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Day 17 – Taormina, three lots of train tickets and farewell to Sicily

Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010

We helped cheer up a guy in the biglietto office at the train station this morning. We asked for three tickets to Taormina and he thought we were done when we said we only wanted a one-way (solo-andata) fare, but then we asked for a ticket from Taormina to Villa san Giovanni. “Today?” he asked, “Si, tre biglietti,” we said. He gave us those tickets and said, “bye, bye”. “Non”, we said, “We also want three tickets from Villa san Giovanni to Cosenza for today.” That was it, his eyebrows rose and he cracked up and laughed, probably couldn’t believe we’d be crazy enough to do so much travel on a Sunday> Maybe he was also impressed that we knew what we wanted. We told him we were from Australia, and his mood had changed for the better as the last set of tickets were printing up. So, we were set for a day’s travel on the train (which will include crossing the Straits of Messina) and looking forward to checking out Taormina.

Happy that we could leave our bags in a locker at the very quaint (with a touch of the East about it) station at Taormina-Giardini Naxos before catching an expensive bus up the hill. Fantastic views of the Ionian coast (or probably better known as the Sicilian Riviera, as we took a winding road up to the town. Big boats anchored near the beach and a real sense of an over expensive tourist town as we wandered through the shop & souvenir stall lined streets. So many, books, maps, postcards, tea towels, T shirts, aprons, shoes/sandals, puppets, fridge magnets, flags, hats, nicknacks, jewellery, and ceramic plates, cups, figurines etc. (some of the painted dishes we saw looked very nice). All a bit sad really, and didn’t go to the Greek theatre because it couldn’t be worth 8 euros (as they warned us that most of it was covered up by a screen and seating used for the recent film festival). A plain pizza bianca (oil & herbs) was 5 euros for a medium! And it’s Sunday (Dominica) and the tourist office was closed and probably more Italians out for the day/weekend that usual. Did enjoy having a picnic in the gardens, the views, watching the punters strolling along, and glad we’re not staying overnight.

I got a little stressed (as I’m wont to) when we went to catch the bus back down to the station for the 14:22. The bus was supposed to go at 14:00 but the driver kept letting people on and it was after 5 past when we pulled out. We stopped a couple of times on the way down and these people had to put their bags under the bus, buy tickets – and the driver didn’t have any change (they never do), so people are hunting for coins in their purses, and I’m pacing up & down the bus praying the train is late. By the time I bolted onto the platform to get our bags out of the locker, the train was pulling in… The girls were going to hold up the train while I did the 100 mtr sprint with two 15kg bags that no one of my age should be doing. So, got on the train (probably to the amusement of the train driver & conductor who would have been more than happy to wait for me anyway), found a seat and then proceeded to wait at the station till I caught my breath and the sweat had dried, before we pulled out. I must learn to chill a little more… and be more like an Italian. I’m feeling out of place a little because I’ve got no style or dress sense and my wardrobe is functional rather than fashionable. At least my travelling compainions are attractive and they catch people’s eye rather than me.

Safely on the train and heading for Messina where they break up the train into ferry sized pieces, shunting in and out of the boat leaving a few carriages on board at a time, till they fill up the four sets of tracks inside the warm and fume laden bowels of the ship. Great to get out and up on deck for some fresh air and the crossing to Villa San Giovanni. Wendy suggested that we disembark and walk to the station as it was only a couple of minutes away, rather than stay on the train for 15 minutes and risk missing the connection to Cosenza. We smiled at each other as our Cosenza train left the station with still no sign of the train we were on… Enjoyed travelling along the coast for a bit before heading inland and noticed a change in the weather with some amazing cloud formations developing that looked like they might drop some rain. We were very thankful to be picked up at the new train station and driven into the old centre of town and to our lovely hostel. Enjoyed a wander around and had some local cuisine (pasta laced with pepper), home made wine and liqueur (a little like ouzo but not white). Had fun conversing with Pappa & his daughter and some other guests who were from Turin & Sardinia.

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Day 15 – trying to work out how to get to where we are going

Monday, June 21st, 2010

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Day 14 – More of Modica and an excusion to Ragusa (Ibla)

Monday, June 21st, 2010

Slept with the airco on all night and with the shutters closed, dark & nice and quiet. Straight after breakfast, first stop the Chiesa di san Giorgio which is at the top of an huge flight of stairs (250 steps!). Cool and quiet inside and some amazing relief sculptures in white marble in the main nave. Lots of reliquaries and an amazing silver and brass altar. Then walking further up to the top of town and the Chiesa di san Giovanni which was closed but is being restored, and looks fantastic on the outside. We were looking for a viewing point and were instructed by a local family sitting outside their home to walk another cinquanta metres to get to the belvedere. It was a spectacular lookout. Great 270 degree view of the valley and down across the roof tops to the main drag, Corso Umberto. Modica reminds us a lot of Matera which is also a valley with homes built on top of one another up the hillsides, although in Matera many homes are built right into the rock – here they seem to only use the rock holes for garages.

We wandered down through lots of narrow alleys and stairways, always winding, but always heading down. Some amazing vistas between buildings and down flights of stairs, now looking straight into a home through an open door, and then looking across a tiled roof with the ubiquitous water tank and rocks holding down the tiles along the roof edges, or through a gap between houses across to the otherside of the valley. Lovely smells drifting out of doorways from pots of pasta sauce being cooked for lunch, and voices wafting out of open windows as we walk below. Lots of purple of bougenvillia splashed here and there and little eddies of fallen, fading, tissue-like petals in triplicate, gathered in the corners of stairs. But it’s all very hot, hot, hot, out in the summer weather – 35C and rising I reckon…

Spent a couple of hours back in the airco room, snoozing, reading and writing before a late lunch picnic and then heading off around 3:00 for Ragusa. An amazing town with the old city on top of a ridge rather than built in a valley. Found the local bus to take us down to the Ibla (old town) with some help from a local guy walking his dog, and waited for a bit before being dropped off by a helpful bus driver, at the top of the long flight of zig-zagging steps down to where the old town begins. Wandered our way around and checked out the churches, providing respite from the heat and quiet place to sit for a while. The Chiesa S. Giorgio (St. George of the dragon variety) was a little different with red velvet drapes between the columns, grand chandeliers, great six foot high multiple/bunched candles, lots of St. George and some lovely relief carvings in a chapel. Fairly quiet out and about and stopped for a coffee before finding the lovely (botanical) gardens and enjoying the vista looking across and down the valley. Nice to see a few other people sitting in the shade and found an old medieval portal of the shattered old church of San Giorgio Vecchio.

While sitting on some steps on the edge of a piazza, waiting for the local no. 33 bus to take us back to the main bus terminal, we said “Buona sera”, to a couple of ladies and an old man who stopped for a chat. Lovely to have an exchange with people who are interested in who you are rather how you look. The women commented on Wendy’s (bella dona) looks and when we told the guy we were from Australia, he wanted to know about Maryann and where she came from. He told us to go and sit in the ‘villa’ (gardens) because it was nicer there. We explained we had been there and that is was beautiful and we were now waiting for a bus. They wished us good travels as they continued on their way down the street. Nice. :-) Heard the bub, bub, bub, of some large motorcycles bouncing around the piazza way before three Harley Davidsons puttered to a stop across from us. Similar looking models with fat rear tyres and a single pannier on the back left side, probably more about the bikes – you know, “Look at me” – but still heaps of cool. The three riders (2 guys & a girl) consulted a map for about 10 minutes, then took off and appeared about 5 minutes later. What the?

We were back at the bus terminal with at 8:35 with 10 minutes to spare, but no bus…, and still no bus 25 minutes later?! I checked the board and yes 22:45 was the time of departure, and it was the latest bus on the whole time-table. Then it dawned on me that 22:45 wasn’t 8:45 but 10:45! Dang – my bad. Now we still had one and a half hours to wait, and it would be late by the time we got back to our room – but, at least there was still another bus to catch… Anyway, found a pizzaria and enjoyed a couple of lovely wood oven pizzas (cooked by a guy who had been to Australia and had picked up some colloquialisms) on a bench next to a busy little roundabout. Noticed that hardly anyone used one their indicators when going around corners. Back to the bus stop for a twenty minute wait and then a fast drive home in the dark with an amazing view back across the valley to the Chiesa san di Giorgio which was wonderfully lit amongst the houses/buildings of Ragusa Ibla (old town). My travelling companions graciously conceded that there was a bonus to my timing faux-pas, in that we could see the lights of the old town. Back in our room just after 11 for a quick shower and crashing out after a huge day out.

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Day 13 – on the buses via Noto, Rosolini, & Ispica to get to Modica

Friday, June 18th, 2010

We planned for breakfast at 8:30 because we wanted to visit the tunnels under the duomo that were used as an air-raid shelter during WWII. Syracuse copped a pounding during the war and experienced lots of bombings before the allies landed and captured the city and there-after Sicily. We headed up to the breakfast terrace to an already warm day with that white glaring light. Our host looked a little worse for wear, seemed a little grumpy and was no where near ready for the eight guests on the terrace wanting something to eat. Following us upstairs had been the hired help (who had just come in) so we understood that she must have been late and was supposed to get things organised before 8:30! So, some tension amongst the staff – but a good breakfast was had.

We went to the tunnel entrance for 9:30 and read the sign that said it was open at 9:00, but no one around. Did a quick visit to check with the tourist office to confirm buses to Modica and then came back before 10 but still not open… We met a couple of older Italian ladies from Rome having a holiday in Sicily. They had quite good english (learnt through taking classes) and had been told by a superintendant that the tunnel would be open at 10. So we chatted a bit, and they told us how hard even they find it to travel around Italy. They told us about the some markings in the marble of the piazza that indicated an old Greek street that led to a spring, as well as the outline of an old temple and sacrificial alter/pit where animal entrails where deposited (we saw the bottom of this pit in the underground shelter!). We showed the ladies a madonna statue we’d seen around the corner which had been perpendicularly afixed to a wall and was facing upwards – a little weird. The tunnel visit was amazing, well curated with photos of people in the the shelters during the war and text explaining how they were used, and how things were organised in the town during the war. The tunnels led down under the duomo and piazza and then led out towards the docks/boulevard along the water. Also enjoyed that it was nice and cool underground.

Got to the bus station with ten minutes to spare and had some fun with the bus drivers. Our driver to Modica was in a playful mood and indicated we wouldn’t sell me a ticket and said he was heading somewhere else – this threw me for a bit because we didn’t expect them to muck around, but I realised what was going on we had some fun and I asked for ‘un biglietto to Australia’. Lots of laughs and carry on before we got our tickets to Noto – I even asked if we had time to go and get a coffee & he told me to go right and a hundred metres to the cafe. Raced off and got back in time to hop back on board to cheers from the other passengers. Enjoyed a canoli and espresso lungo as we headed off. We got to Noto about 12:15 and wandered up the main drag and saw some wonderful buildings but everything was closing so we could only sit in the shade and have our wonderful made-up rolls that Wendy had procured from the markets in Syracuse while Maryann and I went back and got the bags and dragged them up to the bus stop. Yum! It was so hot though – not ideal for wandering around -but we had a short walk to see that there wasn’t really much more to look at than the renovated main street. This has been a recent development with the local councils making an effort to rebuild and beautify the old parts of town – the dome of the cathedral in Noto collapsed in 1996! There are some wonderful town houses though, with amazing sculptures holding up balconies – interesting that these are meant to viewed by the person on the street, not those on the balcony… Then back on the bus, chatting with an elderly lady who didn’t care that we couldn’t really understand her, and a couple of stops (one in Rosolini that didn’t look like a very attractive town at all – lots of suburbs with tiny blocks of houses/buildings in streets at right angles to each other) and a bus swap in Ispica to get to Modica around 4:30.

Walked the 500 metres to our accommodation, checked in and got some useful advice from Thomas (our German host), had a shower and a nap, before heading out for the evening passeggiata with everybody else in the town. Very picturesque walking down the main street with views of the layer upon layer of houses covering the sides of the valley fading sunlight. Lots of people out and about, restaurants setting up, weddings being celebrated, children dressed up in black pants, white shirts and waistcoats all excited about a performance at the Teatro Garibaldi, and incessant traffic slowly making its way up & down the thoroughfare. This area of Siciliy has a lot of baroque architecture and the chiesa di san Pietro is a great example. The statues of the twelve apostles lining the broad terraced stairs leading up to the church with an elaborate facade and neat interior and a few of those statue things on a large base that carried around on poles by lots of sweating blokes on festival days. It was still 31 degrees (C) at 7:30 as we passed the flashing sign of the Farmacia. We stocked up at a supermercato and headed back for a picnic dinner on our terrace looking back down the valley as the town lights came on and a fingernail moon appeared in the darkening sky.

If you have read this far – enjoy this one last story as a little finisher – a dessert perhaps! All people have some basic needs which can sometimes be a challenge for travellers. Toilets in particular. It is sometimes very helpful to have a store of training experiences to draw on. One such experience could be acquired by travelling on a little bus in the Himalayas in Lahdak. If you had such an experience you would have learnt how to pee or even poo on an open hillside alongside your male and female travellers respectively – blokes to the left, girls to the right. Not a bush in sight but full view of every other traveller. This can be surprisingly intimidating to the urge to go, but if you can get over it you can do anything in this department. So beautiful Noto paid for its locked toilets and no services in eateries by forcing a traveller to press into action the afforementioned skill. The European version of the Himalayan pee for females is to wear a voluminous dress, to sit on a stone stair in a remote alley when all shutters are shut and people invisible. Discreetly arrange yourself and then relieve – an umbrella can be useful to pose or to act as a screen. A fellow traveller posing as a photographer can add an authentic touch. Although you may not get a lot of practice at this emergency measure it could be perfected with every experience. And if you think you are the only one who had to resort to this method, you only have to climb a few stairs to smell that others have gone before – mostly blokes and dogs! Enjoy your home plumbing! (Sorry, no photo – the photographer was too slow! [well, actually, he was being discreet ] )

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Day 12 – Rooftop for breakfast & dinner and a dash of Archimedes

Wednesday, June 16th, 2010

It’s Tuesday afternoon (15th of June) and we’re enjoying a siesta during the hot afternoon. Great to have a freshen-up shower, sit in the airco for a bit, and have a power-nap (don’t quite need the full siesta thing) to get revitalised for the late afternoon (sera) and evening. Also a good time to copy the photos onto the netbook so I can photoshop a few, and add them to the blog posts. Enjoying that we have wifi available in our room. The town was well lit up last night and washed in a yellow glow, makes for very pleasant strolling in the evening. There’s way less traffic on Ortygia so we weren’t bothered too much by the fanging scooters and barping three wheeler trucks rattling up the road like we had at the Ostello in Piazza Armerina.

This morning we went to the markets on the way to the bus stop, calling into the info point for tourists just to check some details and also asked if we’d happened to have left our old copy of ‘The Rough Guide to Sicily‘, and yes we had and we got it back At the markets we enjoyed hearing the guys yelling out – reminding me of the block calling out, “One dollar, one dollar, one dollar.”, at the Victorian markets back home. We had some fun buying some food at a stall where the vendor handed Wendy half a canoli (to taste) and then proceeded to tempt us with all sorts of lovely food. He had an amazing assortment of cheese and we settled for some smoked (strong bbq flavour) mozzarella (there’s a picture of something similar in a crate below – yes it is chees & not bread). We also stocked up on a few of those canoli, bread, olives & sundried tomatoes (in antipasto mix), fresh tomatoes, cherries & bananas. All good fun and we got a bonus taste of a roll with cheese, ham and tomato when he learned we were from Australia. Maryann picked up that many of the stall keepers only just tolerate the tourists with their cameras – they kept asking, “How many photos do you need to take?” to unsuspecting people poking their Nikon & Canon lenses at them.

We then had to wait for a bit to catch the bus and joined other waiting passengers while the bus drivers all congregated on the footpath, no doubt discussing more important issues, before one decided it might be a good time to take the bus for a spin. We sat opposite a rather rotund lady whose denim dress was bulging at the buttons to the point of imminent bursting – her size probably due to a life-time’s indulgence of all that good food we’d seen. We didn’t have tickets and the driver didn’t sell us any, just said, “It’s okay”, and waved us back to our seats. Lo & behold, we hadn’t gone a block and two inspectors hopped on the bus. Here we go, I thought, a nice big fine of lots of euros coming up. But no, they just wanted to know how many tickets I wanted to buy – sweet! And the tickets were going to last for two hours so we could actually use them to get back later.

We then visited the Archimedes Museum and had a great time conversing with the retired teacher who runs the place. We got a complimentary coffee and chilled water (much appreciated after a bit of a walk in the sun) and an explanation of a couple of things Archimedes did with pulleys and levers. A set of church bells started playing a tune (quite complex actually) to mark twelve o’clock noon and while we thought it sounded nice, a bunch of dogs started howling along with the sound. Well, maybe they thought it sounded nice too – and were just trying to add their musical compliment to the bells. We then wandered around the rest of the ‘park’ checking out full-size replicas of some inventions and machines of war. Well curated with excellent English on the boards and a nice summary of the importance of Archimedes and his work. When you think of what this guy was able to develop along with his screw (without end) and the ‘Eureka’ moment – quite an amazing guy. I’m hoping the image below (photo of one of the info boards) will go fullsize when you click on it, as it’s worth a read. We gave the archeological park and Greek theatre a miss as we’ve seen some and will probably see more…

The girls went out for a shop and we enjoyed an antipasto dinner on the roof-top terrace. The weather is so much milder in the evening and a stark contrast to the heat this morning as we had breakfast – had to sit under an umbrella at 8:45 in the morning! Took a turn around the island and still amazed that people are still heading out for an evening meal after 9:00 pm! Quite enjoying all this travel – must work out a way monetize it so we can keep doing it – too much to see and so much to learn.

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Day 11 – on the bus(es) to Syracusa and nice to be back by the seaside

Wednesday, June 16th, 2010

The people at the Ostello had kindly agreed to have breakfast ready for us at 7:15 as we had to catch the first bus to Catania at 8:00 am. (the next one not till 11:15). There was a crowd at the bus stop and the bus ended up being full. Good to have a seat – wouldn’t have liked to stand up for the hour and a half trip to Catania. We negotiated a few back roads before hitting the main highway. The weather was very hazy/overcast and bright and we could see a faint outline of Mt. Etna as we skirted around it to the South. A fair few young people up the back of the bus with us and three particularly giggly young fellows who kept dropping English words into their conversation – carrying on like pork chops most of the time… They did know enough of our language to ask Wendy to open the window as the airco wasn’t up to keeping us cool.

Missed a connecting bus to Syracuse by 10 minutes, so had to wait 50 minutes for the next one – no problem – gave me plenty of time to buy tickets, find out how to get to Lecce by overnight bus (we still need to decide if we take the train or bus for the trip from Catania back onto the mainland and across the sole of the boot of Italy to Lecce), and buy some coffee & pastries (one filled with sweet ricotta and one with chocolate goop) which buzzed us up with caffeine & sugar. Into Syracuse around lunch time and had a kilometre walk down Corso Umberto and Via Roma to get to our B&B half a block back from the waterfront on the island of Ortygia. Nice to get out of the midday sun and turn on the airco. Noted the mini supermarket across the road for later…

Out and about later after a yummy lunch of bread rolls and the regular fresh antipasto. Easy to walk around but the glare is tending to wash the colours out of everything – not that there’s a lot of colour to start with, everything is mostly built of sandstone and marble. If you like you can take a boat ride round the island and on the southern side of the island there is an aquarium and a small beach. There is a wonderful treed boulevard and some construction work going on along the waterfront where boats can tie up. At the point where the bridges cross to the island there seems to be a marina hosting lots of fishing boats as well as some luxury private boats. Some nice shops with painted ceramics and it seems to be some artistic aesthetic around. Came across an antique shop that featured some very old ceramic jelly moulds and a poor Armadillo turned into a basket with its tail forming a handle. Some other nice stuff and some fantastic looking old keys, but they wanted ~57 euros for them.

A guy looking a lot like Seargent Schultz (or his Italian brother) drove by on his scooter and I wanted to get him to fill out a consent form to put his photo on the blog, but he just zipped past as quick as a flash. Had a lovely walk around the water’s edge, pretty well circumnavigating the island of Ortygia. Later in the day finding the duomo and the adjoining piazza. Enjoyed some more Italian cuisine at the pizzeria we spotted a little earlier and had a chat with an American guy on the next table who asked if we were “enjoying our little town of Syracuse”? Happens that he lives here four months of the year (bought a four story house and all) and does business in Italy. He knew all the restaurants and claimed that the town was lovely, clean and safe and that he’d much rather live here than Florence. Well, we had to agree with him that Syracuse had a very different feel to the towns of Agrigento and Piazza Armerina – they seem to be in much poorer areas and may not have the benefits that the tourist dollar brings.

Wandered home through the well lit streets (see next post for photo) and kept hearing the horn/trumpet sounds that are a part of the world cup. At the restaurant we’d seen that Paraguay had scored a goal and things had got quiet, but while checking out the duomo under lights, we heard a cheer and trumpets from a few blocks away (as the equaliser was scored). Wandered down and found a piazza full of people (with a few carabinieri hanging around the edges) enjoying the balmy evening and watching the game unfold on a big screen. Great atmosphere, and nice to enjoy their celebrations after the Aussie loss to Germany…

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Day 10 – Piazza Armerina, and how to get where you’re going with public transport on a Sunday in rural Sicily

Monday, June 14th, 2010

Now for something completely different! There is an occasional change of voice which some of you savvy readers have picked up – it usually happens when Colin flakes out – as he has every right to do, given the pace of our travels. He faithfully slaves in his electronic workshop with the legendary might of all the elves put together but what a marvellous result his labours have made.

Today was a day of more meandering after our convent breakfast of coffee and croissants. By the afternoon, Maryann was either so overloaded with granita, or secretly trying to avoid a trip to Enna in the noonday sun, that she fell over and grazed her knees on the medieval street. This required the expert medication of water and Savlon, not to mention soluble aspirin to get her back into line. She eventually could smile and proudly sport her wounded knees on the bus to Enna, which her little tumble did not succeed if her mission was to make us miss the bus.

Back to the something that was completely different.I have a little story which has had a few days to settle and still resonates with its initial strangeness. It took place on a bus which was leaving the hilltop town of Monreale with its splendid mosaiced cathedral and returning to Palermo. We three fifty somethings boarded the bus still spooning our freshly bought gelato into our hot mouths. As the bus was already occupied we stood at the back and used the rear shelf to store our bags. I stood leaning against this shelf and used the pole adjoining the back seat to steady myself as we lurched along. A few minutes into the journey I noticed the youngish man in the seat next to my supporting pole looked up at me and beamed. This rather took me by surprise as not too many people respond to us this way. I then noticed that his hand also grabbed the pole just below mine – only to be expected in a lurching bus. Next thing I feel the tiniest contact with his hand – it happens. Another hairpin bend and we lurch some more and his hand now holds the pole above my hand and this time I see it inch closer very surreptitiously. I find this quite amusing and try not to smile and then I nearly burst out laughing when I feel the faintest kiss of lips on my hand. I rearrange myself and look out the other window to hide my smile. When we arrive at the bus stop we are busy finding a connection and he suddenly appears winking and blowing kisses at me which continues sporadically for the next twenty minutes. To my horror, when our bus arrives he gets on it and tries to sit next to me but Colin got in first. We went to the end of the line which was the port area and wondered what he would do – fortunately he stayed on the bus while we wandered away. Later that night a new guest arrived at our hostel and for a moment I thought it was him! But no – just a faint look alike – but imagine that! A very strange experience which Maryann and Colin found most astonishing and just as odd as I did (Note from Colin: Wendy didn’t tell us about the familiarity of this fellow till after we’d got off the second bus – & and maybe just as well, as I might have had to have words). Now if Colin is his usual very good spirited and generous self he will let you see the photo I took while I was writing this to show you that he really did have a moment of down time!

Piazza Armerina has surprised us by being different to our expectations. Sunday is a difficult day to get around but we managed to take a short trip to the neighbouring hilltop town of Enna. It is in the centre of Sicily and very high – the signs call for snow chains and sleet alerts which is hard to imagine in nearly 40 degree heat and a blanket of heat haze. It is majestically old and crumbling with fortifications, cathedrals, churches, palaces and the general assortment of piles we have seen along the alleys of medieval Piazza Armerina. Quite amazing and we feel particularly pleased that we managed to negotiate the very few Sunday buses with the kindness of strangers and a few windowed timetables. It has been well worth the effort of visiting central Sicily – Maryann and I now have memorable rings to remind us of our visit to the marvelous Roman mosiacs of Villa Casale and we have seen first hand the people, the hilltops and the amazing medieval towns between the rolling hills.

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Day 09 – on the bus to Piazza Armerina, stopping here and there.

Monday, June 14th, 2010

Well, the water was back on around 8:30 and we let them know that we weren’t very happy and wanted a sconto (discount). Got a measly 5 euros. So we don’t recommend staying at B&B L’Antica Via and suggest that B&B Camere a Sud is the better place… A slow morning (just as well we didn’t have to leave early), an OK breakfast, and happy birthday to me. We are heading for Piazza Armerina today and hope to visit Enna on the way. We have worked out that we need to catch a SAIS bus to first and then find a different bus company to take us further, maybe a car would be more useful the further you are from the major cities. It seems that the Italians don’t have much interest in things outside their particular sphere of work and life – you don’t really meet other Italians & they keep their own counsel, happily busy with what ever they’re doing. It may be different the further north you go, but down here people aren’t all that keen to engage. When you arrive some where, you just get asked for your passport – no one wants to know how you are, where you’ve come from or where your are going. Customer service isn’t a concept we’ve come across in our accommodations. Although we have encountered some people who have been very kind and helpful, usually bus drivers and other passengers.

We decided that it might be too hard to go to Piazza Armerina via Enna, and once we arrived in Caltanissetta we jumped straight on a a waiting ASTRA bus for the one hour ride to Piazza Armerina. Went to our accommodation and had a picnic lunch there before doing a wander to find the tourist information – but as it was Saturday afternoon nothing was open. Not a lot happening out and about, a little like a ghost town during the middle of the day, so decided rather than look at the cathedral we’d head off to see the mosaics at Villa Romana del Casale. It’s Saturday so reduced services on the public transport but we’d had the word that there should be a bus to the mosaics at three. Arthur (de Vries – the Englishman) had been conned by a couple who drove by in a car and told him the buses were unreliable and that they could drive him the 5kms in their car. But wait, they wanted 40 euros for the privilege! Arthur was having none of it, so only gave them a few euros to cover the cost of petrol (by the way, diesel here is around 1.30 euros per litre & unleaded 1.45).

The Villa is covered in what looks like a glass houses (clear plastic/perspex on scaffolding) to preserve the mosaics but they turn the place into a hot house, and the light coming through the structure throws shadows and must be slowly fading the colours. We could only see about a quarter of the villa but the mosaics were amazing. Must have been something to have all the floors and paths covered in mosaics. Lots of hunting scenes with plenty of exotic animals and mythical stories covered the floors everywhere. There was one room with pictures of ten young ladies in bikinis doing sports, like volley ball and other athletic activities. It really only took about half an hour to see what was available and we chatted to a German fellow about tourism and the debt we need to pay to the gods of travel if we want to get and see the world, particularly some of the really special things. Running the gauntlet of vendor stands on our way back to the bus, the girls stopped at a stall run by a husband and wife who were selling jewelry. Some nice things for sale and we ended up buying some rings made with silver and bits of coral and other stone. The rings on display were a little small but the jeweller said he’d be able to make new ones of the correct size in 5 minutes. We had a bus to catch in ten minutes, so I was a little nervous and went on ahead. The girls caught up in time, but then Wendy was really keen to another ring but with different coloured stones. We asked and the bus driver said he’d be happy to wait another 5-10 minutes while Wendy went back for another ring…

Back into town and the place was transformed – it had come alive with lots of old guys sitting around on the park benches, weddings going on, shops and bars open for business and lots more people out & about. We paused for a granita in the park and then headed up up to the cathedral in the old part of town. The churches are always at the top of town, so lots of climbing involved. Cobbled streets, narrow footpaths and lots of traffic but at least the streets seem to be only one way… The duomo while looking rather old and sad with vestments of weeds sprouting around the top edges, was amazing inside and had a Wedgewood feel about it as it was white with sky blue adornments of paint and sculptured effects. A guy told us that the cross hanging above the transept was one of three like it in Italy. We had come into the church as a wedding was been held and a middle aged couple tied the not in front of a priest robed in green and smattering of friends.

Enjoyed a late meal at a nice restaurant called Amici Miei (bruchetta, caponate, pizza, patatte frittes, & yummy house salad) with good service for less than the meal we had at dodgy Carmen’s (the woman who we’d seen in the car & bumped into a couple of nights ago in Agrigento). All up, grand day out…

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Day 08 – Agrigento and the doomed temples of the valley

Monday, June 14th, 2010

(dear reader, no wifi at the hostel we stayed at in Piazza Armerina – so a few days to catch up on)

Lovely breakfast on the terrace/balcony with a latte, warm croissants with some fruit and yoghurt. Had to swap B&Bs (Elvira had set us up with a room next door) because they were having some fumigation done at the Camere a Sud and left our clobber at the B&B L’Antica Via. Our hosts are all very pleasant and love it that we’re Australian (rather than German?). We were fairly keen to get started as it was another warm day and it was off to the Valley of the Temples where it’s all rocky and out in the sun. Packed some lunch, plenty of water, umbrellas for shade, and ventured out to find the bus (No. 1, 2, or 3) down to the valley. There were a few old guys sitting around in the park already and it was only a short bus ride down to where we bought our entry tickets to the temples. Already warm and few tour groups out with their guides (€ 85 for a half day – good money for telling you about what you can see), but our guide book’s enough for us. It’s all really just a pile of rubble with some attempt at rebuilding a few columns on what was the base of the temple so that you get some idea of what it may have been like. Completely different from Pompeii or Ercolano as there is no sense of a town left – just the large temples. There seemed to be a few necropolis’ scattered along the sides of the path that were exposed, with the grave/tombs dug out of the rock (sandstone?) fairly obvious as Christian burial sites.

Down below the ridge the temples are located on (yes, it’s a ridge rather than a valley), there was someone ploughing a field with a caterpillar type tractor and raising all sorts of dust from the dry earth. I reckon he was really just loosening the soil around the olive trees so that when it rains the ground will soak up the water more easily. The guy (looking a little like Dave from Kubrik’s 2001 A Space Odyssey) had a helmet on with an air supply blowing some fresh oxygen into his face as a preventative against the dust – obviously a standard operating environment. Just as well that the plough/rake was built with springs so that the tines would not get bent on the numerous rocks. I got a wave from him as I took a few pictures…

After the first temple we were able to visit Captain Hardcastle’s villa (he saved the ancient temple ruins from further decay and entropy during the ) and checked out the contemporary art and sculpture in the gardens. We understand that much of the archeological work done here has been done by foreigners who had a passion to uncover some of the amazing cultural, economic and social aspects of the past. There is also the religious aspect of all these places of veneration and worship – and that in some places there are layers and layers of them to the present day. But not in the valley of the temples – this place was abandoned as the city centre was moved further up the hill.

The most refurbished of the temples was the Tempio Della Concordia and we could get in have a walk around inside. While not much of it is original you do get a sense that it would have been an impressive structure at the time. Apparently the regular invaders plundered the sites for their stone and much of the limestone blocks were dragged back down to the sea to build the harbour. Fairly hot out in the sun and fun to see some of the local men with their stylish shirts unbuttoned and glistening fat bellys protruding. Not a lot of shade around other than under some gnarly old olive trees, but a welcome respite at a cafeteria for some gelati. The organised tours provide each participant with a small FM receiver and ear plugs so that they can listen in to the guide who might be on the other side of a bunch of 30 people. Interesting to catch a snippet of what they are telling the paying punters.

Wandered back down the path to the entrance and then across the road to the western section and had some lunch in the shade of the gardens. Checked out the fallen telamon which was about 8 mtrs high and was used as a supporting column carved in the shape of a figure to hold up the temple’s weight. After four hours out in the heat, good to back to the B&B and have a shower to freshen up – but the water ran out! Had a chat to the guy running the place and with the help of Arthur (an Englishman who had spent a couple of year in Italy and knew the language) found out that there wouldn’t be any more till 8:30 when the water truck could come up the street (was closed due to work on some cobble-stones). Not too happy about this as they didn’t have any water in the taps, and even when available, was non-potable. So, out for a stroll to check out Piazza Pirandello and to find some food for supper. Found a beautiful vantage point to look out over the valley down to the sea while enjoying some arancinis and some pizza. Back at the B&B the truck had a arrived and was pumping the tank full but due to an air lock in the plumbing no water till tomorrow, plumber will come at 7:00 in the morning.

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Day 07 – The Capella Palantina, a dash across town and the bus to Agrigento

Saturday, June 12th, 2010

We still had the morning in Palermo before heading across the island to the south and Agrigento. So, a quick internet session, some breakfast and left our bags while we visited the Palazzo Dei Normanni which houses the jewel of Palermo’s antiquity, the Capella Palantina. Found our way there via the markets in via Porta Carini with scooters brrming & tooting their way up through the jostling crowd. With a few people stopping to buy things, it all makes for slow progress while the vendors are calling out their wares, and shouting at each other in what seemed a jocular manner. Our meandering (which we seem to have a knack of doing – all the while heading in the right direction) took us through an area of antiques vendors. Their shops along each side of a tree lined street encompassed the trunks of the trees and were filled with old furniture, glazed tiles, chandeliers, old carvings/statues etc. An amazing little section of commerce just before we rounded the corner and went through the Porta Nuova. The Capella Palantina is as stunning as the guide books suggest and the mosaic decorations mirrored those we saw at the cathedral in Monreale but this was a much smaller building. Even though there’s so much detail in the mosaic pictures and decorative patterns, there is a lovely aesthetic.

After also checking out the Chiesa di S. Giovanni degli Eremiti (an old arab church with a small cloister that’s been deconsecrated) we had to rush a little (because we’re always getting distracted and checking out some other wonderful church, market, piazza or vista) to get to the north side of the train station to find the Cuffaro bus that would take us the two hours to Agrigento. Only just had enough time for some espresso to go & some sweet pastry to have on the way. The bus trip was amazing as we wound up and down the mountains, past cultivated fields, lots of citrus & olives, sheep, and wind turbines along the ridges and arrived on time.

Found our wonderful (& very tastefully decorated) B&B and headed out to wander the town and find some of the major sights. Walking up to the cathedral was a slog and near the top of a long, long flight of steps meandering ever upwards, we encountered a couple of nuns bringing home some shopping. I noticed that they had a ceramic sink in their car and offered to carry it down & into their house (nunnery) – they had already invited Maryann & Wendy in for some ‘repose’ as they realised we’d done a long climb. We sat in their courtyard along with lots of gracias and an offer of some acqua. Lovely to have a little rest a chat (about where we were from) and received directions to go to the Chiesa Santa Maria dei Greci which was nearby. An amazing old church that has been re-built a few times. Original columns date back to 500BC and much of the archeological work has only been done in the last 100 years…

Then it was onwards and upwards to the cathedral at the top of town. A large, fairly plain building but with some amazing ceilings that provided three different styles. Very good acoustics meant that we could hear a guy explaining things to a couple from the other end of the building. Coming back down the streets, the traffic amazed us. People just drive down any street and probably expect to be held up as there is very little room for two-way traffic. At one point we stayed still on the footpath as cars stopped and folded in mirrors, while a few on-coming cars edged through, scraping tires on the curb. A lady who had stopped & we’d told to watch her mirrors, tooted and waved as she headed off to the next bottle-neck. Funnily enough we ended up seeing this lady again as we stopped at her restaurant for some food. Well, some would call it food – we found it rather simple and with no style and not a good example of Italian cuisine. The setting where we were eating more than made up for the food – we were on the edge of the city looking out over the view and the Valley of the Temples that we hope to visit tomorrow.

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