Last – Trip to Santo Stefano di Camastra and Cefalu – Day 6
Car Rental
Our plans today are to rent a car and head to Racalmuto and then Agrigento Airbnb. So our host from Palermo drove us back to the airport to rent a car promptly at 9:30 am. The process of renting a car is no different than in US. Though we some how missed having to wait behind someone in line. But by the time we left the counter, there were 3 people behind us waiting.
We decided to pay for an extra driver, 10 euros per day. The full insurance was 50 euros per day; the price overall is steep, 1500 euros for 9 days. This is without an extra driver or insurance. This is with supposedly a friends and family discount. We also requested a larger-sized sedan, but the car we got was a low-to-the-ground 4-door hatchback. When we complained about its size, they stated this was the largest vehicle they had. After removing the side ground effect from the back seat and handing it to the clerk, we did a once, twice, three times around the vehicle noting any other possible issues.
We left the counter in the airport and headed back to get the vehicle. When we got there we were introduced to a scene where someone was arguing with the clerk, in English. Their vehicle had broken down on them. They assured them all would be handled for them through the main office. They just handled the receipt of the vehicle. This reassured us that even though we were paying a high additional cost full coverage insurance for the vehicle this was the right thing to do. We all squeezed in to the Peugeot and set out on our way to Agrigento and Racalmuto.
Driving in Sicily
Google Maps was giving us some ways to travel. We decided to take a more scenic route on a lesser highway SS121 to SP84 to SS189 and then to SP18. A few things we were concerned about in regards to the roads in Sicily. First speeding; we did not and do not want any tickets while we are here. But the speed limits are asinine here. The car was equipped to register the current speed limit in a given area. And if you were exceeding it the car would ding incessantly. On some of the main roads we would be holding up a line of cars trying to go the speed limit. And at times the speed limit would drop down to 30 km/hr on the highway. It was crazy!
We were on the main highway and the speed limit was very sporadic. But on the lesser state roads there is a sign with a white circle and red outer border that supposedly means no set speed limit. Here the car would register that we could go up to 90 to 110 km/hr! These are roads that if you went any faster then 30 km/hr you could hit a massive pot hole or dip in the road due to the eroded pavement or debris coming from the hills on to the roads and lose control easily.
Needless to say the “back” roads though paved were precarious. And in regards to scenic. I’m not sure I really felt like we saw anything more scenic traveling the internal part of Sicily on these roads than we may have seen taking the main highway. Most of the internal land is farm lands with older run down buildings. Though we did find a quaint little town called Lercara Friddi and stopped for lunch.
Lunch in Lercara Friddi
It was around 1:30 pm before we stopped and everyone was starving. I looked up a place on google maps. How little did I know what it would take to park in the town where the restaurant was located. The main part of town was perched on a side of a hill with narrow streets but eventually it worked out. The lunch was ok. We had some prosciutto with buffalo mozzarella and stewed eggplant for appetizers. Then everyone ordered pasta and I had a flattened steak. Very simple but good. We then headed to Racalmuto and got there around 2:30 pm.
Lercara Friddi seemed like a nice family oriented town. We did a little research on the town as we ate. The town was established by an Armenian entrepreneur Leonello Lercaro in the late 1500s. Then in the early 1800s it became a sulfur mining town.
Racalmuto Legacy
We were going to Racalmuto because my father-in-law’s great-grandfather was an artist that helped paint the local theatre there in the late 1800s. We knew we wanted to see it before our trip started. So my wife had emailed them about visiting, but we never heard back. We weren’t very hopeful.
Upon arrival to the theater location, I started snapping pictures of the outer building of the theater when I noticed that a side door was open. Excitedly I alerted everyone. We entered a room selling tickets to the theater’s events. They were open! The man and his colleague spoke little English, but with some phone translators’ help, we were able to share our story and get inside!
The Regina Margherita Theater was quite amazing with it’s painted frescos and ceiling. It was a very intimate theater with red velvet seats and booths aligning the walls to maybe handle 100 to 150 people. There were paintings lining all areas of the theater. It wasn’t hard to imagine my father-in-law’s great grandfather working on the paintings so many years ago.
We had a great interesting conversation with the man who mentioned he was a regular vacationer in US with his family where his daughter was his translator. We promised to meet him on his next vacation down to Florida. My father-in-law exchanged informstion with him. We then jumped back in the car and headed to Agrigento.
By the time we got to the Airbnb and unpacked it was around 7 pm. We did a quick walk along the water and the shops and restaurants close by to get a feel for the place. We then grabbed a gelato, ultimately deciding to skip dinner and get to bed early after the long day.
Next – Exploring Agrigento: Valley of the Temples and Scala dei Turchi – Day 8
