Sciacca
Scott-Free’s blog
Steve & Chris
Wed 27 Aug 2008 15:00
37:30.214N
13:04.679E
Sciacca, which is
just sixty miles or so along the southern coast of Sicily, is a breath
of fresh air after Trapani. It has a large harbour which is shared between
the local fishing boats on one side and a marina on the other. We arrived
just as the sun was setting after a cracking sail along the coast, and were
welcomed to a pontoon belonging to a local yacht club and helped with the
lines. Don't worry about checking in tonight, we were told, tomorrow will
do.
So we gave the boat
and ourselves a quick shower, and went in search of food. We met a local
couple who didn't speak a word of English, but we just about understood that
there was a good trattoria just along the road from the marina. It turned
out to be just what we needed as, with a set menu, there was no need for us to
try to work out what to order, when neither of us has a word of Italian.
Well, Steve does a wonderful impression of an Italian speaking, but it is
totally incomprehensible, being made up of all the Italian words he can think
of! The meal consisted of fourteen courses, including sea urchin (not
particularly tasty) and several that we didn't recognise but enjoyed eating
anyway!
Having been checked
in this morning by a very friendly vice-president of the yacht club who took
Steve on a drive around the town looking for the local electronics guy
(unsuccessfully unfortunately, so the radio will continue to need the emergency
aerial), we went for a walk around the town. It is a mixture of old and
rundown buildings and modern well-kept ones, and the shopping centre has some
quite expensive looking shops located in some pretty rundown buildings. We
stopped in the main square which has a balcony overlooking the bay, and stopped
for a beer/coke at one of the pavement cafes. From where we sat we looked
down on the boat in the harbour, and pondered over how lucky we are - we are
taking nothing for granted - we know we are extremely lucky in doing something
that most people only dream of.
Whilst sitting
there, we discovered a treat neither of us has come across before - brioche con
gelato - literally an icre-cream roll! Several people around us were
tucking into them, so we had to have a try. This one is filled with
pistachio and coffee ice cream and it was delicious!
The people on the
boat next to us, a Canadian boat in its second season in the Med, recommended a
pizza place up in the town square, where the pizzas are cheap and tasty, so
that's where we will head for dinner tonight. We have booked in for two
nights (at less than the cost of one in Trapani) and will be heading for
Syracusa on the East coast tomorrow.