Trapani to Mazara del Vallo

After our long trip across to Sicily we moored on the Lega Navale pontoon in Trapani and stayed there for a couple of days.

 Looking across the shallows by the port with the Egadi islands in the background.

Strange tree trunks in the centre of Trapani.

Walking along the "avenue" from the fish market at the port into the centre of town.

The Sicilians also had the idea of using pallets for seats etc. We saw several variations on this theme around the town.

 Detail of the stonework on one of the many churches in town.

We took the cable car up from the outskirts of Trapani to the hilltop town of Erice. 

(Rather a blurry picture as it had to be taken through the window of the cable car)

The main gateway into the old medieval town of Erice about 800m above sea level. There are now only about 300 people who live here but it is a popular spot for tourists.

A lot of the historical town centre is largely intact, clean and well kept - not always the case in Sicily! The streets are all paved with this characteristic pattern of different sized, shiny stones.

A shop display of the typical, brightly coloured Sicilian pottery.

Local weaving - a long-established textile tradition.

In ancient times they did not throw anything away and even small pieces of cloth or old rags were reused by weaving them into carpets.The art and designs of rhombuses, lozenges and multi-coloured zigzags have been handed down through the ages.

Skipper enjoying morning coffee in a glass labelled "Skipper".

Erice is famous for its almond biscuits and pastries which are stacked up in the shop windows so, of course, we had to have a taster plate - yummy!

Incredible views from the Castello di Venere (Castle of Venus).

Even though it was quite hazy we were lucky to get as good a view as we did. The town is often lost in swirls of cloud and mist and so there often isn't much of a view at all. Locally these clouds are known as the "Kisses of Venus".

Torretta Pepoli, part of the main Castle of Venus.

Another view from the castle looking down to the huge area of salt pans outside Trapani.

Seen around the old town of Erice. 

One of the scenes in the museum of "Erice in Miniature"

Evening light  - the view from the bow of Serenity looking up to Erice - the line of lights is the route of the cable car.

After our two day stopover in Trapani we continued another 30 miles along the west/south coast to Mazara del Vallo

On the way we past the built up town of Marsala - well known for its dessert wine.

In Mazara del Vallo we moored on the Lega Navale pontoon and the following day went to explore the town.This is the old church that has lost its roof in strong winds.

The old cathedral in the main town square. On the Sunday it was closed for a service and when we returned on the Monday it was then closed for maintenance so we never did get to see inside. A beautiful, elegant building from the outside though.

Sunday evening was the last night of the Blue Sea Land Festival in the town. This was a celebration of the cultures of Sicily, the Mediterranean and Africa with many stalls selling traditional foods and some handicrafts. There had been a conference of ambassadors and in the evening they processed through the town in all their finery. We later saw them again dancing in a courtyard There were several music groups around town and the evening ended with an 80s band playing in the park.

A poor photo as it is a screen shot from a video on the phone but wanted to capture the Italian group performing Queen - very good!

The sad state of our Cruising Association flag after this year's travels! 

I did actually repair it with a piece of sailcloth but that was obviously too strong for it and the two bits parted company at some point!