8:30 a.m. We said goodbye to two cats that had been hanging around outside our window. They were seeking warmth and shelter.
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| Cats outside our window facing the courtyard |
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| Last caffe in Erice |
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| Near the parking area |
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| Cows as we left Erice |
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| View of the sea from Erice |
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| View of Tapani and the sea from Erice
We decided to take La Via del Sale (the Salt Route) between Trapani and Marsala. The salt from the saltpans is considered the best in Italy and has been big business since the 12th century. However, salt production has fallen massively and only a cottage industry remains. At this time of year, the salt is covered with tiles to protect it from the rain. There are also many small decommissioned windmills.
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| Saltpans covered with tiles |
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| Decommissioned windmill
There is a small salt museum in a 300 year old salt worker's house. It will not be open until early March. There was one 16th century windmill nearby that is working today.
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| Museo del Sale and working windmill |
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| No more war |
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| Fake gun
From the saltpans, we were able to have one last look back at Erice, at the top of the mountain. A very special place.
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| View back at Erice |
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| Lots of green |
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| Interesting outcrop
We continued our drive to Agrigento (population 60,000), where we stopped for lunch at a recommended restaurant near the Valle dei Templi (Valley of the Temples). We decided to order the special lunch menu for the Almond Blossom Festival that had started in early February and runs until mid-March.
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| Alonzo getting ready for lunch |
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The menu
 
Dorade with fig balsamic vinegar and pistachios and caponata
Due to time constraints and my gimpy ankle we didn't explore the Valley of the Temples, but we did drive around and saw some of the architectural treasures. The Valley is not really a valley, but rather a high plateau facing Africa over the Mediterranean Sea, with perhaps the most important inventory of Greek architecture outside of Greece. The Temples were built in the 5C BC. At one time the fourth-largest city in the known world, Agrigento, or Akragas as it was then known, was founded by settlers from Gela and Rhodes in 581 BC.
Temple of Concord- one of the best preserved as it was transformed into a church in the 6C AD
Closer look
 
Temple of Hera Lacinia (Juno)- built in 5C BC, but burned by Carthaginians in 406BC; partially re-erected in the early 1990s
We continued our drive, passing Gela, the home of the petrochemical industry. One of the very few places our guidebooks did not have good things to say or recommend.
We finally arrived at our meeting place in Modica where we will be spending the next five nights. We are staying in a wonderful two level Airbnb with two bedrooms and two bathrooms and a small terrace on the second floor. Modica has a population of around 55,000, and is one of southern Sicily's most atmospheric towns. It is also a Unesco site. It has a steeply stacked medieval centre and our apartment can only be reached by walking down narrow streets. Modica is the home of Chiesa di San Giorgio, one of Sicily's most extraordinary baroque churches.
The owner clearly lives in the apartment for part of the year and there are wonderful photos and books in each room.
Our bedroom with antique tile wall
  
Vicky and David's bathroom on the second floor
 
The outside terrace- it was getting dark
 
Another view-- lovely spot
On Monday, we will start our exploration of Modica and surrounding towns.
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