Paddy Agnew, Rome Correspondent, usually heads south to report on the Mafia. This time it's for a holiday, in an area that locals flock to
IT IS 11AM ON A July Saturday. We are sitting in the main street of San Vito Lo Capo, a little resort town in westernmost Sicily. Life moves peacefully, with small numbers of holidaymakers, complete with beach gear, making their way past the small, square whitewashed houses to the inviting sea at the end of the street.
In the intense heat there is no rush, no frenzy. By comparison with some of the Mediterranean's most popular destinations, in Spain, Portugal or Greece, this place seems relatively free of the madding crowd of stomping, camera-snapping, beer-swilling, gum-chewing tourists. There are holidaymakers, all right, but most of them are Sicilian, minding their manners in a quiet, reserved, yesteryear sort of way.
Sitting on the pavement, with a limpid blue sea set against stunning rugged scenery, we wonder why we do not travel to Sicily more often. We have been based near Erice, close to the port town of Trapani, for the past few days. It is hard not to be won over by the rich tapestry of the Sicilian experience: heat, a lively late-night street life, exotic food and towns that reflect Roman, Greek, Arab, Norman, Bourbon and other influences. Given that Trapani is now a Ryanair destination from Dublin, that experience seems destined to become ever more popular with the Irish.
Yet, for those of us who live on the Italian mainland, Sicily often seems a difficult destination, a place the foreign correspondent visits only when he has to write about the Mafia. This is both understandable and short-sighted. Sicily has been around a lot longer than the Mafia.
Take the Chiesa Madre in San Vito, just beside us. Square and enormous in profile, it is a splendid reminder of how different is Sicily from the rest of Italy. Having begun life as a fortress against raiding Saracens, the building became a shrine to San Vito, a third-century Sicilian martyr and Christian saint allegedly buried there. Soon the Chiesa Madre was too small to cope with the huge numbers of pilgrims who came to pray at the shrine. The townspeople solved that problem with ease: they built a bigger church right over the old one. You can still see this curious church-within-a-church.
Or take Erice, just up the road from Trapani. A hillside fortress town, built on a plateau 750m (2,500ft) above sea level, Erice is a labyrinth of narrow, cobbled streets surrounded by imposing, impenetrable fortress walls. With stunning views across the sea, Erice is one of those places that will explain to you just what people are talking about when they wax on about the light in Sicily.
The town is a popular tourist attraction, as is clear from the number of craft shops (pottery, jewellery and rugs are recommended). In the car park outside the town an elderly trader has set up shop on his large, converted estate car, where the goods - dried fennel seeds, hazelnuts, honey, pistachios - are sheltered from the torrid Sicilian sun by an old sheet.
He looks so different that the intrepid reporter wishes to take a photograph of him. We ask would he mind. "Yes, I would. I don't eat from the pleasure of others."
As we said, Sicily is different. When we return to the car park, after a long walk around Erice, he is still fuming about our cheek in wanting to photograph him. Indeed, he and the Baroness engage in a lively exchange of pleasantries, threats and other imprecations. We move on, although not without noticing how two huge transmitter masts right on the edge of town impinge on an otherwise idyllic landscape.
Fortunately, our car-park retailer is the exception that proves the rule. Wherever we go in and around Trapani, we are greeted with unfailing courtesy, friendliness and good manners. For example, there is the little fish restaurant, down on the harbour in Trapani, where the fact that five of us turn up looking for a meal well after midnight is simply no problem. Just to remind us of how close we are to North Africa, the restaurant's basic plate is couscous, that spicy dish of steamed semolina and meat stew.
Trapani turns out to be another pleasant surprise. On the outskirts it looks horrendous, yet another monument to corrupt, Sicilian-style local government, where each badly designed building is uglier than the other. Yet downtown Trapani is not only handsome, in a very Baroque way, but also late-night lively, with families and children out for a midnight stroll and an ice cream.
For those of you who like your own transport, a mild word of warning. Take it easy when driving around Sicily, because neither the roads nor the drivers are quite what northern Europeans expect them to be. Mind you, with towns such as Erice, San Vito Lo Capo and Marsala all within easy drives of Trapani, a car is well worth the bother. (By the way, I know of two young Irish women who got lost and stopped to ask directions. Unfortunately for them, the "gentleman" of whom they asked the way sent them down a cul-de-sac where he duly reappeared ready to relieve them of their wallets. So be careful.)
A final thought. Whatever else you do in Sicily, make sure you try the desserts. Especially recommended are the cannoli (yes, they feature in a famous opera scene in The Godfather: Part III).
A final, final thought. A few days after we returned to Rome we noticed that the Guardia di Finanza, or fiscal police, had just sequestered three apartments and a residence hotel in San Vito Lo Capo, all of them apparently owned by the imprisoned godfather Bernardo Provenzano, who had finally been arrested in April 2006, after 40 years or more on the run. Sicily is Sicily.
Where to stay, where to eat Hotels
There are some splendid hotels around Trapani. Here are three of them.
Baglio Santa Croce, Valderice, 00-39-0923-891111, www.bagliosantacroce.it. A baglio is a sort of fortified country house. This one, close to the historic town of Erice, has been elegantly and intelligently renovated. With an excellent restaurant and good swimming pool, it offers a spectacular view of the sea at the Golfo di Cornino.
Tonnara di Bonagio Hotel, Valderice Mare, 00-39-0923-431111. Based in a 17th-century tuna-fishing village, this hotel has been beautifully restored. It too offers an excellent restaurant and impressive swimming pool and is right beside the sea. Offers both hotel rooms and self-catering facilities.
Elimo Hotel, Erice, 00-39-0923-869377, www.hotelelimo-trapani.com. Small, cute hotel right in the centre of magical Erice. No swimming pool, but an excellent restaurant.
Eating
Trapani and surrounding area offer plenty of possibilities, with the couscous and the terrific range of Sicilian sweets not to be missed. Trapani itself has a number of good and cheap places in the extensive port area. For something slightly more upmarket you could try:
Ai Lumi Tavernetta, Trapani, 00-39-0923-872418, or Taverna Paradiso, Trapani, 00-39-0923-22303.
Go there
Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) flies to Trapani on Wednesdays and Sundays. Sunway Holidays, Topflight, Crystal Holidays and Citalia all have packages to Sicily, with prices from about €599 for a week. Details from your travel agent. " Sitting on the pavement, with a limpid blue sea set against stunning rugged scenery, we wonder why we do not travel to Sicily more often. It is hard not to be won over by the rich tapestry of the experience