La Sirena Ubriaca or (in English) The Drunken Mermaid!

La Sirena Ubriaca  is a small wine bar in the centre of Marsala and is interesting to visit to taste different Marsala wines. Very friendly owners! We tried quite a number of different Marsalas, 5yr ones, 10 yr ones etc.  And, of course, left the wine bar with quite a few of the ones we liked best!

As we staggered down the street we realised we were on the late side for lunch but went in search.  No Michelin at hand!  We found a restaurant close by, around the corner from the Cathedral square in a small alley, the Ristorante Trattoria Monipia. On entering we found we were the only ones there and while thinking that did not bode well we felt at this point we had no option other than going to the Geleteria on the corner. It did not look as though it has been updated for quite a while either!

The chef came out and asked us if we were OK with local fish, no real menu except a tourist type in all languages, which didn't seem inspiring.  Imagine our surprise to find that we were served an absolutely fantastic dish of fish! No idea what exactly the fishes were but that didn't matter! One of our best fish meals while in Sicily!

Also imagine my horror, when trying to get a link to the restaurant for this post, to find that it was rated #34 of 34 restaurants in Marsala by TripAdvisor! However I was heartened to read one very good  review in Italian by an Austrian from Vienna, who went there with 6 friends and found it to have the best fish dishes, even in an area which had fresh fish. He said they returned a second evening!  And also another review by an Italian from Turin who also recommended it for fish. It doesn't have any ambiance so this may have influenced other people's comments and obviously it may only be the fish dishes which are good!

However it also made me think that I cannot rely onTripAdvisor for restaurants!  We go for food, not for tourist ambiance! There were only 4 reviews and 2 were negative!

We continued on towards Trapani, making a detour to view the salt marshes and windmills.

This Youtube video gives one a good idea of the area!

Greek Doric Columns and their Quarry.

While in Menfi we visited Selinunte, founded 7c BC and destroyed by Carthage in 409 BC. It only took Hannibal and his 100,000 men 9 days to destroy! It was largely forgotten until the 60's. Since then one temple has been reconstructed.

All the others look as though they were toppled by an earthquake!

We read that all the columns came from a local quarry, the Cave di Cusa, so went looking......  However initially we headed inland to the hills as we thought quarries were always on the side of a hill.  Not so.... these were dug out of the ground.  And abandoned in 409BC!  Left absolutely as they had been then.  Looks as though the slaves just downed their tools!

We did run into a traffic jam en route!

Source of the Bikini girls!

A visit to the centre of Sicily would not be complete without a visit to the Villa Romana del Casale in Piazza Armerina. This is thought to have been built as a retreat ( todays 'residence secondaire'!) for  a Roman Emperor in the 3rd to 4th century. It has the most beautiful and extensive (3500sq meters!) mosaics in Italy. Its preservation is owed to the fact it was covered in mud in the 12th century and not excavated until the '60s.

This is an extraordinary 60 meter long passageway with hunting scenes, virtually intact.

And , of course, the bikini clad gymnasts!

Close by is Enna, worth a visit for its 13c Castello di Lombardia. The  restaurant  Centrale is interesting to go to for lunch. Old fashioned with a great lunch menu and frequented seemingly only by male locals....Mafia?? Lots of greetings, handshakes and kisses on cheeks as a large portion of the clientele seemed to know each other!

On a balcony opposite the restaurant, Garibaldi, at the time of Italy's unification, ended his speech with 'o Roma o Morte', translated as Rome or death, his war cry!  Present day Sicilians think that as part of the EC  ( and as after unification!)  they have not fared as well as northern Italy!

"Those who are curious will come."

So says Pino Cuttaia of La Madia restaurant in Licata! There are only 2 Michelin starred restaurants in Sicily and his is one. Being close by in Agrigento we had to make a pilgrimage there.......... being...well... curious!!
After negotiating many narrow streets, shortest route possible being taken by GPS we finally arrived and were able to park directly outside an very uninteresting building!

The door was locked and we had to ring a bell for entry. We followed the maitre d' along a narrow passageway and ended in a pleasant dining room.

We then found that we were the only people there for lunch! Everyone else was at the beach! Lunch was definitely an experience! The chef himself advised... and when we couldn't seem to make up our minds he offered to have us share certain dishes. Food was as promised... excellent. However as a word of caution to anyone going there.... he does not have a lunch menu ( something we have gotten used to in France!) and makes no concession in price, which was very very high! The excellent wine we had there helped us endure the pain!!!

A room with a view!

Imagine looking out your shower window at this fantastic Greek temple!  Except it is not in Greece but in Sicily!

We arrived in Agrigento to stay at the Hotel Athena. This hotel is the closest to the
Valle dei Tempi and has fabulous views of the temples and is also within walking distance, allowing us to be among the first there in the morning, before tour buses started arriving. And also before it became too hot!

Arriving at the hotel we were happy to find that there was plenty of parking in front of the main door. We went in to check in and immediately were asked to have the keys for the car in order to move it to the car park area. Had never before encountered such eagerness! My initial reaction was a little negative as I had not decided exactly what I needed from it... we were spending a month touring around and did not need to take all of our stuff into hotels each time! Then I decided they wanted to remove us quickly as the car needed a carwash after the dirt roads we had just traversed, having missed the freeway signs! Turned out they were expecting....but didn't know when..... the marketing team for a new model BMW! They were photographing around the temples for future advertising. We saw their car lights up by the temples as we were having dinner on the terrace and the team did turn up eventually around 10pm! We never did get to see the new BMW.... under wraps??

The site was having a very interesting sculpture exhibition.

The sculptures were by Igor Mitorj .

Flower power Italian style

Our adventure in Sicily began when we arrived in Palermo by boat a little earlier than expected.... 6:30am to be precise. We ambled along the coast road but still arrived in Cefalu too early to get into our rented apartment. We wandered around town but restless, we decided to head out of town to a well-recommended restaurant in Castelbuono.


Thirty minutes later we followed our trusted GPS who took us on an encounter with pedestrian alley ways in the "Centro historico" only to ditch the car and find our way by foot to the restaurant with the most unpronounceable of names..... Nangalarruni. Known for its truffle dishes, the food was fantastic!

This is how we stumbled upon the 'infiorata' festival held two days prior. The festival lasts only 4-5 days until the flower petals wilt and the whole town participates in making these beautiful designs. The theme commemorated Italy's 150th anniversary and above are just a couple of the wonderful flower designs on display. You can see more in this video from last year's festival which captures how the beautiful designs are created:

Touched by an angel or two

We should have known that someone was looking out for us in Cefalu (see last blog entry) when we chanced upon this random store window. The rest of the shop was filled with life-size Christs and the like.