Long travel day from Modena to Agrigento, our next stop in Sicily. We were really exited as we neared our destination and caught our first glimpse of the impressive UNESCO Valley of the Temples, which includes the oldest existing Greek temples out of Greece and the remains of a buried metropolis.
We decided to save our visit to the Temples for the next day, and spend the rest of this travel day at the pool.
And checking out the bartender’s versions of Aperol Spritz and Limoncello Spritz. I have had an epiphany – and have converted to the Limoncello side (not a surprise to anyone who knows me). The guys needed beer . . .
Bright and early this morning, we headed towards the Valley of the Temples for opening time of 9:00 am. It was already hot.
For anyone wondering if it’s still hot in Sicily at this time of year, I can confirm – it’s hellish hot!! Even though the locals think it has cooled off a lot from the hellish summer heat (which it has) and may be wearing an extra layer.
We wisely chose the option that has us paying 3 euro each for a taxi to the top of the site, thus having the walk through it be downhill.
Just to be walking around and amidst these ancient buildings was truly amazing and an experience right up there with seeing the Parthenon and Acropolis in Athens, which we did on our honeymoon, 40 years ago.
We (gratefully) made our way back down to our car, but near the end we happened upon a Medieval display of clothing, tools and remedies. They were just getting set up, but Joan got this amazing photo of these characters.
I got the lesser shot, from behind.
I thought this one was fun though, these two were asking a Medieval character for directions and he was happy to oblige.
The cactus pears are kind of cool, but not the easiest to get a great photo of. Too much direct sun – the bane of all photographers.
The food here in Western Sicily is a bit different than what we had experienced in Eastern Sicily. More meat, less pasta and pizza, caponata (broad bean soup) and some very interesting translations that I should have been making note of along the way. Last night I had “cube meat with ash oil” and it was actually just a grilled piece of meat and then there were the “Sicilian style pork bags”. I will let you all take your best guesses on that one!
Tonight we wanted to sit outside with a view (our hotel caters to big tour groups and the restaurant is in the basement!), so on the recommendation of the concierge, we walked to a nearby restaurant whose name we can’t pronounce – lots of “g”s.
This was the view along the way:
Dinner was amazing – get ready for some serious food porn, start with the warm tomato and burrata salad:
Don and I had our first beef Wellingtons, they were so good. A little puréed potato would have been a nice addition, but it was absolutely delicious.
The pool area back at our hotel was extremely inviting, but when dinner doesn’t start until 7:30 pm, it isn’t over until half past bedtime, so you can take the Canadian out of Canada but you can’t take the Canada out of the Canadian. Or something like that.
Stay tuned for our next adventure – heading to Trapani tomorrow.
Jan and Don Travel the World 