Summer in Sicily – Copious amount of Gelato and Sunshine! Trapani, Favagnana Island and Erice

 

 

Trapani (30th June)

We landed into Trapani late at night and after dropping our bags off at the hotel, ventured out into the streets which were full of people enjoying the warm summer night. We were surprised at how busy the streets were, as intially Trapani looked very quiet, with very little traffic on the road. The buildings were lit up by old style lamps, which emphasised the beautiful architecture.

We enjoyed a traditional Sicilian pizza which contained anchovies, pecorino cheese and tomatoes.

 

After a much needed nights rest, we ventured out into Trapani during day light, which was just as impressive as the night before. We wandered around the narrow streets and admired the beautiful churches, monuments and fountains along the way.

 

 We started our day with a satisfying and pocket friendly breakfast

 

 

 

 

We walked through the streets and made our way to the beautiful coast line of Trapani.

 

 

 

The marina and ferry port was a beautiful place to stroll along, taking in the sea air and sights and sounds. From here, ferries to the Egadi Islands depart.

 

 

Favagnana Island (2^nd July)

We arrived into Favagnana Island at 9.30am and made our way to the bike hire store, and hired two bikes at 5 Euros each for the day. We began our day by riding to Lido Burrone beach. The beach was quite small with sand – however was very busy and full of umbrellas. The water was quite clear.

 

 

Next stop, was a small cove which would have been lovely for a dip, however upon closer inspection – was home to hundreds of small jellyfish!

 

 

 

We continued riding, and arrived at the beautiful Cala Azzura beach. With only a small amount of sand, but crystal clear water – this beach was not very big and there were not many people swimming here.

 

 

 

A little further on, we reached Bue Marino beach. This beach was reached via a little path down to caves cut into the sides of the rock and once again, there were not many people swimming, due to the difficult access to the water. The water was also crystal clear. We had a refreshing granita drink here from a small drinks stand, made from half lemon juice and half, freshly squeezed orange juice.

 

 

 

The last stop on Favagnana Island was the very famous Cala Rossa beach. This water was absolutely stunning and there were hundreds of people here, sprawled out on the rocks. Space was limited here and it was quite difficult getting down to the water. No sand at this beach.

 

We had an amazing day on the island and would definitely recommend hiring bikes for the day as you are able to see a lot more this way, than on foot or with the bus/tourist train service. We found that the 9.10am ferry and 4.10pm ferry were good options for us.

Erice (1^st July)

 

Erice was a lovely little town, filled with beautiful cobblestone streets and was our first real taste into the way of Southern Italian life. The city became deserted in the afternoon, when all the locals rest and then reappear later at night for dinner.

 

 

There were some amazing views from Erice of the ocean, out to the Egadi Islands and over the town of Trapani.

 
 

There are many lovely shops and well known pasticceria's around Erice, and we tried 'Mamma Gramattica'. We had a beautiful Genovese – crumbly pastry filled with a delicious rich custard, and a traditional Italian Cannoli.

 Traditional Italian Cannoli

Genovese