I got up early and first went to pay my parking ticket at post office. They have an interesting system. If you pay the ticket within 5 days it is considerably reduced. Then I drove to Pachino to drop off the keys. The route went towards Ragusa (beautiful scenery) and then went along the coast through Comiso, Vittoria, Gela, and Lentini. I found the drive through this part of Sicily ugly. It was relatively flat, no terraced fields but rather large tracts of flooded fields. The farm houses were either cement blocks or stucco. And furthermore, there was heavy truck traffic. The air was polluted (either the diesel fuel from the trucks or the oil refineries in Gela).
After Licata, at least we were going up the mountain towards Argento, so my spirits rose too. As I drove by the Valle del Templi, I could see several Greek Temples; however, I did not stop because it was getting late.
I drove through Sciacca and then to Menfi where I phoned Eleanora, my second host. She arrived in 10 minutes and drove me through the tiny winding rutted roads lined with artichoke fields and tall sea grass to an ocean front villa “to die for” on Via delle Conifere. I understand why she said to meet her at the edge of town and follow her to the villa; I would never have found it on my own. The sun was just setting on the ocean, flocks of birds (maybe starlings) were swirling, the doves were cooing, and the wind brought me the odour of pine trees and rosemary. The villa consists of two small attached houses (in total sleeps 12) and a huge terraced garden with meandering paths lit by carriage lamps. There are two gated entrances, one to a small country road the other to a private beach (50 meters away). There are only two neighbors, one in residence with a dog and 2 cats that come to visit. I made the bed and went to bed. However, I had trouble sleeping because of the continuous sound of the waves coming in from the open window overlooking the small private beach
Malta
