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your tales : ERICE AND TRAPANI


After a few days Rosa and her aunt went back to their village, the Torino people had to return to work and I decided to go to Sardegnia. I spent the day in Trapani and Erice first as I was to sail from Trapani on an overnight ferry. Trapani was a surprise. It is not described as much in my guidebook but is perhaps one of my favourite places in Sicily. It is built on a peninsula jutting out to sea that gets narrower and narrower so the streets become more condensed, again they have that Arabic style and lots of markets.






I still had my backpack with me so I hiked out of town through a very seedy industrial area till I spotted the mills. To get there I decided to cut through a back street, in retrospect a bad idea but I did not want to walk another few kilometres around. As I walked down this street it became increasingly quieter, no one was around, and it was filled with rubbish. There were old matresses, chairs, boxes, paper everywhere and the ground also became increasingly littered with condoms. It was obviously a prostitutes area and I spotted a few men in cars circling the block. I was getting more worried but I was so close to the mills now there was no turning back.


I quickly got a few shots and almost began running out of there. I had the road in sights to freedom when a dog came out chasing me followed by about 20 others. There were swarms of them. I fought them off with my bag then would turn and run while they came at me. I was almost surrounded when a man came past in a car and they took off. I was so grateful I laughed at myself. What a sight, running through condoms with a backpack trailing behind me and 20 dogs!
Erice was a little medieval town atop a hill nearby with lovely views to the sea and three castles. I had to pee behind the church (it was siesta and I was desperate) and wandered around at leisure, stopping to try and draw the churches and enjoying the cool air up there. Lovely place. I sailed from Trapani that night on a huge ferry, reminding me of Titanic. It was gigantic. I was sorry to be leaving Sicily. I really feel I know it well by now, it's vague intricacies and way of life.