Josh and Colleen in Sicily November in the Mediterranean tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-10-18:/blog/?domain=joshandcolleen 2007-11-19T02:59:13Z elefantstn img/travel-blog-feed.png Erice tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-11-18:/blog/?domain=joshandcolleen&thisblog_entryid=9&entryid=86538 2007-11-19T02:59:13Z 2007-11-19T02:59:13Z At the top of Via G. Fardella in Trapani is a cable car station, with cars running to the town of Erice 800 meters above the sea level port town. Erice shares a lot in common with the more famous hill towns of Tuscany and Umbria -- built entirely from stone, seemingly one church per house (officially, 64 churches operated at one time in this one small town), ludicrous driving and parking situations, and general old world charm. ... At the top of Via G. Fardella in Trapani is a cable car station, with cars running to the town of Erice 800 meters above the sea level port town. Erice shares a lot in common with the more famous hill towns of Tuscany and Umbria -- built entirely from stone, seemingly one church per house (officially, 64 churches operated at one time in this one small town), ludicrous driving and parking situations, and general old world charm. Erice was probably the most heavily-touristed sight we visited over the course of the trip -- four or five tour buses were parked at the lot outside town, and there was a lot of English and German echoing around the streets -- and for good reason. The town has a well thought-out itinerary from church to church, having rescued a number of them from neglect and delapidated circumstances in recent years. From Byzantine-era frescoes to Arab-Norman watchtowers, the art and history is pretty tightly packed in, and the views are, as expected, spectacular:

erice_view.jpg

We had one of our best meals at La Pentolaccia, as detailed earlier, to wait out a rainstorm. It didn't work -- the cloud hanging over the mountain emptied itself onto streets that weren't really designed for drainage, and we walked back to the cable car completely soaked through.

stairs_erice.jpg

My shoes (stupidly didn't wear my Gore-Tex boots) didn't dry until we got to Agrigento.

Erice remains copyright of the author elefantstn, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> Segesta tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-11-18:/blog/?domain=joshandcolleen&thisblog_entryid=8&entryid=86533 2007-11-19T02:43:34Z 2007-11-19T02:43:34Z Our first day trip out of Trapani came on Saturday 11/3, to Segesta: Segesta is a Greek colony in the hills along the western coast of the island, perched on top of Monte Barbaro, with a commanding view of the valley towards the Gulf of Castellamare. At war with Selinunte (which we would later visit), the Segestans hurriedly built an impressive temple to con representatives from Athens, hoping to earn an alliance. The roof was never finished, but the ... Our first day trip out of Trapani came on Saturday 11/3, to Segesta:

DSCN0151.jpg

Segesta is a Greek colony in the hills along the western coast of the island, perched on top of Monte Barbaro, with a commanding view of the valley towards the Gulf of Castellamare. At war with Selinunte (which we would later visit), the Segestans hurriedly built an impressive temple to con representatives from Athens, hoping to earn an alliance. The roof was never finished, but the rest of the temple is very well preserved:

DSCN0180.jpg

At the very height of the city's acropolis is a beautiful theater, which looks out over the sea in the distance.

DSCN0173.jpg

By sheer size, Segesta was probably not the most impressive city in Greek Sicily, but it has a uniquely beautiful situation, and even on a weekend, it was quiet and uncrowded. Great start to the trip.

Segesta remains copyright of the author elefantstn, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> Worked out ok. tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-11-10:/blog/?domain=joshandcolleen&thisblog_entryid=7&entryid=85648 2007-11-10T15:06:35Z 2007-11-10T15:06:35Z Fortunately we ended up finding a great place to stay here in Piazza Armerina, had a great visit to the Villa Romana just outside the city with its mosaics, and are in the middle of an endless number of pasticcerie. Best cookie so far has pistachio paste inside and white chocolate outside. Tonight is it, then we're off to Catania to catch our flights. We'll see everyone soon. Josh and Colleen ... Fortunately we ended up finding a great place to stay here in Piazza Armerina, had a great visit to the Villa Romana just outside the city with its mosaics, and are in the middle of an endless number of pasticcerie. Best cookie so far has pistachio paste inside and white chocolate outside.

Tonight is it, then we're off to Catania to catch our flights. We'll see everyone soon.

Josh and Colleen

Worked out ok. remains copyright of the author elefantstn, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> I really did it this time tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-11-09:/blog/?domain=joshandcolleen&thisblog_entryid=6&entryid=85540 2007-11-09T11:32:22Z 2007-11-09T11:32:22Z On our way out to Palermo on Wednesday, our host Ignazio stopped us at the door. "Are you leaving today?" Of course not, I thought, until I did the math on the cost and how many nights we'd been there in my head. I'd moved up all the lodging dates a day when I made the reservations. We packed and headed to Mandranova. It'll work out fairly nicely anyway, since we'll be able to stay ... On our way out to Palermo on Wednesday, our host Ignazio stopped us at the door. "Are you leaving today?" Of course not, I thought, until I did the math on the cost and how many nights we'd been there in my head. I'd moved up all the lodging dates a day when I made the reservations. We packed and headed to Mandranova. It'll work out fairly nicely anyway, since we'll be able to stay a night in Piazza Armerina, at the site of a second century Roman villa with famous mosaics, and about an hour closer to our flight home from Catania.

Meantime, my bragging about great planning has subsided a bit.

There is a wireless point at the Rome airport, so all of our photos should get uploaded during our layover there Sunday. Until then, ci parliamo.

I really did it this time remains copyright of the author elefantstn, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> Day Trip Roundup tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-11-06:/blog/?domain=joshandcolleen&thisblog_entryid=5&entryid=85168 2007-11-06T14:48:51Z 2007-11-06T14:48:51Z I leave this as a placeholder until I can upload photos and full journals: [list] [*]Friday: Settled in, walked around town, got pizza and gelato, crashed [*]Saturday: Drove to Segesta to see Greek temple and theater, drove to Alcamo to see old Arab town, home for dinner [*]Sunday: Took funicular up to Erice, medieval walled town above Trapani, saw churches, castles, phenomenal views, completely soaked in downpour, shoes still airing out [*]Monday: Drove to Marsala, explored old town, visited cantina to sample Marsala wines, home ... I leave this as a placeholder until I can upload photos and full journals:

  • Friday: Settled in, walked around town, got pizza and gelato, crashed

  • Saturday: Drove to Segesta to see Greek temple and theater, drove to Alcamo to see old Arab town, home for dinner

  • Sunday: Took funicular up to Erice, medieval walled town above Trapani, saw churches, castles, phenomenal views, completely soaked in downpour, shoes still airing out

  • Monday: Drove to Marsala, explored old town, visited cantina to sample Marsala wines, home for dinner

  • Tuesday (today): Took ferry to Mozia to see unearthed Phoenician town and archaeological finds, home for quick break, about to take ferry out to Favignana

  • Wednesday (tomorrow): Train into Palermo

Day Trip Roundup remains copyright of the author elefantstn, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> Food Recap tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-11-06:/blog/?domain=joshandcolleen&thisblog_entryid=4&entryid=85163 2007-11-06T14:41:00Z 2007-11-06T14:41:00Z What we've been eating: Friday Night, small pizzeria, Trapani: [list][*]Antipasto: Cherry tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and oil on just-baked flatbread [*]Colleen: Pizza with mushrooms [*]Josh: Pizza with eggplant[/list] Saturday Afternoon, bar, Alcamo: [list] [*]Tuna panini, prosciutto and cheese panini [/list] Saturday Night, Ristorante dei Frati, Trapani: [list][*]Antipasto: Fritto misto (mixed fried chickpea pancakes and potato croquettes) [*]Colleen: Pasta con le sarde, spaghetti with sardines, pin ... What we've been eating:

Friday Night, small pizzeria, Trapani:

  • Colleen: Pizza with mushrooms
  • Josh: Pizza with eggplant

Saturday Afternoon, bar, Alcamo:

  • Tuna panini, prosciutto and cheese panini

Saturday Night, Ristorante dei Frati, Trapani:

  • Colleen: Pasta con le sarde, spaghetti with sardines, pine nuts, and bread crumbs
  • Josh: Busiate allo scoglio, twisty pasta with mixed seafood - shrimp, clams, mussels, baby squid

Sunday Afternoon, Ristorante Pentolaccia, Erice:

  • Antipasto: Fried zucchine, eggplant stuffed with ricotta, bruschetta with tomato, caponata of eggplant, fennel, celery, artichokes
  • Colleen: Pasta with tomato, olive, prosciutto, and pine nuts
  • Josh: Fish cous cous
  • Dessert: Ricotta-stuffed fried dough, cannoli with chocolate chips
  • (excellent lunch)

Sunday Night, small pizzeria, Trapani:

  • Josh: Sausage pizza

Monday Afternoon, bar, Marsala:

  • Prosciutto panini

Monday Night, Cantina Siciliana, Trapani:

  • Colleen: Busiate alla trapanese - with pesto trapanese
  • Josh: Busiate al tempio - with small fresh shrimp, oil, and garlic
  • Secondo (split): Fried calamari
  • Dessert, Colleen: Casatella Siciliana (like tiramisu, but with ricotta and chocolate chips)
  • Dessert, Josh: Almond Semifreddo (ice cream/parfait)
  • (best dinner so far by far)

Tuesday Afternoon, friggitoria, Trapani:

  • Timballo - macaroni stuffed with tomato sauce and meat and fried

Food Recap remains copyright of the author elefantstn, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> Internet Update tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-11-06:/blog/?domain=joshandcolleen&thisblog_entryid=3&entryid=85159 2007-11-06T14:18:57Z 2007-11-06T14:18:57Z The computer here at the B&B hasn't been able to read my USB drive to upload our photos, so I've been holding out on the posts until I got that straightened out -- big mistake, since internet access went down here entirely yesterday through today. A quick recap then, of what we've done so far, coming next. More detailed posts, with photos, will follow. ... The computer here at the B&B hasn't been able to read my USB drive to upload our photos, so I've been holding out on the posts until I got that straightened out -- big mistake, since internet access went down here entirely yesterday through today. A quick recap then, of what we've done so far, coming next. More detailed posts, with photos, will follow.

Internet Update remains copyright of the author elefantstn, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> We're here tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-11-02:/blog/?domain=joshandcolleen&thisblog_entryid=2&entryid=84771 2007-11-02T16:48:52Z 2007-11-02T16:48:52Z Kind of a long delay at the airport last night, but the flight over and drive in went ok, apart from some minor navigational difficulties. We're getting cleaned up and heading out to eat, and we'll have more and more interesting things to say in a bit. Ciao! ... Kind of a long delay at the airport last night, but the flight over and drive in went ok, apart from some minor navigational difficulties. We're getting cleaned up and heading out to eat, and we'll have more and more interesting things to say in a bit. Ciao!

We're here remains copyright of the author elefantstn, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]> Itinerary tag:travellerspoint.com,2007-10-18:/blog/?domain=joshandcolleen&thisblog_entryid=1&entryid=83078 2007-10-19T02:40:54Z 2007-10-19T02:40:54Z Nov. 1 -- JFK to Palermo Nov. 2-7 -- Trapani Nov. 7-10 -- Mandranova, agriturismo near Agrigento Nov. 11 -- Catania to Rome to JFK ... Nov. 1 -- JFK to Palermo
Nov. 2-7 -- Trapani
Nov. 7-10 -- Mandranova, agriturismo near Agrigento
Nov. 11 -- Catania to Rome to JFK

Itinerary remains copyright of the author elefantstn, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

Comment on this entry | Tweet this | Your own free travel blog | More Travellerspoint blogs

]]>