Fwd: Salt Production

We have now been to the Saline Museum four times. Finally, it was open. We learned how the salt was processed and wandered along the salt pans.

Salt water is pumped into pools and left to dry. In olden days they used a large windmill to process the salt and a smaller windmill as a pump station. Randy paid for a souvenir bag of salt while ours was colleced when no one was around, i.e. stolen! We saw a flock of flamingos, several groups of egrets and a noisy bunch of ducks.

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Madonna and Child by Nino Pisano

In the Santuario dell Annunziata chapel in Trapani is a statue reported to be by Nino Pisano, son of Andrea Pisano. It stands under an elaborate marble canopy sculpted by Antonello Gagini and surrounded by polychrome marble pillars.

Legend has it that the statue was in a church in Syria owned by Guerriggio, a Knights Templar Pisani. The statue was locked in a crate on its way to Pisa after the Pisani had been defeated by the "infidels." Nino Pisano lived between 1315-1370. The ships docked in Lampadusa and then Trapani to make repairs. The Carmelites housed the statue in the Church of Santa Maria del Parto for the months it took to repair the ships. When it was time to leave, the oxen refused to take the path to the port so apparently Guerrigio decided it was the will of the statue to stay.

The current Sanctuario dell Annunziata has the original facade of the convent church and clostier. Beside it and part of the same complex is the Museo Regionale Pepoli-very cool. More later.

Water Color of bicycles

Laura sent back the picture of our Italian bicycles, changed by an ap on her phone to a water color.
Wow. Thanks.

Gibellina

An earthquake in 1968 buried the town of Gibellina. In the area 400 people died and 50,000 were left homeless. Every where you look en route to Salemi and Gibellina are abandoned farm houses without roofs.

A monument was erected at the site of the village. Called, Il Cretto, a concrent white mantle was poured over one slope with channels carved reminescent of the street layout of the buried village.

We read about this in the tour book but after searching for several hours, we never found it. Turns out the old town is 12 or so kilometers from where the town relocated. There are no signs in the new town to direct a tourist. We started up the correct road but then I bailed because it was dusk and we had a long trip back.

What we did find was the museum. It was closed. I like this statute, one of 47 erected in the area after the earthquake.

Roadtrip to Salemi

One of our first road trps was on January 27 when we drove to Salemi and onto Gibellina. The map showed a yellow line, indicating an important road. Only two other types of roads would be considered better: a primary road and a freeway. The important roads are numbered  on the map but rarely is there any number along the road itself. This particular one is the P8. At the moment we were both convinced we had taken a wrong turn, we came to a cross road that had signs.

At the next major crossroads there was no sign. The one to the left which was not on our map looked brand new, going toward Borgo Fazio. We decided to stay to the right per the map. Deep ruts and mud made it seem more like an unpaved country road but we forged on. Eventually we came to an intersection that had two signs pointing in different directions, both said Salemi.

What we have learned: The entire region of Trapani is encircled by the A29 so from any direction within the region you might come across a sign toward the A29. Sometimes the sign will say "dir. Trapani" or "dir Salemi" so you still don't know what road you are on but you know that road will take you in the direction of Trapani, Salemi, etc. Unless, of course, there is a fork in the road, which most often will  not have a sign and then you have no idea which way to turn.

San Vito lo Capo

The weather was rainy in the morning but cleared in the afternoon on February 7. We made a road trip to San Vito lo Capo, which we could see from the mountain top city of Erice. We found the tourist office and inquired about a place to eat. The woman seemed doubtful we could find anything open. One waiter encouraged us toward his door but the  tourist prices were formidable--55 euro for the fish course alone! There were several empty trailer camps and large empty parking lots. A town so completely geared to tourists is a lonely place in the winter.

The caves on the bluff above the Gulf of Cofano are intriguing.  Above it is a roadside shrine which reportedly was built after a landslide buried the village that had been there. Inside the structure were lots of pebbles. People throw stones into the shrine to be freed from fear. I thought of other natural catastrophes where people are traumatized, like the tsunami in Thailand in 2004 or the earthquake that buried Gibelinna in the 60's. Truth be told, much of counseling for victims of terror amount to developing coping rituals like this.

Signs of anxient volcanic activity included the volcanic plug tower above San Vito lo Capo and the volanic dikes, like fences, angling down toward the village of Maraci. In this town also, we saw lots of shuttered hotels and only a few locals on the street. At the cafe we had the traditional deep fried rice balls, caled aransini. Mine was filled with beef meat with peas and Greg's had mozzarella and a little tomato. To this we added an antipasto of green olives, artichoke hearts and dried tomatoes all drenched in olive oil. It was all very tasty and only 6 euro.

In tourist fashion, we speculated about the rock formations on the beach below Maraci. There seemed to be a lot of crushed coral in the sand so I thought the formations could be what is left of a coral reef. Greg thought the petrofied shells in the rocks suggested a sudden event, like a volcanic lava flow. We found the weight from a fishing net, some dead sea urchins and the skelton of a fish with a very long bill. It was not a swordfish or a marlin, not a spearfish. I wonder if it was a piper fish or some type of eel? Seems unlikely but that is the nature of wandering and wondering with no one who knows to tell me any different...

In our effort to find the beach road that winds along the coast back to Trapani, we discovered the fishing village of Bonagia and Custonaci, which nestle beneath the impressive rock outcropping called Monte Cofano. What I like about travelling in Sicily in the winter is how little traffic there is. We have the luxury to wander wherever our noses point without thinking about heading back to work on Monday. It was a lovely relaxing day and I expect many more to follow.

Planning for Cinque Terre

With our internet down, I have been worrying how to make deposit for the place in Monterosso/Cinque Terre for May. Carla wanted 100 euro deposit and the rest in cash when we arrive. She sent me information for doing a bank transfer. Greg thought there would be a fee for the exchange, which seems likely and not worth it for that amount.

Steffen offered to do the bank transfer from his account in Germany. We could give him the euro. He would call his father in Germany who would handle the transfer. That seemed very kind but awfully cumbersome to us. I said I would see about using the Home Away/Vacation Rental by Owner (VRBO) payment method since I found the rental on that site. Steffen said that Home Away and Airbnb both act as intermediary with the money. The owner does not get anything until you physically arrive and the company takes a percentage.

Home Away web page says to ask the owner to send an invoice via their service. All I need to do is click a link in the email and submit bank card information to Home Away. I asked Carla to do that but she said she would rather  not. She said our reservation is confirmed and I can pay her the full amount when we arrive in May.

I am confident that will work just fine. If I am wrong, I am in big trouble because it would be highly unlikely to find another rental when we arrive there. Claire and Bruce will have been in route for 24-26 hours at that point. I know how it feels to arrive some place completely exhausted and not have a place to lay my head and I am much younger than either of them! I suspect, however, that both Claire and Bruce are more resilient than I am.

Carla emailed that it is fine. We have a reservation; no deposit needed. She will see us in Monterosso.

Trapani City Planning

The weather was not as good today, February 5, as was yesterday when we went bicycling. So it seemed a good day to do indoor site seeing in Trapani. I wore my long underwear and brought my hat and gloves because museums and churches tend to be freddo (FREHD-doh)!

Greg, being a City Planner, wanted to see the view of the city from the tip of the sickle, at the entrance to the port. (The name Trapani, comes originally from the Phoenician word for sickle, Drepanon.) The surf was hitting the jetty with serious intent, reminding us that the next storm was coming soon.

It was somewhat overcast with a few drops of rain mixed in the brisk wind. From the point of contiguous land farthest to the south at a circular building called Lazzaretta, we saw what looked to us like ruins in pretty good condition of the Castello della Colombaia. We were not sure what Lazzaretta was. I attempted to interpret the Italian sign based on a smattering of Spanish. I  thought it meant something to do with sanitation. I imagined having a sewer plant out here on the promintory. Maybe not. The waterfront side is the Lega Navale, which likely has something to do with the navy? From this viewpoint, we had a view of the old city and the port full of fishing boats, some of which were so rusted out and bare that I could not imagine taking them to sea!

Around the bend we found a beautiful view of the ocean crashing against the medieval city wall, called the bastione. We wandered toward the tower and found a protected cove, surely a place where parents would bring young children to swim in the summer. Beside it was a wreck of a place that Greg said was a church. You could tell by the cross above it and there was a sign swinging in the archway, S.Liberale. The tourist map reports this to be the Chiesa di San Liberale. Surely a significant place but there was no mention of it in the Rough Guide.

Greg wanted to drive to the other point, where a 17th century tower stands, called the Torre di Ligny. We curved around the port which is only about 4 blocks, following signs that may have told us we were going the right way on a one way street or the signs might have been telling us that we could not park on this street. Hard to know without knowing, as Sheila would say. We found a parking spot. Yet another sign showed a car being towed. One would think that would mean we should not park there but all these other cars were there. So we joined the crowd.

The road toward the tower is a pedestrian walkway. It looks like it had been a dock where ships might have moored along side it in a time long passed. The Tower itself is not very tall with an old wooden door. It was locked, as the tour book said it would be. Inside it is supposed to have a collection of prehistoric finds from the Trapani area and photographs of drawings from the Grotto del Genovese on the island of Levanzo. The view as we turned back toward town was of a narrow spit of land with one row of building on each side in many colors, spreading out in both directions as the land allows. It is the perfect welcoming entrance to city with much to be discovered.

Nut and bolts day

I have an older Canon electronic camera that I bought at a yard sale in Missoula last year for $5. It has a chip that does not fit either my notebook or Greg's. My old tower at home, also does not have a place for this particular chip. For the past year or so I have downloaded to the laptop, which has a spot for the chip, then transfer to my tower with a USB cable. Very cumbersome.

Here in Italy there is free internet at coffee shops but no internet cafes with towers that you can rent by the minute, (which is common in Mexico and other countries we visit). I have no way of moving the photos on the camera to the notebook so I can share them on the blog or in emails. Taking the camera out on a day trip is far easier than the notebook. Were it stolen, I would only be out $5 instead of $200 or so.

What is the Shakespeare expression: mystery acquaints a man wth strange bedfellows. We went to the Grande Magliore, which is a department store. (Anyone who knows Greg and I know that we spend almost no time in such vast places!)

Department stores here are smaller. The range and quality of goods is less at the same time as more people are employed to assist you. With  my almost non existent Italian, I showed the guy in the electronic's section my camera and my notebook. I motioned that neither the chip nor the plug in from the camera fit the notebook. He  nodded and said, "Yes," in English. "OTG. Ask my colleague, is that what you call in English?" When we said yes, he pointed to another man and said, "Ask my colleague for an OTG."

All right! Now I can transfer pictures and I can do it at home as well. No more misery.

Trapani churches

On my "Do List" for February 5 was a Van Dyck crucifiction, a della Robia madonna, and the platforms they carry in the Easter pocession, all of which are in churches. Chiesa, church, is pronounced "k" then "e" as in yet, then "sah." There are many, of course, and some of these were other places of worship long before the christians arrived.

After leaving the waterfront we drove down narrow streets, some no wider than our single little mini could enter.

Mostly we followed the direction other cars were moving. I was behind a delivery van for a few blocks before we realized we were on the pedestrian walk way. We took the next left and I saw the front of a church with large statutes. This church was not my destination but the larger than life statutes on the facade seemed impressive. I found a place to park after many attempted failures on the waterfront across from the ferries. Behind us was the back side of the church, a shear wall of several stories, patched over in places, as if another building abutted it at one time and now his bare backside was exposed.

Turns out this is the Church of the Purgatorio which houses what are called the Misteri, life-size wooden statutes depicting Christ stories. Some as old as the 18th century, these twenty platforms are carried through the streets of Trapani on Good Friday by various trade guilds: fisherman, saltworkers, etc. The pamplet says the human sacrifice of the people who carry the groups is symbolic of the sacrifice of Christ. One was dropped during a procession and had to be repaired. Just looking at the massive structures made of wood,  I could see how that might happen.

This reminds me of the Indian procession we saw in Malasia which was also a penance. Men would fast and pray. Some would have alters strapped to their shoulders with fish hooks attached to their skin. Were they to fall, the fish hooks would dig deeply into the flesh. There was incense and strangley painted faces, some fainting and wailing. It was a terrible press of people to me but Greg had a wonderful time. I hear the same is true for Easter weekend in Trapani with a huge influx of people to participate in this ceremony which will occur when we are here.

Not far from this was the Cathedral of San Lorenzo where the Van Dyck crucifiction is supposed to be. I forgot all about it while admiring this impressive structure. We found the Church of Santa Maria di Gesu which has the Andrea della Robia,  Madonna degli Angeli. While it is a beautiful statute, I was struck again how un-Jewish the Madonnas and Mary Magdeline's tend to look while most Christ statutes could pass as Jew.

Along the pedestrian shopping streets, we passed by several palazzos and dropped into one more church, name unknown, where I made an offering, in memory of my brother Pat, who died a year ago this week. Pat was an alter boy at St. Lawrence Church where he would have dropped a coin into the box and lit a candle. Here was a metal box with a slot for my euro coins where Greg pushed a button that lit the electric can.

You can just barely see the Trapani Madonna and Child below the rose window. The marble Madonna and Child is in the convent of the Sanctuary of our Lady of the Annunciation. (another post)

Quiet days

Last night we watched Casa Blanca. It was dubbed in German so I gave Greg a line by line translation. Although I do  not know German, I know that story line!

We practice Italian at home every morning and try it out in the afternoon in the local stores. People are very friendly and helpful. Especially our landlord, Steffen. We blew our maximum internet usage on our plan for this month.

Steffen loaned us his wi-fi today while I confirm my reservation for Cinque Terre. Claire, Bruce and I will go there in early May. The apartment sleeps 8. It is on the 3rd floor of this building right in the town of Monterosso. (It has an elevator). We plan to putter. I am reading some screen plays by Robert Riskin. He has a great scene about puttering in The Platinum Blonde.