Yay. We snuck off our route home from Trapani to see the ancient Greek ruins at Segesta.

Yes we are still in Sicily, but among many others, the Greeks once settled here.

This is the temple. If I understood the translation correctly, they are not sure who it is to as the alter was never completed. Yip, this is an unfinished temple, giving historians an idea of the process of Temple building

The panoramic quality of this pic is possible because of my amazing new camera. ha ha yay my gift to me for when i cant leave the boat due to 'serving guests'

And up we climbed. The ticket lady was shocked that we only wanted entrance tickets (fortune strikes the spontaneous - free today due to Cultural Week) and not for the bus ride up.... "but it's a 25min hike", she stammered as we left the office.

That IS the 'Unfinished Temple' from the previous photo and we ARE only half way up at this stage. But the hike was well worth it considering what we would have missed; the cooling breeze that made it more than pleasant; and of course (Mom) the fact that ALL roads up mountains are ALWAYS windy windy windy windy (hmmm, same spelling but the curvy type, not the blowing type)

And the panoramic capabilities of my wonderful camera strike again capturing the view from the top. Wine country. Ok ok so maybe i really need to 'hit the books' because i am convinced these vineyards have to be at least borderline ancient...dont they. I mean seriously, didnt the Ancient Greeks have a thing for wine...Dionysus was a pretty powerful god and all that.

And Finally. Dum da da daahThe Amphitheatre

Considerably reconstructed but impressive nevertheless and definitely worth the hike.

After all the work they've done i hope they still use it...

yes yes yes, more research needed...

Today we took our hired car to Trapani.

(Our normal car is not allowed outside Palermo - more about her later i'm sure...she's a REAL charactor!)

We were on a mission to pick up things you just cant buy in Palermo and along the way we did a bit of exploring.

WOW what a contrast!!!!!

A little research is needed because the inevitable question swung into our minds...Why oh why can Trapani be so clean and so well looked after when Palermo is literally one big rubbish heap with buildings falling apart etc

A few solutions we came up with were:

a) The people in Trapani respect their town more and so look after it more themselves... (The Palermatin penchant for throwing anything they dont need anymore into the streets has resulted in a walk through Palermo resembling a wade through a rubbish dumb...no kidding...They eat a pastry that came in a wrapper...vooooops the wrapper is floating in the breeze...old scooter that needs scrapping...well rust away right where you are... Bins overflow to the point that 3 lane roads are reduced to 2...and thats just the rubbish that made it to the bins...)

b) Palermo being the capitol etc has attracted more people and the city just cant cope

c) The buildings are older in Palermo and so more difficult / expensive to repair (The style does seem similar. Trapani buildings just seem to have plastered fronts and less crumbling...)

d) The Palermatins want to 'preserve' the buildings in the EXACT style in which they were built

e) Dare I say it: the mafia has gone into the construction industry in a BIG way.... and has a well felt presence in Palermo...

um ok i'll do research but in the mean time, you decide

mmmmm yummy Palermo

So we saved up our food budget and splashed out...

yummmy!!!! hmm um langostine (spelling?), small lobster or big prawns...pan fried in olive oil and dipped in mayo. aaaah

Back to practising making bread.

We may not be going to Greece anymore but nothing like fresh bread for lunch to keep hungry guests happy

Um the captain decided that Saturday was the day to figure out the method for the perfect espresso. 6 espressos later and he had one

with the perfect amount of foam and strong enough

to keep the teaspoon upright

Um not so PC these days

And a lot of guilt felt in this meal BUT

This tuna steak comes from a localy fished tuna (not one caught in a giant net, spotted by a helicopter etc etc) Marinated in lemon juice and

cooked for 1 min...

Cooked to perfection!

30 sec on each side

Hot but raw.

And purchased in the poorest quarter of Palermo,

Vuccurio (spelling?) Where you are definately

less likely to get ripped off than by the

Arenella fishmonger (thats guaranteed))

And it's lunchtime. We've waited the entire winter for this Trattoria to open. Finally, with the arrival of the first summer tourists, the tables are out, the umbrellas are open and the smell of fish on a braai wafts down the street. To the delight of the waiter we chose to undertake the 'menu of the day' option. This began with a dish of mussels with a seafood side salad.

Followed uncomfortably closely by the obligatory pasta course, mine being mussels once again and the Captain enjoying the variety of cockles.

The ensalata course comprised of a tomato and olive salad for myself and for the Captain, eggplant.

Then there was the heavenly, traditionally braaied fishdish.

Yum YUm YUm and drool!!

And finally dessert. An artfully placed half strawberry on a slice of orange. I think they finally understood the laws of physics and the volume of food they were placing in front of us was far exceeding the capacity of our stomachs (compression, flexibility and holding pressure taken into consideration). Now I only wish I could serve this on charter.

Finally we spied someone participating in the

age old tradition of the siesta. Flollowing the lead

we returned to the boat

Another Day in Sicily

Yay it's Saturday. And for once we're actually taking the day off (mostly). So after residing in these waters for 5 months, we finally left Molo Sud (the harbour) and turned left.

You're going to have to excuse the first few entries as I learn how to use the blog. Today's issue would be that the photos are in reverse order....

So starting with the bottom photo we began our touristy day at La Porta - the gateway to the city and a particularly hairraising intersection.

A few steps on and we came across the obligatory church with all her saintly sculptures. Later in the day we were treated to an unexpected, rather tuneful pealing of her bells.

Of course when it came to the Sicilian 3 wheeled Piagio, I simply couldn't not take a photo. This one is uncharacteristically empty but I promise to carry my camera until I capture a piagio in true form - piled way higher than its cab with an assortment of fruit, veg or seafood, held down by an intricate string design...

For the first time in our prolonged stay, we explored a worthy park. It seems the city to the left of the harbour (Eastern Palermo) was more affluent back in the day than 'our' side and provided open space for its elite patrons. Not all the park's inhabitants seem happy to be there as there is a disturbing ring of cringing sculptures surrounding the figure of a king armed with an eagle, the Sicilian emblem and a basket of fruit.