Iconic Scopello Shots

Our first B & B was in Scopello - we are now in a fantastic agriturismo in the middle of Sicily. But I decided to go in the Scopello direction first because we were flying into Palermo, I knew we would be exhausted, I didn't want to deal with a city, and this was about 30 minutes from the airport, and seemed like it would be a good, quiet place to get ourselves rejuvenated and a good base for seeing the things in Western Sicily (Erice, mostly) that I'd pegged.

I'll have more about the specifics of those days in a bit, but now I need to head to the local Carrefour (Wal-Mart type store) for a few things.

Before we left Scopello, of course we had to go down to the Tonnara  - Google "Scopello" in image search and that's what will come up - those rocks jutting up from the sea.

In fact, I sat through Ocean's Twelve the week before we left because I'd heard part of it was filmed in Scopello, and unless I missed something, that "part" was about 30 seconds at the end which was fillmed at the Tonnara.

It's a little cove, with no beach, only stone platforms on the shore - but that does not stop anyone from going there, lounging and swimming. Sicily's shores are full of little coves, nooks and crannies, some rocky, some beachy.

One of the great pleasures of traveling is not only the physical sites, but the sights of how people live. There is much that is the same, but there are also differences, great and small. But the "differences" are minor, for what is - is. This is how people are and what they do, and it is interesting and absorbing for its own sake. That hour or so at the Tonnara gave us a good chance to watch Italian families in action - in this case two men teaching their little boys - both about 4 or 5 - how to swim. One little boy in a suit, another nude but for his swimming shoes, both with goggles, taking deep breaths, holding on to their fathers' hands, enthusiastically plunging into the waves, clear cool water embracing them and letting them go, back safe.