We come to our first pay-toll booth on the Sicilian autostrada, and we are trying to figure out what we probably will have to do. Will we understand when the toll-taker tells us the amount we have to pay? Will they have a print out or something on a screen? We drive up and there is a young woman dressed in an apron, standing on the pavement. We hand her 5 euros, she pushes a button and hands us a ticket. I comment to Terry that it's fairly expensive at which time she gives us back 3 euros. We drive away with our ticket. In about 30 seconds we look at each other and laugh. We could have pushed that button ourselves, and, in fact, we are sure that she was not a toll both operator but an enterprising young woman taking advantage of two crazy Americans (and several others, I'm sure) who are newbies to the autostrada system. We laugh about that and are happy to pay 2 euros for the great story.
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| temple of juno in agrigento 500BC |
A few hours and hundreds of tunnels later (Sicily has a surprising number of mountainous areas), again in sunshine, we enter Agrigento. Looking up as we pass the high cliffs driving into town, I can spot the Roman columns of the Temple of Juno. When we get to our agritourismo Villa Diana, our host Dario tells us that if we go out on our balcony early tomorrow morning, we can see the rising sun hitting those cliffs. We do and we do. It fairly sparkles with the sun's glow. Later in the day we visit the grounds of the Roman ruins, very well maintained and surprisingly intact--very unusual for the few sites of that time period that remain standing.
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| temple of concordia from our restaurant |
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| cliffs at agrigento in early morning light |
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| temple of concordi |
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| temple of hercules |
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| beach near agrigento |
The day is warm and we decide to find a beach along the Mediterranean to swim. We find one with few people (still a few weeks before European children get out for the summer) and a terrific little bay that has a surprise---the limestone cliffs called The Turks' Staircase. We had heard about them but thought that they would be too difficult to find, and here they are--quite by accident. The water is warmer than the Pacific, but still cool, and we wade out quite a distance to get in up to our knees! I end up ducking down in the water, but Terry refuses (he's a quacker, Stella).
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| Turks' staircase (limestone deposits) coming up from the beach in agrigento |
Our host Dario tells us about his family home--the villa we are presently occupying--and how his brothers and sisters, cousins, aunts and uncles used to visit (taking all 10 bedrooms) and their gatherings with all the food and music. The dining room is sumptuous and now feeds the guests with locally grown fruits and vegetables which he presently serves to us. He has chandeliers from Murano that are beautiful and one that is not clear crystal but colored glass. I can remember seeing something like it when we first went to Venice 40+ years ago. It certainly is gorgeous. He also suggests a restaurant that has a beautiful view of the ancient ruins.
That night we have a wonderful dinner at Il Re di Gergento and marvel at the magnificent view we are taking in. The food is great, too, but I suspect most anything would taste delicious. We also go to Kalotus which is a hidden gem. We can hardly find it; it's back in the woods, down a small unpaved road, but it is amazingly well attended. We also eat well here. Is it any wonder that our clothes are beginning to feel tight?
