Trapani (Part 1)

Departing Favignana after the fog cleared   

We had originally planned to leave our anchorage off Isolo Preveto relatively early in the morning of Thursday 8 June but the overcast skies and light southerly wind didn’t encourage fast activity. And then, just as we were about to weigh anchor, we saw a dense fog bank rolling in towards us, so it seemed more sensible to stay put and play with the riding sail than to move out through the rock-strewn edges of Favignana. Adjusting the riding sail to set slightly lower and further aft, a better position for it, was a half-hour’s iterative process – changing one thing required an adjustment elsewhere and a further tweak meant undoing the first change, and so on. Clearly, we bored the fog bank though and it rolled off to annoy someone else, leaving us with a perfectly setting riding sail and a view of the way out of the anchorage.

Isola Maraone   

We motored along the south coast of Favignana and then up the eastern side, admiring the turquoise blue of the water close in on that coast. As the wind built slightly, we unrolled the genoa and sailed gently dead downwind in only about 8-9 knots for Trapani. En route, we passed a reasonable distance of the most easterly of the Egadi Islands, Isolo XX and Maraone. They are both quite low lying but the old tuna processing buildings on Isola Maraone make it seem something like a ship from a distance.

Approaching Trapani harbour   

Trapani was originally founded by the Elymians, as the port for the sacred city of Érice (which we would visit whilst we were here). Later, it flourished as a port for the Phoenicians and gradually Trapani took over in importance from Érice. Today the port is still busy, primarily with ferries and hydrofoils plying back and forth to the Egadi Islands, but also with fishing boats and large container carriers. As we approached, we kept a careful lookout for commercial traffic and made sure that we called Port Control for clearance to enter in good time [Ed: we had been warned that failure to do so would result in a hefty fine].

View from our mooring in Trapani – the Torre di Ligny   

We moored up at Vento di Maestrale Marina, where 2 very helpful and very good ormegiatores (Italian mariñeros) helped us with our lines. Our mooring was right on the western edge of the old town, close to the old lighthouse and very conveniently located for a daily (in summer) fish and produce market.

But that afternoon and evening we just took the opportunity to have a wander around and get out bearings a little. Trapani took a real hammering in 1943 so whilst there are areas of faded elegance, large areas of the city, even in the ‘old’ centre, are much more modern. However, Trapani, like most of Sicily, is not a wealthy place and away from the main shopping streets, even these more modern buildings are beginning to crumble.

Whilst we were out we booked a table at the well-known Ristoranto Calvino, a pizzeria that has been going since 1946. We had to wait for our table and had a good view of the pizza production line as well as of the serving staff rapidly cutting the finished pizzas into bite-sized chunks with a big, curved ‘see-saw’ blade, rather than into the more conventional slices.

It’s a very local restaurant and when we were shown to our table, we found, to our surprise, that the restaurant is divided up into a series of small rooms, a bit like being in someone’s house (which is perhaps how it all started) each with up to 4 tables in it. Once we were shown to our table (just as the room was emptying), the other tables were quickly cleared and groups seated at them too. Working room by room is clearly how the waiting staff keep a handle on the orders. The pizzas were very good but not particularly thin and crispy based, which was not what we had expected when we had booked. However, pizza, like pasta, probably evolved as a way of making the tasty bits of a meal (the meat, tomatoes, cheese etc) go further so it wouldn’t be a surprise to find out that a ‘traditional’ pizza actually does have quite a thick crust – the Italian version of filling up on bread.

And so, replete with pizza and a good house wine, we made our way back to BV with great plans for a morning visit to the market.

Trapani, Sicily, Italy