{"id":6139,"date":"2020-10-22T23:03:20","date_gmt":"2020-10-22T22:03:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aleta.life\/?p=6139"},"modified":"2021-04-06T17:38:38","modified_gmt":"2021-04-06T16:38:38","slug":"photos-sicily-road-trip-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aleta.life\/index.php\/2020\/10\/22\/photos-sicily-road-trip-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Photos: Sicily Road Trip – 2"},"content":{"rendered":"
Ragusa: 36\u00b055’33″N 14\u00b044’26″E<\/a><\/h6>\n

Leaving the Valley of Temples and heading southwest along the coast road took us through a couple of towns that we\u2019d considered staying in for the winter. In the end we were happy we decided to look further afield. Licata Marina is a popular spot with cruisers over-wintering in Sicily. I can\u2019t speak for the marina, but the town has a grittiness that is simultaneously intriguing and off-putting.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a certain chaos to driving in Sicily, and it fully manifests itself in urban areas in the busy morning hours. Licata teems with life and drivers dodge scooters, delivery trucks, municipal busses, other cars, and of course humans. The ebb and flow of near-miss traffic is surprisingly well tolerated by local pedestrians. It is a symbiosis borne of decades of evolution.<\/p>\n

People drive like they live in Italy \u2013 proximally and passionately. Speed limits are for foreigners, stop signs for the tiresome, and line markings made for straddling. All this is better experienced in your personal beater, not a nearly new rental car. But we had full insurance and a surprisingly nippy Fiat Panda. A car built for the job.<\/p>\n

Trash lining the roads faded as we climbed the hills towards the ancient city of Ragusa. Bucolic sights, cows, fields being ploughed, and distant vistas over the south coast lifted our spirits. The folds and curves of the land make for deep canyons and vertiginous cliffs. Ragusa perches on two knolls. The old city spreads expansively around the cathedral and university. The new town sweeps out, west towards the highway traversing a ridge.<\/p>\n

Our cottage for the night was lovely. A short set of steps led up to the main living\/dining area. An alcove with two single beds gave way to another set of stairs, the bathroom on the landing, and then the master bedroom at the top of the house.<\/p>\n

Rain from the south brought warmth and humidity to our evening stroll. Late in the tourist season and with universities closed for Covid, the old town felt forsaken. We found a couple of markets open and bought some nosh, along with the best eight-euro bottle of wine obtainable. Dinner was simple, but antipasti makes everything better.<\/p>\n

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