Sunday June 9, Near Marsarla

June 10, 2019

Sunday June 9, Near Marsarla

Late afternoon light on the salt lagoon with the
traditional windmill used for production.

Today I feel that we have really found the real Sicily, it’s been such a great day ending with our first bike ride since we have been in Italy.

First stop this morning was a huge grocery shop at a store near the campground, certainly needed to as it was over a week since we had our last shop and the cupboards were running out. There are not the big supermarkets with large carparks that we have been used to in other places and have often not found parking so today were very relieved to be able to park and made good use of it by stocking up on the basics.

Then back on the motorway heading west. Really enjoyed the drive with the mountains on one side and the sea on the other. Being Sunday and probably the first really hot weekend of summer everyone was heading to the beaches. Cars lined the beach roads and there were a multitude of boats zipping about on the glassy water. The motorway became a two lane expressway when we drove through Palermo. Had debated about visiting this town but had heard so many bad reports that we gave it a miss. Even bypassing it was interesting. The road had no markings and there seemed to be two streams of traffic with the third being cars moving onto the road or leaving it….or for scooters and motor bikes. It was just crazy but Ian managed okay and were very relieved when we got through town, mind you the traffic crawled for about 15 minutes and never quite found out why.

We finally left the major traffic behind and with temperatures now in the mid 30’s and the aircon keeping us cool we drove through a huge inland valley, grape vines, fruit trees and a lot of cropping. It was such a change from what we have seen on our travels so far and really enjoyed the drive.

We had been told about a great area just north of Marsala with a salt lagoon and a great little campsite. And what a excellent spot, this camp feels as though it has been the same for years, family run, very basic but extremely friendly. And only a handful of campers staying. And the best thing we are parked under the shady trees with electricity which we realise is essential with this heat to be able to run the fan. No one speaks English but managed to chat with Salvo the owner using Google translate, about getting a bus to Marsala tomorrow. No problems, he will drive us there and we can message him to pick us up when we are ready. Perfect.

Mid afternoon and with the temperatures very high it was time to put our feet up and have a lazy few hours. Keen to explore the area which we had read about, Ian got the bikes out and it was so nice to go out for a ride, although the was quite a bit of traffic, but quite slow moving. Our camp is right beside a very shallow lagoon that has been used for gathering salt for centuries and there are some of the old traditional windmills still operating, a real sight especially as the sun was setting. Lots of traffic on the roads as a popular drive to see this rather special sight.

A really good day and looking forward to our heading to Marsala tomorrow.