Sicily, Italy

Marinella de Selinunte, Sicily

Thunder and lightning greeted our morning. We thought Ray was going to have to walk to the car under an umbrella and bring it back to the B&B so our luggage wouldn’t get soaked rolling the bags to the car. Luckily the storm passed and the rest of the morning was blue skies and pleasant temperatures.

We said our good-byes to our host Angelo, walked to the car and drove off, trying to follow the GPS instructions. We took a wrong turn out of Trapani to a secondary coastal road right through the salt ponds with piles of salt drying by the side of the road. We had seen the salt flats on our descent from Erice but we would never have seen them close up if we hadn’t misunderstood the GPS instructions.

We were headed for Marsala the home of the sweet wine of the same name. We drove around the headland of Capo Lilibeo (or Boeo) at the tip of the town past ruins of Roman buildings (closed on Sunday) to an Enoteca, a wine store, where we sampled a sweet Marsala and a dry (semi-sweet) Marsala. The sweet is a dessert wine while the dry is for an aperitif. We bought two bottles of each to be shared with the rest of the group at the villa. I am hoping one of our cooks wants to make Chicken Marsala with the dry version.

It was too early for lunch so we continued along the coastal road to Mazara del Vallo where the Rough Guide recommended a restaurant along the beach promenade, Lungomare Mazzini. It was noon but the restaurant of our choice didn’t open until 1 PM, so we had time to walk through the old part of town. Church was just getting out and family groups thronged the pedestrian mall streets, window shopping as most stores were closed. There is a move afoot in town to highlight the ancient buildings by decorating one narrow street leading past several churches with hand painted ceramic tiles depicting historical events. Large painted tiles adorned a few corners of significance. One ruin, a miniature Pantheon without the decorations under a long ago disappeared dome roof was identified as the first meeting place of the city. It is at the beginning of extensive renovations, which if completed will make a handsome building.

We presented ourselves at the restaurant at 1 PM, just before several large family groups gathered for celebrations of birthdays or maybe an anniversary. We shared a tasty meal of fish cous cous and a generous portion of salad with meat, olives and other vegetables. We have found that we cannot eat large portions of multi course dinners, so we order two or three dishes and share them. It works for us.

From Mazzara the road paralleled the major highway through vast olive groves and vineyards that were harvested last month. The road was straight and quiet, with just a few hills, just perfect for cyclists. Soon we were in Marinella di Selinunte and at our B&B Demetra Malophoros. So far we are the only guests. The storms reached Selinunte once more about 6 PM. We hadn’t planned to go to dinner until 7:30 PM, by which time the rains had stopped and we were able to walk to the recommended restaurant. The busy summer season is over for Selinunte and most of the homes in the area appear to be shuttered and empty. We were the only customers for the evening meal at Fresco Mare where we shared bruschetta, an excellent antipasto selection, grilled fish and vegetables and Tiramasu for dessert. We are not going hungry.