The car is back with no new nicks or scrapes on it! Shane's knuckles are no longer white nor his teeth clenched. We have survived over a week of driving in Sicily!!
Shane has a few hints for anyone wanting to drive here:
1) NEVER drive during rush hour!
2) If the sign says no passing you will be passed. They just cut so close to you that the don't go over the center line.... guess if's OK if they stay on the right side!
3) Speed limits are a guideline - we were told it is "self regulated"
4) Keep mirrors flat and arms in when going through a town.
5) Often the speed is posted as 50km/hr on a road where you could easily go 90... or, as in tunnels... 130km/hr in a 50 zone.
6) My personal favourite is the sign that says "Bande Remoreso"  which means area where lots of accidents happen. Doesn't faze anyone though.
7) People on side roads (where there is a stop sign) don't stop until half their car is in your roadway. Game of chicken?!
8) Stop only means stop if you think it is not safe to proceed.

In other words.... this is a game of chance and we have survived!

I forgot to mention all the 'broken' roads along the way. You can be sailing along at 90km then come to a sign that says 40 then 10 then you drop about 8 inches to another level of pavement while screeching around orange pilons. That could be from earthquakes or perhaps from mud slides...or both. Who knows. All I know for sure is the island is riddled with these obstructions. At one place (near Erice) the road narrows to about 3 meters wide and drops about a foot. Construction has been abandoned on an apartment just below. Our theory is the weight of this huge building in such a precarious place caused the shifting of the road. Ahh... ya gotta love it!

As to my feelings as we leave Sicily. It sounds like I did a lot of complaining but really it is a wonderful place. The food is wonderful. The people are friendly and loud. Like the owner of the B&B we stayed in who thought we would understand his Italian if he spoke louder....my ears are still ringing! He spent the morning going through (page by page) a picture book of local history which included his school class picture and a photo of his grandparents.
ow cute is that?

As to the history of this place. I have a lot of work to do to figure it out. The food is strongly influenced by both Africa and Italy. The peoples are a friendly mixture of Mediterranean peoples. The architecture could include Greek Roman and Modern all in one structure. Then there are the Medieval villages with castles and turrets just down the street from an acropolis.
No one could figure out this place. I can say it leaves me with a feeling of respect for the people who have stuck it out to make their living in this harsh environment. They have my respect.
As for the ravages of war... there are many not the least of which was the mass migration after the war devastated so many of the farms and plantations. Still the culture survives. I think people should be proud to come from such a strong society. Sure there are all the jokes about the mafia still, they have worked out a kind of order that, unfortunately, has not yet extended to the law of the road.
Tomorrow we head off to Malta. See if we can figure them out!