Selinunte

img_0091[1] — look at the building skills

Yesterday we travelled to Selinunte on the south-west coast of Sicily. We had to do a big shop so had to make a pit stop at Lidl just out of Castelvetrano. The drive a scenic one full of stone houses and huge bridges. The coast popping in to view every couple of kilometres. The bridges were huge one at lest 1990 metres high. We always feel uneasy going over them with all the bridge collapses you hear about. At one stage yesterday we were stopped due to road works on top of one bridge. A nice view but a lit nerve wracking. Arriving at the lidl, I went a little mad getting enough food for two weeks. Returning to the vehicle Jason noticed that oil was leaking from under the engine. Panicking about an engine problem we soon found out that Jason had forgotten to put the oil cap back on after filling it up three days ago in San Leone. So we had driven for 16 minutes to Porto Empedocle with it off not noticing. After a further hour and a half of driving it had covered everything in the engine, it all looks shiny and black. The saving grace was that the cap was still there, which is a miracle after the bumpy drive over many bridges. As we left we travelled down to the archeological park in Selinunte. The largest site in Europe. We asked if we could take the dogs in, which they said yes. Telling us about the pack of strays at the Temple of Heraion. They like to hang out there as a Gucci fashion shoot was taking place. As we approached, the dogs started howling and barking. Echoing off the remaining pillars in the temple. The fashion shoot, spread out with in the temple it was hard to get photos up close. We walked the park huge in size, over to the acropolis and its fortifications. Overlooking the sea it’s quite tranquil. That night we parked up in a car park around the corner for free, a quiet night in the rain. We decided to move on today to Masala, famous for its wines. We parked up for free at the supermarket Deco, free power and water for four hours. We tossed up whether to stay or move on. Not really wanting to stay at the carpark where the gypsy mafia charge even the locals protection. We drove the coast to Trapani. Driving past the salt marshes and seeing pink flamingos. Next local sheep all over the road in a small village, the italian sheep dogs herding them up. We arrived in Trapani. This is where we will stay for a couple of days before visiting Erice 6km away.