Archive | family

traveling in Italy :: Agrigento and the Valley of the Temples

April 15, 2013 at 2:11 pm

According to our guidebook, Agrigento and the nearby Valley of the Temples is the top tourist destination in Sicily. The Valley of the Temples archeological park (Parco Valle dei Templi) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and boasts several beautifully-preserved temples strung along a ridge overlooking the ocean. The temples themselves include the best examples of Doric columns outside of Greece. We visited Agrigento last year with our friends the Arthurs and were excited to take Elliott’s parents this year.

^^^ We’re off! We brought our double stroller for this adventure and were so glad for the sturdy tires when we did some off-roading to get a close look at the temple ruins. Gil obliged by sleeping in his car seat most of the time…

The redbuds were in bloom, as well as many other gorgeous spring flowers. Such beauty.

^^^ I turned around and saw Lena and Elliott chilling on a wall. NBD.

^^^ Baby figs! And a very doting Grandpa.

^^^ Doting Grandpa take 2. I couldn’t resist.

And the obligatory Elliott/Lena/bug picture. I wonder how much longer she’ll be fascinated before them before a sense of fear or dislike sets in? Hopefully it never will….

A little info if you’d like to visit: the Valley of the Temples archeological park costs 10 euro per person for the main (Eastern) side and 15 euro for the entire park. (The other half includes some less-impressive remains of more temples.) If you throw in a visit to the Scala dei Turchi as well, it’s well worth the drive from other tourist locations (for us, ~2 hours from near Catania). We stayed at an agriturismo callled Villa Diana one night and would recommend it to others. For our one evening in Agrigento, we ate dinner at Kokalos, a popular restaurant that overlooks the night-lit temples. If you are planning a visit and have more questions, I’d be happy to answer them!

5 :: in family, Sicily, travel, visitors

traveling in Italy :: staying at an agriturismo

April 9, 2013 at 3:33 pm

As I mentioned before, we took a little trip down to southern Sicily while Elliott’s parents were visiting. We spent our one night away in an agriturismo, or a “farm stay.” Agritourism is popular in Italy, especially with families: the kids love the animals and the space to run around, the parents love the prices and the experience! We’ve stayed in a couple of other agriturismi which you can read about here and here.

We stayed in Villa Diana, an agriturismo just a few minutes outside of Agrigento. The owner and host, Dario, was kind and accommodating (and quirky). The rooms were spacious and each one was one vibrant color; we stayed in “Il Pistachio” which was verdantly green and my parents-in-law stayed in “Il Mandarino” which was vibrantly orange. Although there were many things that made us raise our eyebrows (the miniscule elevator, the plaster falling off the walls on the outside of the building, the trinkets enclosed in glass display cases throughout the house), we all had a wonderful time and would definitely go back. Here are a few photos from our stay.

There were chickens (with eggs!), donkeys, goats, sheep, and a couple of dogs on the property. Lena loved all of them. And who are we kidding? So did we!

^^^ Ahh, a sleeping babe… and a sweet grandmother! The agriturismo itself is in the background.

^^^ Loved this daddy goat’s horns!

^^^ My veterinarian husband.

^^^ The donkey was just a month old.

The agriturismo itself was surprisingly decorated inside with gilded, antique furniture that I assume are family heirlooms. This is the breakfast room, where we were served fresh pastries, eggs cooked to order, hot coffee and tea, and freshly squeezed blood orange juice.

^^^ Check out that glass of blood orange juice in front of Lena! So red.

Lena finished off our visit with a very serious game of chess. Just kidding…. The chess set was missing two pawns, and we laughed later when we learned from our friends (who had stayed there three weeks before us) admitted their kids had broken them. Lena almost broke or lost a couple of pieces herself. Leaving our marks on the world everywhere with our children….

Do you know if there are places like this elsewhere in the world? I haven’t heard of the farm/B&B combo in the States but I’m sure they must exist. Have you ever stayed at a place like this?

14 :: in agriturismo, animals, family, Italy, Sicily, travel

Scala dei Turchi

April 2, 2013 at 2:51 pm

Here at last are some pictures from our beautiful sunset walk to the Scala dei Turchi! It’s harder to write a blog post these days with two little kiddos needing lots of TLC. I think they’re both asleep for a little bit now…

While my parents-in-law were visiting last week, we took a trip to the southern coast of Sicily with them for a couple of days. We wanted to show them a beautiful rock formation and also visit the Valley of the Temples outside the city of Agrigento. We hadn’t been to either of these places since last February (here is a post about that trip), and so we were looking forward to enjoying this beautiful part of Sicily again ourselves.

We drove to Agrigento last Wednesday, checked into our agriturismo (more photos from there soon!), had naps all around, and then drove on to the Turkish Steps (or Scala dei Turchi) around 5pm. The walk along the beach toward the giant white rock formation was peaceful and beautiful. Lena loved walking along the ocean; Gil loved sleeping in our beloved Moby wrap.

Finally we reached the white rock and began to climb…

My father-in-law took this photo just as we got to the top of the Turkish Steps. The view behind us was stunning with the ocean stretching off forever into the setting sun! We spent a long time on the rocks, climbing and resting and taking photos.

Quite a picturesque spot for a diaper change, right??

If you’re like Lena, you also enjoy looking at whatever photo was just taken of you!

I love the photo above but am bummed that I was smiling for the camera and not looking at Elliott. Our matching silhouetted faces smiling at each other would have been so cool!

Below, my parents-in-law pause for final iPhone shots…

And the sun has set. Isn’t it such a magical place? In the setting sun this could almost be Antarctica. But instead it’s warm and sunny… and before too long the beaches will be covered with Sicilian sunbathers. I’d like to go back then!

9 :: in family, hiking, Italy, pretty places, Sicily, travel, visitors

happy weekend!

March 29, 2013 at 5:11 pm

Hello there, friends! Do you have any plans for this Easter weekend? We’ll be celebrating Christ’s resurrection with some friends on Sunday; I’m looking forward to that.

We’ve had a wonderful week here with Elliott’s parents visiting. We spent Wednesday and Thursday of this week with them on the southern coast of Sicily, and one evening we watched the sunset on the Scala dei Turchi (the Turkish Steps), a massive white rock jutting out into the ocean. Elliott’s dad took the photo above with his iPhone, but I’ll have more to share (from his camera and mine) next week.

Thank you for all your kind comments on my post about our family’s growing pains. These past few days have been better with the help of Elliott’s wonderfully supportive parents, and I think Gil also is just… growing up. He’s slowly starting to sleep longer, sleep more consistently, and sleep in his own bed (!). He’s also cooing and smiling now, and that makes all the difference in the world. He can respond! He likes me! He loves me? I love him! We can do this.

Happy Easter and happy weekend!

5 :: in family, Sicily, travel, weekend

lunchtime in Siracusa

March 26, 2013 at 5:09 pm

Uncle Eric and Lena enjoy some figs. I love their matching expressions!

While my family was visiting Sicily, we spent most of our time enjoying quiet days in our villa. At least one day, though, I wanted to get out and show them a little more of our lovely island home. On Wednesday Elliott was at work and therefore we could all fit in one car, so we loaded up and drove to Siracusa.

Siracusa — or really the old center, called Ortigia — is my favorite place to visit in Sicily because of the beautiful architecture, old ruins, quaint shops, and delicious food. See other trips I’ve made to Ortigia here with friends and here with my sister-in-law Jess.

Above, Lena enjoys the beautiful central piazza in Ortigia. The piazza is blindingly white in the summer sun but was still beautiful this gray March day. On the right my dad admires ruins while I attempt to comfort a fussy little Gil. Playing tour guide and being a mom of two was impossible without a lot of help from all members of my family!

She looks so sweet and pensive (and tired… it was nap time) in the photo above. Below, we attempted to get a family photo while we waited for our pizza lunch to arrive at my favorite trattoria.

Sicily is known for its Grillo grapes, which make delicious white wine. In the photos above and below Lena enjoys the music of a wonderful accordion player. Usually when I visit Siracusa the accordion player in the piazza is a little boy… but this time maybe his grandfather was on duty to charm the tourists? He certainly looked the part.