The route we chose is highlighted, one of three the iPad suggested.
Above, satellite views of our temporary base Castellammare del Golfo and of Erice, which is a village perched on a mountain top. Thanks, Google Earth.
From Castellammare del Golfo the road climbed steeply until we reached a substantial layby which offered views of the town below, and also, would you believe, some stalls selling knick knacks.
Looking down on Castellammare del Golfo
And another. That's a beautiful sailing boat, eh?
Nino Anselmo, local artisan, was selling his pottery at the layby and Mary bought a small bowl from him.
Continuing our journey, we passed through mountains and plains, a few villages and a huge marble quarry to the north, where we could clearly see the quarrying operations. Several large trucks carrying enormous blocks of marble shared the road with us.
As we neared our destination we could clearly see the turrets of the castles of Erice silhouetted at the top of the mountain on which the village is perched, the location clearly selected for defence, not for convenience of access. Having already experienced a few hairy mountain passes we were mentally prepared for a white knuckle ride on a skinny serpentine road with no guard rails. To our pleasant surprise, however, the road up the mountain was two lanes wide, with guard rails, and a very good bitumen surface; even better, traffic was light in both directions.
The serpentine route up the mountain.
The car parking situation on the day was unknown, although we were aware that car parking is permitted. In the event, there were plenty of spaces, this being the low season, and right on the very edge of the town.
Mary posing before the ancient entrance gate. Not many tourists, eh?
Lunch, consisting of two ham and tomato rolls and some fruit, was in our backpack, prepared by Mary earlier back at our apartment. We were pretty sure we'd be able to find a nice place to picnic up here on the mountain, so set out with lunch in mind and found the perfect spot, in the shade, a castellated viewpoint with marble seats and a marble table. Nearby a local played an accordion and sang as his horse, dressed in finery but harnessed to a decorated wooden cart, stood listlessly in the brilliant sunshine. Although this was clearly an attempt at parting tourists from their money we didn't mind as the music and singing was pleasant and there were few tourists around so we were happy to throw some coins into the hat placed on the ground for that purpose.
View from lunch spot
Here we are. Pic taken by a young French guy with my camera.
The castle, probably impregnable in olden days.
Greenery indicating there's a water supply nearby.
Mary has the place to herself.
So do I.
Unexpected shady trees up there.
With lunch out of the way, I suggested that Mary could amble down back to the main gate at her own pace while I went quickly down to the car park and put more money into the parking machine, to extend our stay. As we both found, navigation in the alleyways of the main town was difficult and Mary in particular spent an anxious half hour or so wondering if she could find her way out of the maze although she had managed to find and enter several shops along the way. But we'd agreed to meet back at the main gate eventually if we didn't come across each other in the meantime and that is what happened.
By now we were feeling like putting our feet up so headed back home on the reverse of our earlier route where a couple of cold beers from our fridge followed by a glass or two of chilled rosé at the appropriate time of the evening, set us up for dinner at a restaurant just around the corner.
For Thursday we intend to visit the nearby 2000 year old amphitheatre and temple at Segesta, as long as it's not too hot.
Thanks for reading
Kev Long
Author iPad Traveller for iPad and Mac.
The technical stuff:
Our iPad is connecting to the Internet mainly through a cellular connection provided (prepaid) by the UK "3" network, including in Italy. On high ground and in town environments around Cornwall this connection proved quite good but many places, especially in valleys and in small coastal localities lack coverage so no or poor connection. So far, in Sicily, the connection has been good. There are quite a few WiFi options available although not always advertised. Just ask if you're unsure if available. WiFi is of course the preferred method of transferring large amounts of data but I have been posting these blogs and their images sometimes using only a cellular connection either from inside our apartment where possible or on the roadside.
The cellular connection gives us both in car and on foot navigation capabilities which are essential around Sicily, where mere printed maps struggle to provide sufficient detail at a manageable size.
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