Day 6 4 10 Somewhere in Sicily

Leaving Erice and driving down the mountain, we marveled at the uniqueness of Erice and the great scenic views. We headed towards the town of Marsala. We stopped to visit a Phoenician island called Mozia We took a short boat ride to the island. This is a great place to visit if you are an archeologist (one of which recommended it to us). Near the boat pier all along the coast were “salinas” (salt pans) that have been producing salt since the 12^th century. From there we drove thru Marsala to Agrigento and the famous Valley of Temples, five Doric temples from around 400 BC. They are amazingly well preserved and make for a spectacular view. We decided to spend the night at an agrotourism farm near Agrigento rather than in the city so we drove small country roads to get there. The Sicilian countryside is beautiful. Hills an valleys all green containing vineyards, olives, oranges, etc. On the way to our agratourism farm we could see the city of Naro. Perched on a hilltop and golden-colored, it looked absolutely beautiful. However, when we visited it, it wasn’t quite as pretty. It had an amazing location, steep picturesque narrow streets, fantastic baroque architecture, but all of it was pretty run down, many buildings empty, out of its 10 or 12 churches, only one was open (many were covered with scaffolding so hopefully they were being renovated). On our walk through the city, we saw very few young people, but instead several groups of old men congregating in/in front of bars and some other strange looking establishments.

We got back to the farm, which has lovely old stone buildings converted to guest rooms and a dining room. It’s a working farm that grows eating grapes, olives, lemons and also has a big area of solar panels. Our young host, farmer Santo prepared a huge dinner for us – antipasti, pasta with home-made ricotta and vegetables and when we were absolutely full, be brought a plate of grilled sausages and a bowls of salad. The food was delicious, but now our stomachs are working overtime to digest it.