhead. Terry managed to make it to the top, securing another Geocache for the collection, but I only got as far as the ancient Temple of Diana about halfway up. It is a beautiful, peaceful spot to rest, take in the views and commune with the old gods of the Med for a while. Swimming is a weird sensation here as cold fresh water flowing from mountain springs forms a top layer of about ten centimetres, while under that the water is salty and warm, perhaps even heated by volcanic activity.

We enjoyed a Last Supper in Sicily at a very nice restaurant /enoteca called  Trinacria (after the three-legged symbol of Sicily) watching the pink and gold sunset over the islands, before heading back to prepare ‘Common Sense‘ for the passage past the volcanic peaks of the Aeolians to the Italian mainland.

 

 

 

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

Favignana

Favignana is the main island of the Egadi group that lies just off the west coast of Sicily. Its symbol is a butterfly, as that is supposed to be the island’s shape (it’s more like a ragged bat). The narrow middle section is only about a kilometre across – we are anchored in a lovely bay on the south side next to Punto Longo, and the main harbour is across on the north. The east wing is flat, while the west wing rises in a 300+ metre limestone mountain, topped by an  Aragonese fort. It’s so steep and high that it creates its own mini weather system and the fort is often shrouded eerily in cloud.

Common Sense at anchor under Santa Caterina

We spent most of our first day recovering from the overnight passage from Licata – it’s lovely to be rocked to sleep by the swell again. I had my first swim of the season, hopping in to check the anchor, then hopping out of the FREEZING water again as quickly as possible. After that a flotilla of pinkish-brown stinging jellies came along so I had a good excuse to stay out! The bay filled up with trip boats and charters during the day, but only two other yachts remained overnight.

Isola Levanzo in the background

 

Next morning we were delighted to see Sarah Grace arriving and Anne and Gordon welcomed us aboard for a cuppa. Then we all tootled off in our dinghy to the shore and set out to explore Favignana and to find its three geocaches (none, thankfully, were up on the mountain). We covered about 12 kilometres and discovered some beautiful bays along the way, interspersed with hundreds of disused quarries. Along with tuna fishing, cutting limestone (tufa) blocks must have sustained many island families in the past. The old quarries have weathered into picturesque columns and chasms, overgrown with caper bushes in flower. Some have even been converted into beautiful productive gardens, with olive and pomegranate trees, grape vines and citrus. Terry and Gordon located all three geocaches, and we arrived back at the boats only a little the worse for wear.

Geocachers

Quarry garden

Next day was pretty much a rest and repair day, with only one near disaster when I tried to pump up the dinghy and managed to pump most of the air out of it. While I was sitting in it on the water. For a reasonably smart person, I’m sometimes amazed by what a dickhead I can be. Anyway, we managed the 50 metres over to Sarah Grace in our very squashy craft, and enjoyed watching Sunshine on Leith with Anne and Gordon, a cultural exchange for introducing them to The Castle last week. They left for Sardinia early next morning. It was a real treat to spend some time with our friends from Finike – they are great company, very experienced cruisers and have a wealth of knowledge about history, the natural world, books and much else - I hope we’ll meet up again along the way.

Harvesting capers

We decided on an extra day or two here to see the town and get a few supplies. Just around the point we discovered a little harbour full of cute fishing boats and the day was perfect for a stroll across the waist of the island to Favignana town. Plenty of quite up-market small villas suggest a thriving tourist industry. From the people strolling the town centre and enjoying the many restaurants, the tourists appeared to be mainly good-looking young Italians. Cycling seems to be the preferred mode of transport on this relaxed island and every villa has a fleet of bicycles, which transport the beautiful people to their choice of bars and beaches. Even so, it isn’t expensive – for 45 euro we enjoyed a meal for two of fresh local tuna steaks, tomato salad, chips, bread, wine and coffee – totally delicious.

Fishing boat harbour

Tuna steaks for lunch

Today we took another short trip into town and now we’re planning the next run – just a short passage over to Trapani to see the sights and hopefully take a cable car up to the old mountain town of Erice.

Remnants of the tuna trade - old factory with anchors in the foreground