East Coast Sicily Day 4 - Capo Milazzo Piscine di Venere

The next day is market day and we are inevitably curious. The market is along the beach road in the other direction from our less than pleasant walk the day before. It's a long market in the sense that the road is narrow and long so there are just two very long lines of stalls one in front of the other. We walk all the way down and all the way back and make a few purchases. A couple of cheap scarves for me, some flip flops for Andrea, some fruit and vegetables. We go back to the apartment to prepare a picnic, then we set off along the promenade to follow the coast road to Capo Milazzo and the Piscine di Venere, some pools in the rocks at the very end of the promontory which become natural swimming pools at low tide.

It's a very pleasant walk along the coast road. There's very little traffic and the views of the sea and Mediterranean landscape are beautiful, gardens along the coast are full of flowers and colour.

It's an easy walk along the east coast of the promontory and then we turn inland and reach the coast on the other side as the promontory narrows. Here the views are of the Eolian isles in the distance. We head down a coastal path right next to the sea. 

The temperature is ideal for walking and at the end we find a providential  wooden bench and table half in the shade with a seaview for our picnic. There are very few people around and it's a very enjoyable lunch break.

After we continue on up and arrive at the very end of the promontory where instead there are quite a few people in, around and looking down at the Piscine di Venere. It's nice but too overlooked to make us feel like a swim 

so we walk a little way back along the top of the headland to the parking area where there are also some restaurants and cafes. We settle for granita and brioche but they aren't as good as at the pasticceria in Milazzo Centre. But it's nice to sit and relax a while and enjoy the sun. After we go down some steps towards the sea again but just as far as the Sanctuary dedicated to Sant'Antonio da Padova. It's cool and quiet inside and we stop a while, the view of the sea from outside is beautiful and the silence is total.

A little reluctantly we start to make our way back to Milazzo, this time we take the main road along the centre of the promontory, but there's quite a bit of traffic and the views aren't as nice except for one or two corners. We pass by the castle area and then head down to the left to our favourite promenade and back to the apartment. An excellent walk, an excellent day.