Sat. June 10 - This was my weekend to get away from Sigonella before I leave. I decided yesterday to rent a car and head over to the West side of Sicily since I haven't had the opportunity to get over there yet. I asked tons of people if they wanted to pitch in on a rental car for the weekend, but no one wanted to. Losers. Oh well, so my favorite travel companion (Joe of course) and I were off on our own as usual. I don't understand why people don't want to get away from base for a few days. I headed over to the rental car agency across from the base at 8:30am when they opened and rented a little blue Nissan Micra. I was ready for a manual transmission cuz I knew that's all I would be able to rent at a lower price. I had been practicing all week with the work vehicles so Joe and I were ready for the challenge. I knew this was gonna be pretty funny in the small towns we were gonna have to go through. I drove the first leg of the morning so Joe could get some sleep and I have been done a portion of this drive already when I went to Agrigento with Smitty and Sticky. It was 2 hours until Agrigento, but I continued on SS 115 to Selinunte so we could get some kilometers in before stopping at our first sightseeing spot. The SS115 was all along the southern coast of Sicily and it was absolutely gorgeous. The weather could not have been any better and it wasn't getting unbareably hot yet. We got to Selinunte, which is one of the 3 major tourist locations with Greek Ruins. This one occupies the largest Greek Ruins in the world. Temple C was huge! It really some of the ones in Agrigento outta the water. I wasn't too impressed with the rest of Selinunte though, there was that temple, some giant ruins, and an Acropolis. Oh well, I got some good pictures and a nice hike out of it. I had looked up hydrofoil times yesterday at work for the Egadi Islands and knew that we had to make it to Trapani by 4pm so we didn't stay too long in Selinunte. We got back on the road, drove through the city of Marsala and arrived in Trapani around 3pm. Trapani was a lot smaller than I expected, but it was very clean and quaint. We immediately found the port after driving thru the downtown area and parked the car so I could go get the hydrofoil tickets. The tickets were 7.30 Euro a piece, each way, so we got the tickets for the island of Favignana at 4:30pm. These islands are off the west coast of Sicily only about 20 minutes away from Trapani. We have an ITT trip going here in a few weeks, so I've heard some great things about the 3 islands of Egadi. The hydrofoil ride was cool, the boat lifts up outta the water on its little legs and speeds away to the islands. The first stop was to Levanzo and then drops off at Favignana. It only took about 25 minutes to get there and once we got there we headed for the beach. We figured the water was going to be warm enough to swim since just last week in Citta del Mare, the water was a great temperature. Boy, were we wrong. We finally got to the beach (regretting that we didn't rent bicycles to get around the island) and the water was clearer than any of the water I've seen since I've been here. There were grottos and caves all along the coastline and you could see straight to the bottom of the sea. We climbed on the rocks and Joe swam around into the little coves and caves, but I could barely get in the water since it was so cold. I decided to do a little sun bathing instead to avoid the freezing cold water. We had to catch the last hydrofoil back to Trapani by 8:50, so we walked back towards the main part of town and do some souvenir gazing and stop at a little restaurant for a drink. We headed back to the port to watch the sun set and load back onto the hydrofoil. Once we got back into Trapani, we headed outta the city to find a place to go camping. It was really scary driving because there were no lights along the road and headlights were just not enough. I drove for quite awhile looking for a campsite and we eventually ended up in San Vito Lo Capo at a place called El Bahira. It was pretty late, so most of the crowd was already asleep. We crashed pretty quickly too from the long day and I had another long day planned for tomorrow.
Sun. June 11 - We woke up early and checked out of the campsite so we could get moving again. Neither of us had realized it, but this campsite was awesome. On top of it being huge and surrounded by absolutely amazing rock cliffs, there were 2 swimming pools, a private beach and dock, a few tennis courts, nice showers, and much more. We both agreed that this would be an awesome spot for camping with our friends if they ever wanted to drive this far. Unfortunately, its about a 4 hour drive to get here. I took a bunch of pictures right outside the campsite of the incredible scenery and small bay surrounded by giant cliffs and beautiful green hills. It's weird how the East side of the island is completely dead and brown, while this side is bright green and lushious. We were soon on our way to Segesta, which is the hidden away in the hills Doric temples Archaeological site that The Amazing Race was filmed at while they were in Sicily. We got a little turned around getting there, but we finally found it. You could see the perfectly preserved temple from quite a distance. I was so excited to finally get there. The whole site was placed so perfectly in the hills and I could just imagine living right along side of them. No one I know has ever been over here, but I am going to have to tell everyone how pretty it is on this side of the island. It doesn't even feel like I'm in Sicily over here, it feels like a totally different country. After we parked the car and bought the entrance tickets, we started the long hard hike up the hill to the ampitheater were they built the statues on the Amazing Race. There was an option to buy a ticket for the bus to bring you through the site, but we opted to walk. I now understand why we were one of the few people to be walking up this really steep long hill. We were soaked with sweat half way up to it. It was really cool once we got up there, but a lot smaller than it looked on tv. I climbed up the side of it to get a full picture of the ampitheater and then we checked out the acoustics of the thing by standing in the middle yelling out loud. It was crazy, but it worked. You wouldn't need a microphone or speakers to have everyone hear you in that place. It was fun, but starting to get really hot and I was anxious to get over to the gigantic temple. The Doric Temple was so neat. It was by far in the best condition of any temples here in Sicily, mainly due to the fact that it is away from the ocean and secure in the hills. We had more to see for the day, so we headed back towards the SS115 to drive along and get to Sciacca and Eraclea Minoa. Sciacca was pretty from the car, but we decided not to stop so we could spend more time at the famous beach of Eraclea Minoa. We stopped at one of the lidos on the beach and headed toward the sand. I laid out on the beach while goofball went and played in the freezing cold water. He was making fun of me for not getting in the water this weekend, so he came and grabbed me and threw me in. It was freezing!! I ran back up to the beach and we skipped rocks for awhile. Joe wanted to be buried completely, so he dug himself a hole and I covered him and made him into a mermaid. It was hot! Just kidding. We left the beach at sunset and wow, was it phenomenial. It was bright pink and purple and set right over the vineyards in the distance. Im starting to fall in love with Sicilian sunsets, I'm gonna miss em like crazy when I leave. Oh yeah, did I tell you....I DONT WANNA LEAVE!!! I took this leg of the drive again through Agrigento and all the way to base. It was pieceful, but tiring. We got to Agrigento and all of the temples and columns were lit up. That was the first time I had ever seen them lit up in real life, you always see them like that on the postcards though. Only two more hours til home on the crazy badly lit roads, but we finally made it. I hit rain about 30 minutes from base, so we were really priveleged to have such a beautiful weekend. I was so tired during the last few miles home, but I got there safely around 11pm. We unloaded and cleaned out the car and I headed to bed. I had to wake up early tomorrow morning and return the car by 8:30am. This was one of the best weekends since I've been here and I was so happy I got to finally see that side of the island. I would have really missed out on some gorgeous scenery if I hadn't made this trip.
Sun. June 11 - We woke up early and checked out of the campsite so we could get moving again. Neither of us had realized it, but this campsite was awesome. On top of it being huge and surrounded by absolutely amazing rock cliffs, there were 2 swimming pools, a private beach and dock, a few tennis courts, nice showers, and much more. We both agreed that this would be an awesome spot for camping with our friends if they ever wanted to drive this far. Unfortunately, its about a 4 hour drive to get here. I took a bunch of pictures right outside the campsite of the incredible scenery and small bay surrounded by giant cliffs and beautiful green hills. It's weird how the East side of the island is completely dead and brown, while this side is bright green and lushious. We were soon on our way to Segesta, which is the hidden away in the hills Doric temples Archaeological site that The Amazing Race was filmed at while they were in Sicily. We got a little turned around getting there, but we finally found it. You could see the perfectly preserved temple from quite a distance. I was so excited to finally get there. The whole site was placed so perfectly in the hills and I could just imagine living right along side of them. No one I know has ever been over here, but I am going to have to tell everyone how pretty it is on this side of the island. It doesn't even feel like I'm in Sicily over here, it feels like a totally different country. After we parked the car and bought the entrance tickets, we started the long hard hike up the hill to the ampitheater were they built the statues on the Amazing Race. There was an option to buy a ticket for the bus to bring you through the site, but we opted to walk. I now understand why we were one of the few people to be walking up this really steep long hill. We were soaked with sweat half way up to it. It was really cool once we got up there, but a lot smaller than it looked on tv. I climbed up the side of it to get a full picture of the ampitheater and then we checked out the acoustics of the thing by standing in the middle yelling out loud. It was crazy, but it worked. You wouldn't need a microphone or speakers to have everyone hear you in that place. It was fun, but starting to get really hot and I was anxious to get over to the gigantic temple. The Doric Temple was so neat. It was by far in the best condition of any temples here in Sicily, mainly due to the fact that it is away from the ocean and secure in the hills. We had more to see for the day, so we headed back towards the SS115 to drive along and get to Sciacca and Eraclea Minoa. Sciacca was pretty from the car, but we decided not to stop so we could spend more time at the famous beach of Eraclea Minoa. We stopped at one of the lidos on the beach and headed toward the sand. I laid out on the beach while goofball went and played in the freezing cold water. He was making fun of me for not getting in the water this weekend, so he came and grabbed me and threw me in. It was freezing!! I ran back up to the beach and we skipped rocks for awhile. Joe wanted to be buried completely, so he dug himself a hole and I covered him and made him into a mermaid. It was hot! Just kidding. We left the beach at sunset and wow, was it phenomenial. It was bright pink and purple and set right over the vineyards in the distance. Im starting to fall in love with Sicilian sunsets, I'm gonna miss em like crazy when I leave. Oh yeah, did I tell you....I DONT WANNA LEAVE!!! I took this leg of the drive again through Agrigento and all the way to base. It was pieceful, but tiring. We got to Agrigento and all of the temples and columns were lit up. That was the first time I had ever seen them lit up in real life, you always see them like that on the postcards though. Only two more hours til home on the crazy badly lit roads, but we finally made it. I hit rain about 30 minutes from base, so we were really priveleged to have such a beautiful weekend. I was so tired during the last few miles home, but I got there safely around 11pm. We unloaded and cleaned out the car and I headed to bed. I had to wake up early tomorrow morning and return the car by 8:30am. This was one of the best weekends since I've been here and I was so happy I got to finally see that side of the island. I would have really missed out on some gorgeous scenery if I hadn't made this trip.
Temple C at Selinunte
Temple C with the remains (behind the temple) of what is known to be ther largest Greek temple in the World.
My Favignaga feet (1 of 3 of the Egadi Islands)
Leaving Favignana headed back to Trapani on the hydrofoil.
View from our campground in San Vito Lo Capo. It is wonderful on the West Side.
And this is why it is going to be so hard to leave Sicily!
This is Segesta, the Amazing Race was filmed here! In the top left hand corner is the Doric Temple, which might I add, is in great condition.
The reason this temple looks practically perfect is the fact that it is the only temple here in Sicily that is no ruined by the weather. Its in the bottom of a valley and far away from the ocean (no wind or water damage really).
This is the ampitheater where the Amazing Race held their Road Block!
A really neat lighthouse along the coast on the way to Eraclea Minoa
Eraclea Minoa is known for its gorgeous sand beach and white bluffs. (Secret: There aren't too many sand beaches in Sicily)
Beach feet
Ahh, the famous white bluffs. They were quite breath-taking.
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