I Like Thursday: Snow and Sicily

Today I'm linking to my friend Lee Anna's weekly "I Like Thursdays,"  at  Not Afraid of Color.

I really liked the near-perfect snow storm we had Saturday night into Sunday.  It thoughtfully held off until our Saturday night fun was over, snowed while we were asleep and then some more on Sunday, and left about six to seven inches behind.  The first real snow of the season!  It was also very cold with temperatures in the 20's, so everyone scrambled for their sweaters and boots.  But neither the cold nor the snow is here to stay quite yet;  we're now enjoying a stretch of sunny skies with highs in the 50's.  

For our trip to Sicily we packed very lightly, each of us having just one small roll-on bag for carry-on  and a small backpack for our personal item.  Yes, it was hard to put what we needed for two weeks in this small amount of luggage, but I really liked it once I got used to it.  Clothes weren't a problem since we were dressing casually and two of the four places we stayed had washers.  Toiletries were more of a problem since they had to get through the TSA checkpoints.  That was solved by ruthlessly culling what we took and replacing some liquids with solids (like cold water laundry soap which you can get in "leaf" form).  It was a relief to travel light, especially when one of our flights cancelled as boarding was underway and we grabbed our bags and raced to customer service for rebooking.

Speaking of laundry, there may have been washing machines but apparently hardly anyone has a dryer.  I loved seeing all the ways that the Italians hung their laundry out to dry.  We did it, too.  One of the really fun little moments for the trip for me was rinsing out some clothes in a stone tub out on our lovely patio in San Vito and then hanging things up on our drying rack.  Ah, bliss.

Have you ever used packing cubes?  I hadn't but I did on this trip and loved having them.  I liked organizing  my clothes by type (one cube for shirts, one for pants, etc.)  and I found they made unpacking easier.   One place we stayed in had a narrow spiral staircase up to our bedroom, so I just grabbed my packing cubes and took them up, leaving my suitcase downstairs.

I loved the food in Sicily.  The large photo is of olives growing; I don't think I'd ever seen olive trees before.  The top right is a chocolate and pistachio pastry; then cassata (a white cake filled with ricotta cream and topped with frosting and sugared fruits); then Pasta con le Sarde (pasta with sardines, fennel, and bread crumbs); lower right is fresh fish at the market.

Sicily is very agricultural and we saw quite a bit of countryside covered with vines, fruit and nut trees, and eggplants and other vegetables.   At our agritourista, a nice woman showed me how to take a rock and smash open a walnut shell and dig out the nutmeat inside.  Food can bring people together, in more ways than one.  

 Did you know that Sicily produces ceramics? Not just bowls and platters, but also architectural tiles.  I love ceramics and had to remember that I couldn't hold much in my little carry-on bags.  But I did get a few things home  :-)   (I still want that table!  Should I get it shipped here?)

Decorative tiles are used in homes and businesses throughout Sicily, even in the kitchen of our low-budget room in Cinisi.    

As we looked at art and architecture on our trip I was reminded of how much I enjoyed studying art history back in my undergraduate days.  Seeing frescoes, paintings, church interiors,  amphora (painted vases), and statues from Greek and Roman times was real eye candy and I loved it.

Venus Landolina, Museo archeologico, Siracusa  

Of course, as this cartoon that my sister gave me reminds us, a big part of the success of a trip is who you travel with.

I was lucky to have two great companions for this adventure, my husband, Ben,  and our good friend, Lotus.  Within a day or so of beginning our sojourn we had quite naturally split up the main duties:  Lotus did the car driving, Ben did the navigating, and I was the tour guide.  As such I suggested the next day's itinerary and provided info from three guidebooks and TripAdvisor.  We had anticipated some challenges in traveling together and worked them out ahead of time.  For instance, when he could, Ben liked to chill for a few hours in the late afternoons.  That gave me and Lotus time to do some sightseeing on our own.  Lotus preferred a lighter evening meal, and that gave me and Ben the opportunity to eat out on our own a few times. 

It's always nice to come off of a trip still liking your travel companions, and that's how it happened on this trip. 

One last thing I loved was the beauty and animation of the Italian language.  Our itinerary and accommodations put us close to the Italian people and we liked to just observe and listen to them in the restaurants, parks, markets, and on the streets.

To give you a little taste of this pleasure, click on the video below, which I took at the Siracusa fish market.  It's only 44 seconds, so turn the sound up and enjoy.   (Click here for the video on YouTube).  

A Brief but Happy Stay in Cinisi

 On Monday morning we drove across the island back up to the SW coast to the small beach town of Cinisi, conveniently very close to the Palermo airport.   Our flight was Tuesday morning and we hoped to make our last evening is Sicily a fun one.

We were charmed by our comfortable accommodations; two rooms in a small family run hotel.  It was the sort of place that made you want to come back a spend a few nights. 

Patio table set for breakfast

The beach was a short stroll away and had wonderful cliffs as a backdrop to the sea. 

It also had a friendly bar, always a plus!  

It was great to just hang around a loaf over a drink and walk by the water, but soon the sun was setting.

We decided to try the closest restaurant, literally just steps away from our room.  It was a local place and we enjoyed watching the Italians having a good time over dinner.   

After a while we noticed that there a couple of platters of freshly caught fish set out for display.  Hadn't seen that yet in Sicily.

We had a great meal and a fun time in this lively, local place.  It was a perfect ending to a perfect trip.

Siracusa

As we entered Siracusa, a short but big storm arrived as well.  We had come too soon to check into our apartment so we walked into the old historic area to find some lunch.  It started to rain as we crossed over the bridge and onto the island of Ortigia, so we quickly found a cafe and settled in to watch the storm.  The drama stopped an hour or so later and we walked back  to the apartment, passing a felled tree and many active storm drains.  Our apartment was right on the sea, and the waves crashed around the base of the building during the next few days of unsettled weather.   

At one time Siracusa (meaning the old part known as Ortigia) was one of the major cities of the world.  In the 5th century BC it rivaled Athens in size and importance and later was the capital of the Roman world for several years.  Ortigia is a World Heritage Site and has several important structures, including the Cathedral, the Piazza del Duomo, the Spanish Maniace Castle, the ruins of the Temple of Apollo and the Fountain of Diana.   In the photo below you can see the Island of Ortigia and its relationship to the city of Siracusa, which is home to the Greek Theater, the Necropolis of Pantalica, and the Museo Archeologico Regionale P. Orsi, 

Courtesy of: By Markos90 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18574004

 L'opera dei Pupi is a tradition in Sicily dating back to the early 19th century and we were lucky to see a show in Ortigia.  Three puppeteers worked the puppets and sang a lively opera featuring tales of "medieval chivalric literature."  We, of course, understood none of it except what we read in our English language program, but we still enjoyed the pageantry and spirit of the event.  

One day we made the thirty minute drive to Noto, a town renowned for its baroque buildings.  We had a good time there enjoying its lovely churches and fun cafes.   

We were surprised to come across two interesting exhibitions, one showing prints and ceramics by Picasso and the other a chronological display of photographs showing the life of artist Frieda Khalo.  They were really wonderful to see. 

Afterwards we drove south where we found an undeveloped and quiet beach. 

I put on my suit and waded around in the waves, only to be interrupted by the beautiful sight of two horses out for a ride along the sea. 

Another day we drove over an hour to the famous tourist town of Taromina, well known for its Greek theater, its dramatic site high up above the Mediterranean, and its excellent ceramic shops.  

We loved our five days in Siracusa and the surrounding area.  But even on vacation the clock keeps ticking and it was soon time to think about going home.  

Valley of the Temples

Early Sunday night we checked into the Agriturismo Baglio San Nicola,  a working farm near Naro and about a thirty minute drive from the Valley of the Temples, a large archaeological site immediately outside the city of Agrigento.   We didn't quite know what to expect from an agriturismo, but found a lovely old farmhouse with gracious guest rooms and a modern addition to hold the reception and dining areas.

Can you tell it's getting ready to rain? 

It also was a working farm with acres of grape vines (here covered before harvest) and many productive trees yielding pomegranates, walnuts, limes and lemons. 

 Besides being an interesting place to visit, the agriturismo put us close to the Valley of the Temples, a UNESCO World Heritage Site featuring seven Greek temples built between 510-430 B.C. and used by the inhabitants of the large Greek city of Akragas, which was settled in 580 B.C.  We also planned to tour the Museo Archeologico Regionale di Agrigento.  We figured it would take us two full days to see both sites.

A glimpse of what's ahead

Temple of Juno

Concordia Temple

  

Ben by the city walls, later used as a necropolis

Temple of Heracles

Fallen "Atlas" from the Temple of Zeus

Sometimes you had to just stop and take it all in!

Although it is called a valley, the temple complex is up on a ridge from which there are nice views of the surrounding area.  These two photos were taken from a much later garden on the ridge. 

The archaeological museum was filled with items found near the temples and in the necropolis.  

But perhaps the most interesting exhibit was of several Atlas from the Temple of Zeus reconstructed to their full height.  

There was a helpful model of how they may have appeared in the Temple. Zeus clearly demanded a huge temple!

Model of one conjecture of the use of the Atlas. 

The museum also had a display showing how Greeks painted their stonework.  The lion sculpture on the left decorated a roof gutter.  After it was sculpted it was painted and the right hand photo shows a conjecture of what that would have looked like.  Recent scholarship has revealed that Greek buildings, including the temples, and sculpture were all painted, a hard idea to grasp when you're used to seeing "classical white" Greek ruins and artifacts! 

Outside the museum an archaeological dig is underway to reveal a part of the city of Akragas as it was occupied by the Romans from the second century BC to the fourth century AD.  Some floor mosaics have been uncovered, but basically the goal is to show the layout of the streets and buildings.

Ben reads a sign in the Roman Quarter.

In the evenings we ate dinner at the Agruturista.  Many of the foods served were grown on the farm or in the area and dining at the hotel was a nice alternative to wandering around the rural back roads after dark.  

Appetizers:  Caponata, arancini, sausage, chick pea panelle, and an olive and cheese cup

Still, after three nights of eating in one place, we were ready to move on.  Siracusa, here we come!