West coast Sicily Day 8 Dattilo, Balestrate beach, Castellamare del Golfo and Scolpello

The next  morning we get off to an early start and go to the fish market to stock up on fish........Luckily, even though it's Monday it's open and there is a good selection of locally caught fish. We get enough for a couple of days and are quick to get back to the apartment and then down to the port.
Strangely, because we usually don't, we have decided to rent a car. This is because Andrea has found an irresistible special offer all inclusive full coverage at a very low price and because it will allow us to visit some places which would be really complicated to try and reach by public transport. We have agreed to meet at the port to pick up the car and when we see it we can understand why it was a special offer. A car which can pass totally unobserved in Sicily, i.e. old, scratched and dilapidated, one of the windows doesn't work properly and when I open the boot and incautiously remove my hand it falls on my head and nearly knocks me out. The gears are iffy and the interior has seen, let's say, better times. We set off cautiously but gaily. This is a worry free car for the shortish trips we have to do, no fretting it could get damaged (it's so scratched anyway), or that it could attract thieves!

In Sicily as always the traffic is dreadful getting in and out of a city or town and then non-existent. We are soon on the road towards Castellamare  between countryside and sky. 

We follow the signs for Dattilo and turn off the main road into the main street which is pretty deserted except for a couple of shops and the bar - Eurobar - which is our objective. The bar looks to be, just a bar, and nothing special and there's no sign of what we are there for. But the man behind the bar smiles and says the magic words "Cannoli?: the reason why so many people stop off here on the way to or from Trapani is that the Cannoli made in this bar are supposed to be the best in an island full of delicious Cannoli. You get the idea. After a few minutes wait two enormous Cannoli appear with a cappuccino which pales into insignificance in comparison. 

For once we have the presence of mind to take a photo before launching ourselves. Much fortified by this mid-morning meal more than snack we return to the trusty Ford Fiesta and continue on towards our destination - Castellamare del Golfo and in particular the beach of Balestrate. When the whole trip was planned for 2015 we had decided to spend a few days near Balestrate beach and now I'm curious to discover if it's as nice as it looked.

We park easily on the side of the road and find a tunnel under the railway onto the beach, which is mostly deserted except for a few solitary fishermen and one or two sunbathers. We find a  quiet spot and I have a swim. The water isn't San Vito lo Capo but it shelves down gently and is warm and clean so I am able to stay in for quite a while and swim and enjoy it very much. Time for a picnic and a rest and then we go back to the car to head for Castellamare for coffee.

Once again parking is no problem, it's definitely low season now and there are just a few tourists wandering around after lunch. Castellamare is an attractive town with a pretty historical centre, gardens, interesting shops and a nice area to stroll around along the small harbour surrounded by fish restaurants. We have to decide where to stay next week and it looks like a few days here before heading to Palermo could be a good idea.

Back in the car we head for Scopello, stopping on the way along the road for the fantastic views over Castellamare and Balestrate beach. Scopello is justly famous for the rocks and views but well-nigh impossible to get near to without first paying for parking (which we do, oddly) and then paying to go down to the ex-Tonnara which is private and expensive  (and which we don't). The 'gate' is right up at the top which means you can't even get a glimpse of the view without paying. We follow some well-beaten tracks among the vegetation and come out at the top of a cliff where at least we have a good view down. 

We leave it at that, a beautiful place but too exclusive to be worth spending more time on when surrounded by so many beautiful, but much more welcoming, places. The sun is getting lower in the sky and it's time to head back to Trapani for a welcome dinner of fish in our peaceful little apartment.