We were able to sleep in this morning and didn’t have to meet until 9:30, which was a nice change of pace.
Mazara del Vallo was founded before 600 BC by the Phoenicians, who came from what is now Lebanon. The Arabs ruled the area for a little over 200 years before the Normans arrived. Rather than driving the Arabs out, the Normans allowed them to remain, and Mazara still has a substantial Muslim population today. That history has given the city a distinctly multicultural character, and our guide told us that people here are generally very tolerant of different ethnicities and religions.
One of the most interesting reminders of that history is the Kasbah, the old Arab quarter. The area was largely abandoned after a series of earthquakes, including major earthquakes in 1968 and 1981. In 2009, the mayor decided it was time to bring the Kasbah back to life. Since he is an artist himself, he invited artists to help beautify the neighborhood. Slowly—very slowly—the area has been coming back to life.
We also stopped in a church that was about as far from understated as you can get. It was completely over-the-top Rococo, with elaborate decorations everywhere you looked.
Here are some pictures of the Kasbah and the church.
After walking around the Kasbah, we went to the Dancing Satyr Museum. In 1998, some local fishermen discovered a 2,000-year-old Greek statue of a dancing satyr in the sea.
By this point, though, I was starting to notice that I wasn’t feeling quite right. Unfortunately, there was a cold going around the group, and it seemed I might be coming down with it.
After visiting the museum, we met the captain who found the Dancing Satyr. He told us about the discovery, but by then I was feeling considerably worse. I ended up sleeping through most of his talk. Not exactly my most attentive!
Then we went to a home-hosted lunch, and it turned out that our host was the same captain who had found the Dancing Satyr. His wife died about 10 years ago, so his girlfriend did the cooking. He didn’t speak much English, and his girlfriend spoke a little, so her daughter’s boyfriend and his friend joined us to help translate. It was quite a group effort just to have a conversation!
The food was good, but by then I was feeling worse and didn’t eat much.
We returned to the hotel, and I immediately took a nap. I woke up around 6:00 and Anne and I went to the pharmacy and then out for gelato. Another beautiful sunset. Apparently, even feeling sick wasn’t enough to keep me from gelato.
I was back asleep by 8:00. Clearly, my body had decided that sightseeing was over for the day.