We arrived in Trapani, Sicily by flying through the perfect XC sky. Little fluffy clouds, which I wished I had photographed, but my camera wasn’t handy and the seat belt sign was on. It was actually really windy on the ground. We’ve been to Italy four times together in the past, but never hired a car because we’ve been too scared and public transport is so good. This time we wouldn’t be able to see the things we wanted to easily without a hire car. The excess waiver insurance was nearly as much as the car hire (the usual car hire scam – say there’s a massive excess, 900 Euros in this case, then charge a huge amount to remove it), but we grudgingly bought it, just to be on the safe side (and having seen Italian drivers before).

Our first hotel was in Selinunte, southeast of Trapani, so we headed to Marsala (as in the famous wine), which is on the way. Barely 10 minutes out of the airport and I was a complete nervous wreck, pressed as far back into my seat as possible and gripping the door handle so hard I was getting white fingers. There is no giving way in Sicily, it’s whoever is the most assertive/suicidal who gets to go first. People are constantly pulling out in front of you, regardless of how fast you are going. Even if the gap between you and the car in front is only one car length. After a couple of days I realised that Sicilian drivers don’t care about what’s happening behind them. The only thing that matters is what’s happening ahead. And whatever is ahead needs to be overtaken as fast a possible, regardless of oncoming traffic, blind bends, pedestrians, etc. Pedestrians on the other hand, are the most nonchalant I have ever seen. They step into the road regardless of what’s coming, and saunter across without a care, usually stopping halfway to pinch some toddler’s cheek, have a loud argument or greet acquaintances, while all around them cars screech past, swerving around them by inches.

Within a couple of hours behind the wheel Geoff had found his inner Italian. He treated the whole place as one big dodgem track and surprisingly this made things safer. By day three I had mastered wild gesticulating and shouting at other drivers, which allowed me to make a useful contribution to the driving effort.

The Rough Guide to Sicily had a nice write-up of Marsala, so we went there, but it being siesta time, everything was closed. We eventually found the tourist information office to get a map and some info, but they had moved, leaving only their new address on the notice on the door. Since we didn’t have a map we couldn’t locate the new address! I wonder if the lack of customers in the next few months will eventually alert them to the flaw in their thinking…

There’s not a lot to do in Marsala in the middle of the afternoon, so we walked around the old centre and headed for the next place recommended in the guide: Mazara del Vallo.

Mazara turned out to be a one-square wonder. It’s a lovely square, to be sure, but the main tourist attraction was the remains of an old castle (“spectacularly illuminated at night”), but this was a small piece of wall barely higher than me and only twice as wide. So on to Selinunte.

Selinunte is the site of some spectacular Greek ruins and the town is a seaside resort. We arrived after nightfall and went to look for our two star accommodation. We have a history of incompetence in locating our hotels in Italy and we continued this trend. Thankfully we had packed our sat nav (sign posting is atrocious in Sicily) and although we put in the correct address, no hotel. We drove around the one way system three times, with sinking hearts. Selinunte was a bit of a dump. Finally, we managed to locate the hotel, which was closed! However, they directed us to a posh hotel just round the corner and when I handed in my reservation they confirmed we had come to the right place. So we paid for our two star hotel, but got a free upgrade. Result! This was a four star hotel, with fancy minimalist interior, leather couches, etc. The view from the window showed the sea and the pretty harbour. Not such a dump after all!

See photos of today.

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