08-09 May 2019
Agrigento, Sicilia

You want Greek temples?
We got Greek temples!

We took a leisurely drive from Modica to Agrigento, passing farm fields and especially vineyards. Our Agrigento hotel was not in the city center but out at the beach. This spot seemed like a working community with few tourists. The waiter at the bar where Robert got his morning cappuccino knew on the second day that no sugar was needed and that the cornetto should be vuoto (not filled). And the lady at the panificio (bakery) knew that Bonnie did not tolerate milk, warning Robert which pastries had cream. Pretty good! We do not get that personal attention at Starbucks or Peet’s.

Robert noticed the working farm across from the panificio planted with beans, onions, and fave.

We came to Agrigento—Valle dei Templi— for the Greek temples. We drove to the temple site with perhaps a sense of obligation to see more important ruins. Our first siting came as we drove along a winding country road through wooded fields. That first glimpse of the Temple of Concord, very big, up high, orange against the blue sky, almost completely intact, made Bonnie gasp, “wow.” The entire temple park is a national monument of Italy and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the 1,300 hectares make it the largest archaeological site in the world.

A string of seven temples stretch along a four-kilometer ridge. Some temples still stand while others do not.

We were pretty amazed at the scale and expanse of the area. Along with the museum where we spent about an hour, we took about 4 hours strolling slowly from temple to amazing temple.

Other just as important items