We just got home from an overnight trip to the west side of Sicily. We left yesterday afternoon around 14:30 and arrived in Trapani at 17:30 (5:30 pm.) I typed in the address for the apartment and the Garmin took us via A19 to Palermo and A29 to Trapani.
The residence was a little tricky to find. There's a small clear plastic sign on the side of the wall next to a plain brown door. No big signs or even an address plate - you just have to look for the little sign. It borders Piazza Umberto so it's not too difficult to locate. It's one of those doors on the side of the building across the piazza from the train station - so if you park in the piazza and wander around for a few minutes, you'll find it. Ring the bell and give the old man, Sasa, a few minutes to buzz you in.
We got settled and then went across the street for dinner. I don't remember the name, but it was just a block away. Good spaghetti carbonara.
The next morning we drove to Erice - about a thirty minute drive straight up. The town is on top of a huge cliff which overlooks the western coast of Sicily. Amazing views and lots of old stuff to see - including castels and cathedrals (in the Mediterranean, imagine that!) We walked around town, had lunch in a little cafe and then got back on the road.
From there, we took the autostrada south to Silanunte (sp?) A small town on the southwest coast with a large archaeological preserve. There's at least five large temples - about the size of the one's in Agrigento - that are all very well preserved. It was €6 each for the adults and free for the boys (ages 10 and 12.) We walked around for about an hour and a half. You can drive through a portion of the preserve to the acropolis. There, we met a man named Egisto, who showed us a few things about the area and offered to give us a tour if we ever came back. He said he also used to sing in the opera in Catania.
We got back on the road just before dusk and headed home. Stopped east of Agrigento for some dinner (they looked at us like we were crazy when we wanted to eat dinner at 19:00! The trip took two whole days, but was well worth it. We've been telling ourselves we were going to to visit the west side of the island, and the three-day weekend was the perfect opportunity.
Bud
