Starting point: Sant'Andrea Bonagia

Destination: Agrigento

Distance: 220 km

According to Signore and Signora Commare, I had to see an old Town called Erice. I just had to. So I drove there. The day was hot, too hot to wear the protective leather jacket. The Road leading into the town was curvy, well maintained, not too steep, and with a view of the Sicilian coastline, making the trip amicable. The drivers were following street rules, and the bikers were greeting each other. My body and my soul had recovered, my feet were not hurting anymore, it was easy to drive that day.

Erice is located on top of Mount Erice, overlooking the city of Trapani, the low western coast towards Marsala, Punta del Saraceno and Capo San Vito, and the Aegadian Islands on Sicily's north-western coast, providing spectacular views. I was glad that I had been advised to visit the place. This historic place, with its Greek name, had a lot to offer. A path with fifteen defending towers, narrow rocky streets between stone buildings, several churches, and the Castello de Venere or the Venus Castle. The town has many legends linked to Greek mythology and the local cuisine is influenced by Arabic, Normandic, and Greek invaders.

I met a biker couple from Naples at a parking lot and received advice regarding safety, road conditions, and places I should visit. I also was informed that many roads from Naples to Sicily do not exist, although they appear on maps. I was not able to confirm that since I took the ferry instead of driving.

After Erice, I drove towards Trapani, and later along the coastline to Agrigendo - my next destination. Road SS115 led me first to Marsala, the flat area with a Natural Reserve called Stagnone Lagoon — a marine area with salt ponds. In fact, the western part of Sicily, which I chose to explore, I consider as flat with the hills of the country receding gently as I drove South. Sicily has three principal mountain chains which are part of the Appenines and I drove through none of them. I could only imagine how spectacular it would have been to drive along Etna mountain but this I had to leave for another trip.

Flat landscape, temperatures that were hitting a level of 39 Degrees Celsius, blueish calm water, small sluggish coastal towns, and inland rather then coast line roads. Although I liked that calm day, I was missing the roads which would have led me unexpectedly to outstanding, scenic places. Well maintained inland roads, not defined but rather forced me stay on the main roads. Few attempts to drive toward the coast via small not well marked roads led me to hidden insignificant towns with dead end roads.

Around 4 pm I arrived to Agrigento, a city on the southern coast of Sicily and one of the leading cities during the golden age of Ancient Greece.

I was glad to see that my host's house was located just next to the beach. I parked my Harley in the courtyard, went to my room, changed from biker clothes into a summer dress, and went to the beach. I was not eager to drive the next day. Actually I was not really in mood to drive further along the coast line. I decided to stay an additional day in Agrigento and visit the valley of temples, which the city was quite famous for. The rest of the day, I spent chilling out at the beach, eating fruits and local street food. There wasn´t a single cloud above my head and calm blueish water of the Tyrrhenian Sea blended with the sky making the horizon almost invisible.