Tuesday, June 6, 2017

We escaped the grip Palermo! Despite his initial nervousness to drive a manual car in this insane traffic, Raymond did very well! We hopped on A29, exited to Castellammare del Golfo and drove all the way to San Vito Lo Capo, where we are spending two nights at Hotel Trinacria (www.hoteltrinacria.it), close to the beach.

This is picture perfect! The small town is right on the seaside, at the foot of Monte Monaco, with an incredible view of the bay. It is known as the “Sicilian Caribbean” for its big and beautiful sandy beach, not to mention its awesome sunsets. We took a long stroll on the edge of the water, with me dipping my toes in the Mediterranean warm and gentle waves… divine!

Several things are striking in San Vito Lo Capo: The whole town is very clean. It is also very quiet. In the marina, the water is extremely clear, with no debris of any kind. Absolutely beautiful! They, no doubt, value the tourist industry.

I don’t think I will ever get used to this Italian eating schedule! Breakfast between 8:00 and 9:00, lunch between 2:00 and 3:00, dinner between 8;00 and 10:00. My digestive system is screaming yikes! But when in Sicily… Needless to say that with this kind of schedule, you need a gelato break around 4:00 pm!!! What can I say?

At 9:00 pm, all restaurants are practically full. We got a table at the terrace of Dal  Cozzaro (www.dalcozzaro.it) and had a beautiful meal. Here, you find pasta dishes that are completely unknown to the North American public, and I indulged in Busiate alla Norma, a long spirally pasta prepared with olive oil, eggplant, ripe tomatoes and salted ricotta. I had originally opted for Busiate alla Trapanese, a more traditional  dish, by our waiter, in her wisdom, thought it might be hard for my stomach (I told you it was screaming…) to handle the large amount of garlic used in the recipe. I followed her advice. It was a huge portion and I could’t finish it. That is when another waiter, worried by the amount of pasta left in my plate, approached me to ask if I had been unsatisfied with the food. Reassurance was in order…

Back to our hotel, where a cool room and a comfy bed led to a good night sleep.

Ciao,

Anna