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Day 14, 15, 16: San Vito Lo Capo

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October 1, 2, 3, 2023 : We got an early start out of Trapani this morning as we were excited to get to our last stop on the trip: San Vito Lo Capo.   My best Duran Duran look... Wow. Just wow. We arrived in town by 10am and after a brief struggle with the mapping application routing us through some narrow, one-way roads the wrong way, arrived at our hotel Mira Spiaggia. When we pulled up, we could not have been more happy and amazed at our hotel’s appearance and location right on the ocean-front. As we parked the car and headed inside, every bit of what we saw said, “Yes, this is going to be perfect ending to our trip.” We entered through the patio part of the restaurant, through a coffee/sandwich/gelato shop and into the reception area where we were pleasantly surprised to find our room ready! They parked our car for us (good riddance for 3 days!) and we headed up to the ocean-view room which was, well, amazing. After stepping out on the deck for a brief view, there was no time w...
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Day 12 & 13: Trapani (2nd/3rd nights)

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IF READING ON YOUR PHONE, TILT SIDEWAYS FOR THE BEST VIEW:) September 29, 2023 : Yay, boat day!!! Following our mediocre breakfast buffet (ah, nothing beats that farmhouse B&B so far) we headed over to our meeting point for the all day boat trip, just 15 minutes away at the marina of Trapani. No problem find it with excellent directions.  We parked the car for free (!) and met with the Egadi Tour people who were so polite and professional. Had about 20 minutes to kill so we ordered an Aperol Spritz and settled in, watching the other fellow prospective boaters and wondering who we would be stuck (ha, ha) with. There was a particularly loud, I mean confident, older woman with 3 of her friends who I thought, "please God, no..." They called our name, along with 8 other people (yes, the confident woman too!) and we boarded, ready for the beautiful waters and warm day ahead. We handed over our shoes and sat at the bow of the boat with 4 others: a man and wife from Belgium and ...
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Day 11: Trapani (1st night)

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  IF READING ON YOUR PHONE, TILT SIDEWAYS FOR THE BEST VIEW:) September 28, 2023 : It's Tom's birthday today! Happy Birthday!! 💗   **Sicilian driving tip #267: A two lane road can actually accommodate 4 cars and 2 scooters across... Our 1hr and 20 min drive was uneventful from Selinunte to Trapani. Our initial focus is always to go to the B&B/hotel/resort first to drop the bags so that nothing we've purchased might be ruined in the hot vehicle. As it turned out, our room was ready, but the first one they gave us smelled like cigarette smoke. It was no problem getting another room and this one had a partial water view, which was nice.  All in all, this resort was nice in some ways in that it had a pool as was directly on the ocean. And that is where my positive comments will end! The weather by this time of year is very much like California with low humidity and very cool nights. In fact, during the day, 80 degrees is barely warm enough with a breeze blowing! The...
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Day 10: Selinunte (2nd night)

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IF READING ON YOUR PHONE, TILT SIDEWAYS FOR THE BEST VIEW:)  September 27, 2023 : This next morning we sampled the continental breakfast buffet and I settled on a croissant filled with Nutella (big smile on my face).  Didn't want to eat too much because we had a Planeta Wine tour which included wine pairings and lunch coming up at 11! I was a little concerned about the 45 minute drive as the email and instructions repeatedly said, "only use this link for directions. Do not use Google Maps or other map applications." Hmm. Must be way off the beaten path and in Sicily...! Well we headed off and all seemed well until within 5 minutes of our apparent location out in the farmlands and vineyards, the road came to an abrupt end, dropping down into a rocky ravine. Aggghhhh! I knew it!!! I called the phone number and got an immediate response at the Planeta main facility, but between her broken English and our broken Italian it's hard to say "Where the hell are we??!...
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Day 9: Selinunte (1st night)

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IF READING ON YOUR PHONE, TILT SIDEWAYS FOR THE BEST VIEW:) September 26, 2023 : We skipped breakfast at our lovely B&B and started out around 8:45am this morning. As we drove to the property gate, we found it to be closed which we hadn't experienced before. As we went about trying to figure the opening process, I noticed a car behind us and someone signaling to us... the owner! He came up to our window and, in his broken english, said, "Do you maybe want to pay now?" Oh man! Have to keep reminding ourselves we're not in Kansas anymore and they may not necessarily be leeching off of your credit card while on premises! I actually felt bad after that because he gave us small bottle of olive oil as a parting gift and I suppose that staying with them for 3 nights might have warranted at least a goodbye... On the road now and the 2 hour drive + a couple of stops flew by. We took the northern route past Palermo and cut down to the south, dropping into Selinunte and our ...
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Day 8: Cerda (3rd night)

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  IF READING ON YOUR PHONE, TILT SIDEWAYS FOR THE BEST VIEW:) September 25, 2023 : This would be our last day in the north/central area of Sicily and we wanted to venture out of the coastal areas. I think there is a tendency when traveling in Sicily to stay along the coastal routes so seeing some inland villages sounded different and appealing.  We had another leisurely breakfast at the B&B. Our fellow travelers were all different people today. With the tables set up for pairs, there isn't much mingling in conversation with others, but there were more British travelers on this particular morning.  How to chose a central village to visit...Well, we didn't want to drive more than 1 hour south so that narrowed down the choice! We picked Castellana Sicula which was about a 45 minute drive on what turned out to be some beautiful farmland roads (see video for a short segment). As we wound down into the village and entered the streets, there was a feeling of understanding a...
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Day 7: Cerda (2nd night)

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IF READING ON YOUR PHONE, TILT SIDEWAYS FOR THE BEST VIEW:) September 24, 2023 : We got up the next morning and were 'confronted' with even more wonderful food! Continental breakfast is much more than we're used to in the United States. See the video for a full  explanation from our host! It's interesting to watch what breakfast choices the other guests at our B&B make. The Australians and British tended toward only the toasts, tomatoes and spreads, the Germans seemed to prefer the grains, cereals and some meats while we Americans preferred the gluttonous "sample everything in front of you" method.  The grounds are just gorgeous and also serve as an olive orchard with many other fruit and nut trees that support the owners and also provide the basis for all of our lovely meals.  Prickly Pear Almonds Figs Pomegranate We enjoyed walking the grounds and sampling everything that seemed to be in perfect season. Not depicted were pears, grapes and plums! This se...
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Day 6: Cerda (1st night)

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IF READING ON YOUR PHONE, TILT SIDEWAYS FOR THE BEST VIEW:) September 23, 2023 : The drive from Savoca to Cerda was about 3 hours and, thankfully, uneventful! I neglected to mention earlier that we had passed 2 wildland fires along the North coast while driving from Cefalu to Savoca. It was a warmer day and with an offshore wind, spot fires were popping up everywhere within site of the coastal towns.  Luckily our drive was taking us through the center of Sicily, away from the fires and with the opportunity for new views. This route was free of the toll roads with farms, small villages and even some ancient strongholds dotting the landscape. One beautiful old city we passed was Enna which was built on the level summit of a hill and surrounded by cliffs making it easily defensible to attack around 400BC. An impressive site to see just from the road and I look forward to exploring it! We arrive at our farmhouse B&B in the mid-afternoon: Terra Di Himera. The owners bought the dilap...
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