8:15pm: sitting at the lovely osteria la bettolacia, which comes highly recommended basically everywhere. After a long day. And it's a good thing I reserved because they're sending everyone away.
Took it easy this morning and had no breakfast mishaps. The owner said he'd do breakfast early for me tomorrow so I can catch my bus, which luckily leaves from only a couple blocks away rather than from the main terminal. Anyway after Belfast, I wandered a bit and figured out the bus situation to the ruins of Segesta. The bus left at 10:20 and took about 40 min. Most of these people on the bus were from a school in Iowa making a trip in southern Italy for a class.
Segesta has basically two main sights about a mile apart, a theatre perched high on a hill, and a well-preserved doric temple. I took the bus up the hill to the theatre and then walked back down, which was definitely the way to do it. Then I went to the temple, which truly is stunning in its preservation as well as location, perched high on a ravine. It's hard not to wonder what was going through the mind of the Greeks when they decided to build this stuff there.
Got a salami and cheese sandwich at their cafe for lunch and caught the 1:10pm bus back. It arrived around 2. I planned to take the cable car up to Erice next and I probably should've gotten off the bus earlier to catch the city bus to the cable car station. And this is where Italian public transport gets confusing!
But I took the bus back to the terminal and then walked over to the city bus stop. I wasn't sure if you could buy a bus ticket on the bus until I saw another line go by and it said what the cost of getting a ticket on board was. Stood for quite a while waiting for the bus 23 that goes to the cable car and it wasn't coming but a private bus that goes all the way up to Erice came by and I was feeling impatient so I just got on. It was a windy, death-defying 40 minute ride up.
Erice is like another world, sleepy and medieval and pretty neat all around. I got a couple pastries for a snack at the famous Maria Grammatica, supposedly one of the best pastry shops in all of Italy. I can't say it seemed that special but maybe I got the wrong thing.
Wandered the town, going into a few of the many churches, and around the castle though I didn't bother going in. Took the cable car back down as it's much faster. To say it was not fun at all would be an understatement of epic proportions especially when it moved around in the wind. The bus stop back is right outside the cable car station and one came right away so going back was much quicker and easier than going up! Went back to the b&b for a few quick minutes and then set out to wander and watch the sunset before dinner.
10:00pm: back at the b&b after a delicious dinner. I had the antipasto starter again with caponata, cheese, olives, etc. Then I had the local busiate pasta with a tomato sauce that had mushrooms and guanciale (like bacon) in it. I also treated myself to an almond semifreddo for dessert. Not bad for 30€ total for a lot of food and wine and water at a fancier place.
Tomorrow it's off to Palermo, somehow my last stop. Ridiculous how vacation always flies by so quickly!!
Today: 24,609 steps, 9.79 miles
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