Sunday, March 13, 2016

Agrigento - The City

We left Trapani on the bus for Agrigento. By the looks of weather, we'd have to see the archaeological site in the afternoon and move on after only one night. Between the weather and bus schedule, it felt like we were heading into The Amazing Race. Luck would have it, our bus developed a mechanical problem half way, after many calls by our driver and about an hour wait, a replacement bus showed up. Driver and passengers all continued on the new bus. We were particularly relieved -- now it will be two nights in Agrigento with a whole day for the archaeological park.

Once we settled into our room, we spent the remainder of the afternoon walking around town. Agrigento is famous for the remains of the Greek temples in the valley below the town. The town, sits on a hill overlooking the sea, a favorite setting for Greek settlements, has had continuous occupation for over two millenniums, evidenced in one of the churches in town built on top of a Greek temple a millennium ago.

Today this wondrous town languishes in a slow decay. Much of the tourism to the Valley of Temples bypasses the town all together. Walking through town, efforts of renewal can easily be gleaned.

Waiting for the replacement bus.
Agrigento, Sicily, Italy

The view from our hotel room.
Agrigento, Sicily, Italy

The view inside our room. Wow!
Agrigento, Sicily, Italy

View up to modern day Agrigento from the archaeological park.
Agrigento, Sicily, Italy

View from modern town south to the Mediterranean.
Agrigento, Sicily, Italy

View north of town.
Agrigento, Sicily, Italy

Mobile grocery shop on the upper back streets.
Agrigento, Sicily, Italy

Flower art in progress on the Old Town's main street.
Agrigento, Sicily, Italy

And finished.
Agrigento, Sicily, Italy

Art Installation on the steps of the Cathedral.
Agrigento, Sicily, Italy

In Agrigento, we had our first and maybe last arancino ie Sicilian Stuffed Rice Ball. Why? It's not easy to find a vegetarian arancino, and second they are saturated with butter which I liked but Sun-Ling did not at all.
Agrigento, Sicily, Italy

The train station.
Agrigento, Sicily, Italy

The shop windows reveal Easter is coming.
Agrigento, Sicily, Italy

3 comments:

Kathy said...

Wow, that room looks like it should be in Venice.

You don't seem to be doing too well with the weather, hope it clears up. Although the clouds photograph well.

Crash Eddy said...

Concur with Kathy, WOW on the room.

Sun-Ling said...

Agreed! The room was so not-our-style, but it had everything else we were looking for. The young man that runs the place is very adorable. Besides, our other choice was full one of the nights, weekend and festival.

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