October 30 - Trapani

 After our cable car ride down the mountain from Erice, we drove to the waterfront of Trapani and its old town.  Since it was close to 2pm we found the nearest restaurant - the restaurants usually close around 3pm after lunch.  I used my phone camera and Google Translate to get the English version of the menu.  This can be very misleading.  The dish I choose was chicken with vegetables.  I have finally come to realize that the meat course is served with a quarter lemon and a small pile of lettuce.  That is what is meant by vegetable.  Fortunately Michael had ordered the mixed fried fish which came with fries and a salad.  The salad was humongous - more than enough for two.  The fries were a sorry substitute for the chips we had in San Vito Lo Capo, but they were filling.

The walk in the streets of Erice had been very tiring.  But after being fed we had enough energy to explore Trapani.  There were some older buildings - mostly churches - but to us, most of the buildings look 19th century.

A view through a city gate.

                                                                  A memorial outside the gate.

                                                    Views from the other side of the gate.

                                            And a view back inside the city through the gate.

                                                And where else would you park your boat?

                   One of Michael's favorite thing to photograph is laundry - this is my ode to him!

        In the area along the seaside there was a section of these trees.  I have no idea what they are.

 Just to prove that we are actually by the sea - a couple of views for you.  I think those are both ferries.  We watched some cars getting loaded onto a ferry just a short ways from here.

Our lunch restaurant.

October 30 - Erice

 Today we are visiting the twin towns of Erice and Trapani.  The mountain town of Erice was settled first, Trapani was developed later as the port for Erice.  Eventually Trapani succeeded on its own and left Erice back in the Medieval times.  You can drive up to Erice or take the cable car from Trapani - we chose to do the later.

         The cable cars go very slowly around this semi-circle - so it is easy to get on and off.

                            A view of the cows half way up the mountain munching on grass.

                                                            Entering the gate into Erice.

                                       Views from the top of the mountain to farmland below.

                                                A view of the salt marshes below in Trapani.

                                           And what is an Italian city without a Gelato shop? 

                                                              A reflection of Michael.

        The streets in Erice are very steep and narrow.  This street was lined with restaurants.

Most of the pictures and designs on the walls were of Christian influence.  I am not sure about this one, but I liked it.

                   There were 3 cases like this one, filled with goodies at the Pasticceria Maria.

                                                    Another Quaint sign for a restaurant.

There are some of these ceramic heads in our rental.  Not sure what the significance is - but they are all over.

                                        More of the ceramic heads on top of a restaurant wall.

                                                 One of the more famous piazza's in Erice.  

We were trying to find the castle and took many a wrong turn.  Some of them were delightful!

                                                                 I think this is a church.

                                                  Another church - this time near the castle.

                          The views near the castle were exactly as advertised - wonderful!

                The castle.  I am not sure what the buildings below are - but they are a lot newer.

                                        A view of the church taken from around the castle.

We decided not to find the entrance and go into the castle.  It was already around 1pm and we needed to go down the cable car and then drive to the coastline of Trapani to have lunch.  But there were still views on the way back - all downhill this time.