Maybe there's something in the water in Trapani but not only was Gabriella at the marina very helpful and wanting to explain everything about her town but we also found a young lady at the tourist office who was really keen to answer and expand on the things to see. She recommended a pizza place but said you had to book so we went there on our way back to the boat and got what looked from his notes like one of the last tables.
So at 19.30 that evening we were sat in an unusal pizza place, seemingly formed out of the small rooms in the old building with narrow corridors between rooms, white tiles up to shoulder level, everything above painted white and Arabic/Moorish style window gaps high in the walls. We were clearly the only non-locals as the other diners were mostly families with small children or groups of locals meeting for a pizza. The pizzas were very good, slightly thicker base than in Sardinia and very filling, even Chris couldn't eat all his - what's the Italian for 'doggy bag'? Strangely you didn't get a knife, only a fork and each pizza was pre sliced into small 2cm chunks by a guy with a curved blade he rolled across the pizza. It was a fun experience and we recommend a visit to Calvino on via Nunzio Nasi but wander by and book beforehand, there was a queue and people being turned away when we left.
main street Trapani
Our walks around Trapani showed us a town that has been nicely developed in the central areas where the old properties and pedestrian streets are attractive and well maintained. It's pleasant to walk around and has mostly local businesses as opposed to chains, we had coffee in a friendly café and admired the buildings. Once you leave the centre however it's a different story and the rest of the town around the port, including the marina area is very run down. Many of the business premises are closed, there was a disused school next to our marina and the rest of the town is struggling somewhat. Even so the people we met were very cheerful and it is certainly an interesting stop on the journey.
Splice moored 'bows in' with fenders!
Mooring Splice 'bows to' was a new experience for us especially as the quay in front was high and the fetch behind us was long, potentially allowing any southerly wind to kick up waves big enough to push us forward. The forecast was for a few days of northerlies but you never know so Chris rigged up some of our fenders to protect Splice's bow in the event of a push from behind. Each pair was slung from a line and further lines ran back from the ends to keep them aligned. Luckily they were not needed but they stayed in place as we bounced in the wash of departing fishing boats and ferries so we would use the technique again.
Trapani port and the off-lying islands from Erice
On Monday we set off to visit Erice which is the old town on the hill above Trapani. You are supposed to be able to catch a bus there which we thought would be interesting but after waiting 40 minutes or so gave up and caught the town bus to the cable-car station. The ride up in the 6 person gondola was interesting as the views of the town spread out below us and Erice itself is very attractive and not too given over to touristy stuff. We wandered about and, despite the urgings of Gabriella, declined to pay to visit any of the multiple churches. Why so many? Gabriella informed us that when the Christians arrived they were very keen to stop the established religions (which included 'sacred prostitution' with the local priestesses providing services to the passing sailors!) so knocked down the temples and built as many churches as they could fit in. These days of course maintaining them is very costly and only some are open to raise funds for the rest, we're a bit 'churched out' after the last few years so gave that a miss.
The square in Erice where we had lunch
We had a good but somewhat confused lunch in a small restaurant. The chips arrived first, followed later by the salads they were supposed to accompany and the starter of cold meats and cheeses was delivered last! Oh well, it tasted good. Cobbled streets and narrow roads with great views all around the town from its hill top make Erice a good place to visit and, at this time of year it wasn't crowded.
We then sought out the 'pasticceria' recommended by Gabriella that is run by nuns and makes pastries to time-honoured secret recipes. We found it tucked around the back of the town and it was fun 'chatting' to the nuns in sign language whilst buying some of their 'Genoese' pastries which are supposedly the best kept secret. The name comes from the cake imitating the hats of the Genoese sailors of olden times. You can buy them elsewhere in Erice but not made with the secret recipe! At 1 Euro each they weren't going to break the bank so we bought four. When we had them with a cup of tea later they were very pleasant, we had the other two the next day but we probably wouldn't return up the hill just for more. Worth going to find this though as the nuns were very cheery.
Genovese pastries
Regular readers of this blog (are there any?) will have noticed the addition of more than one photo in this attempt for the first time. Credit to the 'via email' coaching from Caroline on 'Flirtie' we have managed to work out the complexities of this and have a new skill. More photos in future!
Main Photo : The main church in Erice