Monday 1st March
Agrigento to Trapani
What a day! The plan was to get from Agrigento to Trapani which is only about 70 miles as the crow flies, but there are no direct routes by public transport. We were trying to avoid Palermo as the whole city was shutting down for the day. A top lawyer had been murdered last week and his funeral is today. Everyone is so fed up with crime that they were marching in sympathy for his family. Anyway to cut a long story short, we were meant to take the train there as it is not possible to bicycle, but the lines were closed for repair work. Trenitalia replacement buses don’t take bikes so we were told to book on a bus with the local bus company which we did.
That done we set off for a look at the convent and it’s museum and the amazing ‘stucco’ church. The museum was quite interesting but the church was unbelievable. Sadly years of neglect meant that quite a lot of the stucco had fallen off (un-stuck-oed), the ceiling was badly damaged by water ingress and the paintings blackened by damp and damaged. Nevertheless we have never seen such ornate decoration and such a good example of workmanship.
Agrigento to Trapani
What a day! The plan was to get from Agrigento to Trapani which is only about 70 miles as the crow flies, but there are no direct routes by public transport. We were trying to avoid Palermo as the whole city was shutting down for the day. A top lawyer had been murdered last week and his funeral is today. Everyone is so fed up with crime that they were marching in sympathy for his family. Anyway to cut a long story short, we were meant to take the train there as it is not possible to bicycle, but the lines were closed for repair work. Trenitalia replacement buses don’t take bikes so we were told to book on a bus with the local bus company which we did.
That done we set off for a look at the convent and it’s museum and the amazing ‘stucco’ church. The museum was quite interesting but the church was unbelievable. Sadly years of neglect meant that quite a lot of the stucco had fallen off (un-stuck-oed), the ceiling was badly damaged by water ingress and the paintings blackened by damp and damaged. Nevertheless we have never seen such ornate decoration and such a good example of workmanship.
So back to the bus - and the driver refused to let us on (do we look that bad!). Next problem we had to fight for a refund. By this time it was 2.30 in the afternoon and we hadn’t even started. So back to the station where we saw the ‘relief bus’ (who don’t take bikes). However, desperate times etc we approached the driver in truly grovel-y mode and to our amazement the driver said ‘fine – no problem’ so we had two minutes to collect our kit or he was off without us. Once again the Guardian angel had stepped in. 50 miles on we were deposited on about the highest point of Sicily (perfectly beautiful but very remote) and at the mercy of another train driver, who didn’t want the bikes either. Luckily our friendly bus driver prevailed upon him and we were allowed on. We arrived in Palermo just in time to take the train on to Trapani, to be told that someone had fallen in front of that train (did he jump or was he pushed) and it wouldn’t be going! Having booked in to a b and b in Trapani we really did want to get there so off we went to the bus station. A black cat had crossed our path a bit earlier and it worked as this nice driver let us load the bikes in the hold of the bus and 2 hours later we were in Trapani. It was 9pm and we were exhausted. Our land lady was charm itself, gave us a glass of Marsala (a town about 10 miles to the south) and things began to look a whole lot better.
She sent us out for supper to a fish restaurant around the corner, where we ate the much renowned Cuscus al Pesce, which is a most delicious local take on couscous with king prawns, calamari, garlic, tomatoes, spices and very good fish sauce to spoon over if wanted. The prawns and Calamari were some of the best ever tasted - you could eat the whole prawn, the shell was crunchy and very tasty - We like Trapani!
She sent us out for supper to a fish restaurant around the corner, where we ate the much renowned Cuscus al Pesce, which is a most delicious local take on couscous with king prawns, calamari, garlic, tomatoes, spices and very good fish sauce to spoon over if wanted. The prawns and Calamari were some of the best ever tasted - you could eat the whole prawn, the shell was crunchy and very tasty - We like Trapani!
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