Afternoon at Valle dei Templi
First, breakfast and another spin around Ragusa, then on to Agrigento!
Ibla through the arch to which I made the guys walk and walk to find for this shot. “Oh. It’s literally just an arch in a wall,” said Nikos. “I thought it was going to be something special”. Anyway; I like the photo.
Nikos/goat
San Giuseppe church detail
Breakfast room
Ragusa Ibla
Breakfast
Duct tape fixes everything
Small snack before a big drive
Ragusa street
Pride flag, Catholic Church
Nikos and mural
Door
Bell tower
View of Ragusa Ibla
Stream toward timpane
Mural
View from rooftop patio of our hotel room
Fountain detail
Itria Palace Hotel
Santa Maria delle Scale
DIY job
Santa Maria Dell’Itria
Field trip to San Giorgio
Businessman on way to work
Duomo from back
Ragusa hillside
Overlook
Daily street vendor
Conversation Club
AGRIGENTO:
The trip to Agrigento was a bit long from Ragusa; about 2.5 hours. We needed to stop halfway for un caffe.Lori, at least it’s pronounced correctly
Nikos, who has built-in GPS, guided us in. Francesco met us, introducing us to the B&B and his cats.Reception
Office cat
Cat watching a lizard
After freshening up from that long, sweaty car ride, it was time to see some Greek temples at Valle dei Templi.
On the way there, a car cut us off so fast, Joe slammed on the brakes. They curved in front of us, then suddenly their car stopped. Joe started laughing. “Look at this; I think the driver just got fired”. A woman got out of the driver’s side, a man out of the passenger’s side, and they switched spots; the man giving a nod to Joe before he got behind the wheel and drove away. We’re pretty sure this was all for Joe’s benefit.
At the Valle dei Templi, the hoardes had left, and sunset wedding venues were being set up. We hit the perfect window of time.
From “Along Dusty Roads”:
So, in a nutshell, why are there lots of Greek temples in Sicily? And why are they all conveniently in one place?
Various coastal areas of southern Italy were once colonies of the city-states of ancient Greece; collectively, these were known as Magna Graecia (or Great Greece). Culturally and linguistically, they were shaped and reflected the Greeks.
In Sicily, the city of Akragas was founded as a colony in the 6th century BC and developed to become “one of the leading cities in the Mediterranean world”. Its prosperous and pivotal status as the third-largest city within Magana Graecia, according to UNESCO, was clearly demonstrated by the cluster of light honey-coloured Doric temples which dominated Akragas.
Though Akragas is now Agrigento and the Greeks are long gone, it is the extensive remains of their grand 4th and 5th century BC temples which now fall under the umbrella of ‘The Valley of The Temples’.
Not only are the temples tangible testaments to the golden age of the Greeks in Sicily, but they are some of the finest, best preserved examples of the style outside of Greece itself. Indeed, for some, the complex of eight temples comes second only to the Athens’ Acropolis.
Temple of Hera/Juno
Temple gardens
Greek on Greek (Scavi di icona D. Nicola)
Sea view
Goats control the invasive plants
Zeus cariatide
Nikos took his own path—there’s only one way in/out to the parking lot, so I didn’t worry we’d never find each other—and he can climb like a goat with those bicyclist’s calves. I, wearing a sundress (because it’s hot), can hike it pretty well, but it’s nice to get a hand when stepping down from some of the huge rocks. Joe was leaps ahead of me, but a very nice Frenchman looked back and saw my struggle. He took my left hand and right elbow, then, boom—my two feet were on the ground, ready to keep trekking. Merci, Monsieur!
Temple of Concordia
Gated wall
Temple of Castore e Polluce
Scavi and tree
Having seen all of the massive temple grounds and the beginning of two weddings, we were ready to leave. We got back to the B&B, changed clothes, and went to Ruga Reali for dinner. We were famished! And the place got very busy once we arrived.To remind us we HAD sarde beccafico with arancia for our antipasto
Yes; I fed her. She begged, and she’s pregnant.
Tagliatelle
Paccheri with red shrimp and pistachio
Sea bream with pistachio
Tuna steak
Our dinner was amazing, and we didn’t want the night to end once we left the restaurant. We stopped for a nightcap at a bar called Farmacia (Nikos joked that there’s no green cross), where we were directed to an upper patio which looks more like a dressed-up corner of a parking lot. The guys had Oban while I had another prosecco. Two English or French bulldogs were with a guy next to us, and wanted our potato chips. We got to talking with this group of friends, Anna, Tirone, and another guy whose name I can’t remember. They’re all around Nikos’s age. Subtly, they asked us, are we tired? Are we turning in for the night? Because they were very happy to take Nikos under their wing and stay out a bit longer. Nikos said, “Even if I don’t speak Italian?” But their English was good. And I know he’s 24, but I didn’t sleep until I got his text saying that he was safely back, around 1:30 a.m.
Alley
Patio/parking lot art
Ruga Reali exterior
B&B courtyard
Now I’m sleeping fast, since daylight is just around the corner.
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