Globus tour, June 18 - on to Agrigento

At 5:45 am the sun was rising outside our window and the overnight ferry from Naples was entering the harbor.

The ferry from Naples has entered Palermo's harbor.

Salt piles & tiles, evaporation ponds, windmills.

We had a long drive to the West, to Marsala or thereabouts, to see a salt works.  Windmills pump seawater into evaporation ponds of varying depths until finally all that  is left is pushed into a long pile and covered with tiles so it looks like an odd roof that sits on the ground.  I bought a small 3-euro jar of seasalt.  It's finely ground and supposed to have more minerals than table salt. 

Back on the bus after a very refreshing gelato (limone) for a long long ride to a little town called San Leone and a restaurant called La Dune, where I had the greatest seafood salad, with bread, wine, mixed salad [i.e., greens], and fruit, all for 14 euro.  I ordered it because I had no idea what would be in the salad, and I am so glad it did:  calamari, tiny baby octopi, chunks of white-flest fish and crabmeat.  Delicious, cold, very good. 

Joe and Julia and Paul finishing lunch in San Leone.

And then I walked across the burning hot sand to wake with some others in the sea, and the Miller girls collected sea shells.

Bev and Trish had bargained with an African man over necklaces, and he followed them as they rushed back to the bus.  From the bus it was a very funny scene.  Nicolas got off the bus and intercepted the fellow in a friendly way and insisted that we had to leave and that the ladies were not interested in his necklaces.

From there it was a short drive to Agrigento and our hotel, where I promptluy donned my swimsuit and got into the pool.  However, noise from nearby construction drove me back to the room for a nap.  I'm beginning to feel like a true Mediterranean person with midday naps.

First was temple of Juno - late afternoon but quite hot.

Nearby are Greek ruins; the area is called "Valle dei Tempei" - they are 24 centuries old.  Our tour guide was Claudio but I called him Stevie Wonder for the way he turned his head left and right as he talked to us about Greeks in Sicily from about 7th to 4th centuries BC.  On the east is the very large temple of Juno.  in the middle the temple of  Concord.  On the right is the ruined temple of Herakles. 

Temple of Herakles and other ruins.

Temple of  Concord with fig tree and visitors

Massively old olive tree at Valle dei Tempei

They are on a high plateau, of golden limestone; only the 'priestly' class could come into the temples, maybe even in the area (but what about their slaves?  perhaps they didn't count as 'people'?).  On the sea side of the plateau was a long series of natural walls; they had been carved out into burial niches.  The entire site is about a mile long and is a national archeological site.  I found the place rather interesting for its age, for the tiny bit of history that I learned, and for the fact that the temples all looked like the Parthenon in Athens.  I'd forgotten my water bottle and after two hours even in late afternoon, I was very thirsty and tired.  I have to share with you this photograph of a truly ancient olive tree.  

Joe didn't go with me to the temples.  Instead he says he spent the afternoon with the pool all to himself.  The noisy construction had stopped, and all the others in our group went on the tour. 

The hotel's dining room is large and attractive, with saffron colored walls and round tables that encourage congeniality.  I had grouper with a tomato-caper-olive sauce - very good filet.  First course was risotto with vegetables and penne with tomato fish sauce, then the grouper, a salad and a not-so-good white chocolate mousse, and decent coffee.  I could hardly keep my eyes open.