Before the cruise, I reserved a tour of the Greek temples found at Selinunte near Trapani, Sicily. Unfortunately, I was one of the few people who wanted to see Greek ruins in Italy so the excursion was cancelled. Erice (Eh-ree-che) was my second choice and the tour that Mr. McB had booked, so I booked this excursion the day we left Barcelona.

We docked in Trapani, on Sicily’s west coast, around 8 a.m.

Trapani’s original name was Drepanon from the Greek word for sickle because of its shape. There are two mythological stories behind the sickle shape. The first states that Trapani was created when the goddess Demeter dropped a sickle when she was looking for her daughter Persephone who was stolen by Hades and taken to the underworld. The second story states that the city was created when Saturn (or Cronus) castrated his father Uranus and threw his bits and the sickle into the sea.

Shortly after arriving, we were on a bus and headed up to Erice. There is an option to take a cable car (or funivia) from Trapani to Erice but that tour was more expensive and Mr. McB isn’t really a big fan of cable cars. It seemed silly to pay more for what might have been a terrifying experience.

Erice sits 750 meters above Trapani. It was settled by the Elymians. It is thought that refugees from the ancient city of Troy may have moved here. It was later controlled by the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Arabs, and Normans. The town is very well preserved and offers glimpses of both village life and the Medieval world.

This is a road to Erice; if motion sickness is a problem, you might want to close your eyes and think about that cable car option. As we climbed toward the town, we saw clouds and rain rolling in. Thankfully, our first stop was inside the duomo.

Sitting on the site of a former temple to Venus, the duomo or Chiesa Matrice (main church, there are 60 churches in Erice so it’s an important distinction) was created using building materials from the old temple. The church was constructed around 1314.

The church is dedicated to the assumption of the Virgin Mary. It’s plain, stone exterior gives way to intricate and beautiful patterns on the ceiling of the church.

The church has some silver pieces, decorative ceremonial robes, and relics. For a brief moment, I was afraid that they might have some of the mummified remains that are popular in other parts of the Sicily. It turned out that there was a large crucifix, and not a body, wrapped in this covering.

After touring the church, we walked through the town and toward the Norman castle. Erice’s steep streets are made of well-worn cobblestones. I cannot tell you how important it is to wear comfortable shoes with good tread. You should also watch out for dog droppings. They are plentiful.

The rain and fog came and went during the walk. It made the town seem very quiet and isolated. It also made Erice’s maze of streets even more confusing.  One minute a corner was shrouded in fog and the next the sun was shining brightly. You had to look for landmarks and details to make sure you were headed in the right direction. It’s a lovely spot to get a little lost but if you have anxiety about getting turned around, I would recommend sticking to the main streets and making note of their names.

The clouds and mist created some interesting photos. You can see a low hanging cloud covering Monte Cofano in the second shot. You’ll see a clear view of the mountain later.

From our perch at the top of the town, we could see Marsala which is home to the famous wine. Marsala is an Arabic name meaning port of god (Mars – Allah). The wine came to fame when Englishman James Ingram brought it in to England as a substitute for the Madeira wine which was popular but unavailable to the English due to troubles with the Spanish. I can only assume they were blocking the trade route since Madeira is a Portuguese wine. 

We could also see Trapani’s salt pans. Salt allowed meat to be cured and was very important in the ancient world. Roman soldiers were paid in salt and thus we have the word “salary” coming from the Latin for salt.

Sea salt, especially that coming from Trapani, is said to be better for you. It has a stronger flavor allowing you to use less. It is also said to be richer in other minerals.

Another shot of the castle’s tower as the sun chased the fog away.

This gives you an idea of how narrow the streets of Erice were during Medieval times. This was thought to deter crime. Narrow, winding streets also made it difficult for an invading army to approach the town without being detected.

This is San Giuliano or St. Julian who was given credit for the victory over the Muslims who had conquered the citadel. The church here was built in 1076 at the request of Roger the Norman. It was one of the first churches in Erice.

Erice has many fine ceramic workshops. Here you see the trinacria, the symbol of Sicily. The three legs represent the island’s triangular shape. The face in the center belongs to Medusa and is supposed to keep away evil spirits. It is also said that drops of Medusa’s blood became the red coral that grows off the shores of Sicily. It is considered to protect the wearer.

Mr. McB and I split up for independent exploration but met back up in time to enjoy arancini spinaci or a spinach rice ball before walking toward the bus.

After getting back on the bus, we drove down the winding road and back to Trapani.

From the bus we were able to see Monte Cofano, a limestone mountain that is designated as a nature preserve. This was a stunning view of the mountain jutting out into the Tyrrhenian Sea. It was perfect and surreal.

The clouds continued to change positions and create different shadows as we continued our descent from Erice.

We returned to Trapani just before siesta. If we had made it into the cathedral, we would have only had about 15 minutes.I wasn’t interested in rushing so we decided against it. We were able to see the church’s decorative gates.

After studying the gates, we took a  walk to the other side of the island away from the port. The town is only a few blocks wide at this point.

This side of the island stinks. The beach is full of trash and some matted seaweed or algae and the whole thing reeks of decay. We were there during the off season so I’m sure the whole thing is well maintained during the summer. We turned away from this and headed into the town’s historical center.

This is the Corso Vittorio Emanuele. At the end of the street,  you will find the building used as Trapani’s town hall.

On the lower balcony you can see Trapani’s coat of arms on the maroon flag, the trinacria on the Sicilian flag in the center and the EU flag flying at the Palazzo Cavarretta. The Italian flag is displayed at the top of the building.

We also strolled through the park and gardens at the Villa Regina Margherita.

There were crews cutting the palms in the park.
This shot shows a before-and-after comparison.

Triton’s Fountain near the park

These little cats were waiting to be fed. There was a little lady in the home who lowered the trays of cat food and water down to her hungry customers.

This is the Fountain of Saturn, the city’s mythical protector and candidate for worst son of all time. It is located near the Church of Saint Augustine.

This is the Chiesa del Purgatorio and is dedicated to the holy souls in purgatory. Inside there are large figures representing the Passion of Christ. These are part of a parade on Good Friday. Again, we arrived during siesta so we missed the chance to see these figures.

We returned to the ship and enjoyed some time on our veranda. Small ferries and other vessels came and went while we were docked. It was surprising to see row boats mixed in to this traffic. The larger crafts left a wake so I was quite impressed by the rowers’ ability to keep their tiny boats upright.

That is some outstanding rowing.

As was our custom, we watched the tug and pilot boats lead us out to sea. This pilot boat reminded me of a bathtub toy that I had as a little girl.

This evening we had a reservation at Toscana, the Italian restaurant. I got this shot of sparks flying out into the dark night sky as we walked to dinner.

We were both pretty hungry since that rice ball was very good but not the most substantial of meals and by now, our bellies were used to cruise eating. Look at this bread basket. My favorite roll there is a type of brioche with a cherry tomato and onion baked right into the bottom. They also serve these rolls at the buffet restaurant so they were there to tempt me all the time.

M’s angel hair pasta appetizer
The handmade pasta is accompanied by a delicate sauce that adds flavor without overwhelming the pasta’s texture or taste.

My delightful calamari

M’s spinach and ricotta tortellini
This was also a starter. His main course was the Alfredo chicken.

I had the filet with Gorgonzola, grilled polenta and red wine sauce.

This was my chocolate lasagna in a pistachio sauce. See the shiny layer of chocolate just under the crunchy decorative chocolate? That was very rich chocolate with the consistency of pudding skin or fruit roll-up. I did not love this dessert but I am glad I tried it. M continued his exploration of the various creme brulee options and declared this to be the best thus far.

Before I post about my time in Palermo and Monreale, look for a post about some of the tiny details that didn’t make it into this description of our stop.