After breakfast we drove along the winding scenic road to the sea. We visited the Salt Road and its Salt Pans, located on the coast between Trapani and Marsala. Here, locals extract salt from the sea water, following the same procedures used by the ancient Greeks and Phoenicians who once colonized this part of Sicily. Once extracted from the water and dried, the salt is heaped into mounds and covered in tiles- just like the ones used on house roofs- so that it won’t get melted by rain before it is packed. We were lucky, they hadn’t covered the salt yet so we got to see the glistening white mounds. The pink flamingos were busy fishing in the shallow pools.
We took a short boat ride from the salt flats to a small island where we enjoyed a leisurely walk to view the archaeological site. The beautiful island was settled by early Carthaginians. The excellent Museo Whitaker holds a wealth of artifacts beautifully displayed! Some ladies found a place to sit under the olive trees for cover from the hot sun. It’s a warm one today.
We continued on the the city of Marsala and had some free time to enjoy lunch and take a stroll around the town. We had a delicious lunch and refreshing apreol spritz drinks at Osteria Trinacria. Unfortunately the shops are closed for siesta but the magnificent cathedral was open so I took a peek inside.
This afternoon we visited Pellegrino, one of Marsala’s historic wineries where we enjoyed a tour of the facilities and the ancient “bottaia” to learn about Marsala wine and tasted the fabulous dessert wines. The winery had some beautiful ornately carved antique carts which nowadays are only used in parades. They also have some very unique names for their wines.
Upon our return some of us set out to find a dessert that has Zibibo in the centre, it’s one of the local dessert wines. We managed to get lost in the small town of Erice and the 2 minute walk to the pastry shop took 20 minutes. It was a fun adventure and worth it to taste the yummy treat. Another fabulous dessert shop is the world famous Maria’s, a must visit if you go to Erice. On our way back to the hotel we came upon our friends. They invited us to join them for cocktails on the rooftop patio.
This evening we had a fabulous dinner at the Michelin rated Ristorante Monte San Giuliano.
Steps taken today 18,572
Overnight: Elimo Hotel