Sep 2 - westward ho

... and 8 hours later we were in Marsala, about as far west as you can get in Sicily and certainly as far west as we expect to get before flying back across the pond.

We (well, I) decided to follow the coastal route on secondary highways rather than the Autostrade which would cut across the island and by Palermo.  We'll be following that route in the opposite direction soon enough.  That was supposed to be after one day in Marsala but we again changed our mind; we'll spend two nights in Marsala and then high-tail it off the island.

There were a couple of times that we hit farm roads, a combination of Garmin corner cutting and me missing a turn and Garmin coming up with an alternate.  One time we rounded a corner and there was a short stretch of roadway ahead of us that brought "really ?" to Sandy's lips.  It was interesting.

All along the roadways there are these cacti dropping fruit, longish like an egg, slightly bigger.  I think that they were at the breakfast table this a.m., sides trimmed.  I'll have to try one tomorrow.

We stopped in a little town around 1:30 pm for lunch, worried that we might have missed the window.  Everything else was closed and of course, not being on the Autostrade, no service centers.  My phone rang -- it was David -- I was surprised to hear it ring as I'd had it on airplane mode most of the time, relying on wifi and wifi calling to get calls (this was the first anyway) and texts.  That wifi calling feature is wonderful.  I've made bunches of calls to the US that simply come under our US plan, using wifi calling.

So 8 hours was a combination of a longer-by-design route (4:30 + 1), miss-routing (add another), lunch (add another). It adds up.  It was a pleasant enough day but we were happy to get out of the car.  The next driving days will b easier on the Autostrade, not as tiring and easier to stop occasionally for, you guessed it, cappuccino.  I sure am going to miss the 1.20 - 1.50 cappuccino's.  Starbucks prices would leave me eating cat food with the money that I'd have left.

The lunch was wonderful.  Yet another grilled squid graced my plate.  I had grilled octopus for dinner.  I'm enjoying my diet of 'pods.  I had a melanzana appetizer; more with the octo and more in my grilled veggies.  Pods and Melanzana 'R Us.  Melanzana and Aubergine are much more intriguing names for this vegetable than eggplant, which describes the shape, more than anything else.

Today we'll explore this area.  This resort is much removed from the fray, so of course we ate here.  We'll have to see what we want to do about dinner as I'm not keen on driving into town, eating and drinking and then driving back.  That would extremely limit my vino intake.

Onward !  8 days from now and we'll be flying back.