On Wednesday, June 14th, we rode the bus south along the coast to the area where sea-salt has been harvested for centuries. Next to an old windmill (formerly used to pump water in the salt pans) we got on a boat to go out to the island of Mozia, ancient Motya, the best-preserved ancient Phoenician site in the world. After a circuit of the southern part of the island, accompanied by a little, black-and-white local dog named Luna, we visited the museum, full of artifacts from the site, including a Greek statue of a young man, which no one is sure how it got to this Phoenician-Carthaginian city.
Then came a “picnic”: another wonderful Sicilian buffet lunch. Oh, the caponata! Oh, the marinated sun-dried tomatoes!
After visiting the windmill-giftshop next to the salt pans, we returned to Trapani.
That afternoon, on our own, Mary Joy and I visited the Purgatorio Church, to see the Misteri, 20 groups of wooden statues, illustrating the passion and death of Christ, to be carried in procession on Good Friday.
Mary Joy did some shopping for crafts, then we took a walk along the seashore from the old fish market to the Bastione Conca.
That night we had dinner (tuna, which the waiter told us was now the principal fish in season) at the Osteria Bettolacia with another couple from the tour. Very good. Lonely Planet was still infallible as far as restaurants were concerned.
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