Mozia and Marsala

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May 1 2008, Labour Day in Italy

During the night we heard a fair amount of noise, but when we got up at 7 this morning all was quiet although we were fairly close to the city centre. The telecabine didn’t start working when it should done. Then we realised the date was May 1, another public holiday!

We moved on down the west coast into a patchwork of salt pans. unfortunately the visitor centre which would have explained how the salt was extracted was closed. We were however able to visit Mozia island in the shallow Stagnone lagoon to look at the remains of a Phoenician settlement excavated in the 19th century by an Englishman Joseph Whitaker.

As we left the car park the van bottomed on a metal bar across the road and on inspection I saw liquid dripping from underneath the van. I had a fairly long moment of panic and distress but I now believe it was condensate from the air conditioning unit. We hope that no damage has been done.

Our next stop was Marsala a 16th century town well known for its dessert wine. But we arrived at lunch time and with it being a public holiday the place was very quiet. We thought we would have to leave town without trying or purchasing any of the wine but as we parked outside the archaeological museum a man rushed up and said he had a wine store which was open just down the street. So we were able to have a tasting and make a purchase.

We stayed the night at Marinella 50k along the coast.

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