Day 11: Trek Across Sicily to Agrigento

Thursday morning the 21st we woke up and got ready to leave Taormina.  We were sad to leave, since this had become one of our favorite parts of the trip.  We lingered over our Sicilian breakfast on the terrace before calling a cab to take us to the rental car company.  The only part of our trip we did not plan out before arriving in Italy was getting from Taromina to Palermo.   We had several options and after talking to the concierge in Palermo, we decided to rent a car and spend the day sightseeing.  Sicily has several sites with Greek ruins with the most popular being Agrigento which was about three hours southwest of Taormina.

View from our balcony

Of course being in Europe meant that it was much cheaper to rent a manual.  Since I have regularly driven a stick most of my driving life, I became the designated driver.  We rented a little European car, the Fiat Panda.  The car was easy to drive but I was white knuckled driving down the mountain on a little two lane road from Taormina.  Once we got on the highway I was able to relax a little and start enjoying our adventure.  And it was definitely an adventure.  The little rental office in the town square of Taormina did not have a GPS and our phones weren't set up for data so we were depending on paper maps and the Sicilian signage, which we quickly discovered stunk.

Side of the highway

Sicilian countryside

 After a few hours we reached the town of Agrigento but we were struggling to find the Valley of the Temples.  We decided to stop at a gas station to fill up on gas before trying again in a new direction.  The pumps were automatic and the husband put in a 50 euro bill to fill up the car.  The Panda took about 35 euros so he went in to get change from the attendant.  The guy finally managed to get across that the pumps were separate from his store and the guy in charge of gas didn't come in until 2.  At that point it was only 11.  The husband asked if we could go back to the station after we finished at the ruins since we were due nearly $20 in change, I laughed and said there was no way we'd ever find it again.  

The quick gas break seemed to help us reorient and we finally found the Valley.  We made our way through the ruins at the bottom of the hill, which was the corner of the Temple of Castor and Pollux.  From there we reached the a road running through the temples and stopped for a quick, greasy lunch that was mostly Sicilian street food.  At this point it was getting late in the day and I was worried about reaching Palermo before dark.

Ruins of the Temple of Castor and Pollux

We made our way through the Temple of Hercules and stopped to admire the Temple of Concordia which is one of the best preserved Greek temples.  At that point it was getting late and we decided to head back to the car instead of trekking to the Temple of Hera which we were able to see out in the distance.

Temple of Hercules

Temple of Concordia

Temple of Hera

Once back in the car we were turned around several times trying to find our road to Palermo.  It was stressful for both of us trying to find the signs and determine which way we wanted to go.  And then all the sudden, the husband yells, "There it is, stop!"  Yes, we had inadvertently found the gas station.  The husband marched out and found a guy with a money apron, who I can only assume was in the mob.  I could see in my rear view mirror that he was arguing with the guy, I could tell the guy was trying to get out of paying him but the husband came back with every penny of his change.  I still don't know how we ended up back there, I would've sworn it was miles from where we were.  

We set out again and finally found a road that hugs the western coast of Sicily.  I did not get to enjoy the sunset as much as my passenger did, but he did take some pictures for me to see later.  After the sun went down we had about another hour to Palermo through the mountains.  The roads were not as well lit as I would've liked, but that may have been for the best since I'm pretty sure we were hugging the side of the mountain and there wasn't much between us and a sheer drop down.  Eventually we found our way to Palermo and we realized we would not be able to return the car before the Hertz closed.  We had paid for the car for 24 hours and decided to just head to the hotel and return in the morning.

Sicilian sunset

In Palermo things got a lot worse before they got better.  The hotel we were staying in is a small boutique hotel and we passed it several times because the sign was small and we were stressed.  The drivers in Palermo make DC drivers look nice.  There were motorbikes weaving in and out of traffics and lanes would just end.  Once I stalled at a light because a motorbike startled me so badly that I lost the clutch, which of course set of a chorus of horns and cursing behind us.  I was mentally exhausted and near tears by the time we finally parked illegally outside the hotel.  The husband went in and found the owner who offered to park the car for us, which I gratefully accepted.

We checked into our super modern hotel room at the Palco Hotel with a view of the Opera House.  The owners were lovely people who went out of their way to make us feel welcome.  By the time we got settled in, it was late and we were ready for dinner.  The hotel owners recommended a restaurant in a little pedestrian alley a few block away.  The weather was nice enough that we could sit outside with our jackets and enjoy the musicians playing in the streets and the atmosphere.  The food was authentic Sicilian and there was no English on the menu so we ended up just selecting a few items and we enjoyed all of it.  We ordered house wine of course and after a few glasses and the food the stress of the drive melted away.

Antipasta

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