The young people are leaving in large numbers for better lives elsewhere. With the ease of working anywhere in the EU they find better jobs on the Italian mainland, Spain, London and elsewhere. Not that life here is poor and I must say the general standard is much higher than I had envisaged, but it is moving to the big smoke syndrome.
We checked out of the hotels and drove on to Trapani, a city we were somewhat questioning going to. However it is an amazingly beautiful city. After entering my hotel in the GPS it showed that the street in which the hotel was located was not navigable by road so I phoned the hotel. First problem was that there was a plumbing problem in one of the rooms I had booked and would it be OK to move us into a two bedroom apartment - alarm bells ring in my head - but all was good and the hotel was great and in an excellent part of the city. "Yes not problem driving to the hotel" hmmm BS. After 20 minutes circling the hotel we leave the car and walk the rest of the way.
We check in and go to a restaurant downstairs where we have a superb meal and discover we are at Tripadviser's number two (of 60) restaurant in Trapani. The owner of the restuarant is (Italian) charming explaining that his business has been affected by the NATO bombing of Libya as NATO have taken half the capacity of the Trapani Airport being only 545kms from Libya thereby reducing inbound tourism. In general though tourism has been declining he notes.
Off to move the car and drive to nearby Erice a Medieval village perched 750 metres in the air. http://tinyurl.com/42wqua6
Driving there the temperature drops 5 or 6 degrees to 19 and we are shrouded in fog driving hairpin bend after bend. Anyway we arrive safely and this is a town of 10 churches and tourist shops all rather well integrated into the historical town that it is.
There is a Pasticerria Maria Grammatico (cake shop) there which is superb Have a look at the Marzipans.
http://www.pbase.com/wabarletta/green&page=2
http://www.pbase.com/wabarletta/erice&page=11
We of course participated before we momentarily lost the car finding it outside a church where a wedding was taking place.
Back down through the mountain, fog and hairpin bends we drive along the ocean road looking at the beaches and resort areas. We get back around 18:00 and walk around the historical part of Trapani before a light meal and bed.
We are now 9 days into our holiday and Sydney seems such a far away place and memory having taken in so much history, holiday, sights, people, food and atmosphere. Unbelievabley I have hardly bought anything but there is a lovely leather store below our hotel which I may return to if time permits. Meals are incredibly cheap by Sydney standards with fine dining costing around $A50-$60 max and two coffees, a freshly squeezed orange juice and a pastry costing less than $8. I think people's preconceptions of Europe being expensive is very ill-founded as I havent found anything I would regard as being more expensive than Sydney.
Today we continue in and around Trapani and then head towards Palermo for three days. I believe that I need to be cautious there perhaps not be as willing as we have been so far to walk down empty back lanes - we'll see.
Anyway hope all are well
XD.
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