The western coast of Sicily has long been an area of salt production and today's first stop was to a small harbor in Marsala to see an area of salt pans and the windmills used to process salt from the sea. In the distance, we could see white mounds of the collected harvest.
There comes a moment in every Italian road trip when it's necessary to acknowledge that motor scooters are the only appropriate vehicles for certain streets. This trip's moment arrived en route to the salt pans when the narrow road we were traveling narrowed further and made a 90-degree turn between two buildings, something our full-size Volvo was definitely not made for. With much backing and forth-ing, Tom was able to angle the car through, with about two inches clearance on one side and three on the other. We're trying to find an option to specify minimum road width in the settings of our GPS; it's either that or mounting our suitcases on a pair of Vespas!
We revised today's original destination when our "shortcut" took us within a few miles of the Greek temple at Segesta, which we had already planned to visit on this trip, so the shortcut became a detour. The temple, all 36 columns and pediments, stands alone atop a hill, surrounded by green mountains and rocky outcroppings. Unlike the ruins at Selinunte, there are no piles of rubble here; the 5th century BC temple is preserved as it was left, roofless, columns unfluted, and absolutely splendid; sitting among a profusion of wildflowers, it was simply glorious.
Among the visitors taking it all in this morning was a group of mostly middle-aged New Age folks, some of whom appeared to be in a trance, others meditating, striking poses, wearing crystals, or performing ritual hand gestures over each other, as incense wafted and a repetitive drumbeat sounded. Whoo hoo hoo...
Though the temple stands alone, the archaeological park also includes a Greek theater and agora, high on neighboring Mount Barbaro. We took the shuttle us up the mountain to see the theater, beautifully situated, with views of the surrounding green hills, vineyards, mountains, the sea and back to the temple itself -- fantastic! We walked down the mountain so we could enjoy the views and capture them with Tom's camera.
On our way back to Marsala, we stopped at Trapani and walked the narrow pedestrian streets of its old quarter and saw a bit of its port, once a busy trading center between Africa and Venice.
South along the coast, we stopped to see more salt ponds and windmills, before returning to Marsala.
We walked to a restaurant in the centro storico for local specialties -- pasta with sardines and couscous with fish and seafood.
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