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Agrigento

After our visit to the magnificent Scala dei Turchi, we drove along the southern coast of Sicily to the city of Agrigento.  We had reservations at a lovely B&B called Villa San Marco.  It’s a peaceful, lovely spot right on the grounds of the historical park of the famous Greek temples of Agrigento.  We had a great view of them, in fact, right over the pool:

Our rooms were in the old barn, we think, of the original villa.  Scattered around the grounds are tables and chairs for comfortable lounging and reading, and Elliott and I did a lot of that over the weekend as Lena napped.  Roaming the grounds is a gigantic Italian mastiff (called a Cane Corso), a snuggly Dachshund puppy, gorgeous peacocks, white fantail doves, a cheerful cockatiel, and maybe a hamster.  (Elliott thought he was hibernating.  I thought he was… well, you know.)

Our first morning there we explored the grounds before breakfast.  There were so many almond trees in blossom!  When our group had assembled, we drank lattes over homemade jam (apricot, peach, and prickly pear), fresh rolls, and blood oranges.

We headed into the park to take a closer look at the beautiful remains of the Greek temples.  The air was fresh and cool, filled with bees buzzing around almond trees and the laughter of all the children in our crew.

Mixed in between the ruins were these interested iron sculptures.  Not sure what the point of them was.  Fallen Greek gods?

We stopped for lunch at a little cafe on the park grounds.  The kids went to work cracking open last season’s almonds with their dad, Josh.  Caleb also helped out by holding Lena.  They both need more practice, I think.

The kids offered Lena and me the tasty nuts they had cracked.

We wandered along the ridge to the final temple and stopped for photos of the vista.
Then Josh, Grant, and I took some jumping pictures…
Even little Lucas jumped off the ruins!

We waited until the sun was about to set before finally heading home.

The next morning we couldn’t decide whether to leave early or stick around for more sightseeing.  While we pondered, we waited for peacocks to show their colors:

tasted pine needles (and flowers and leaves and rocks and other things), took rides on large dogs,
and checked out the ducks with our friends.

Finally we decided to head home after all.  One of the peacocks turned up his feathers at the idea!  Quite a farewell.

5 :: in family, friends, Italy, Lena, Sicily, travel

Agrigento

After our visit to the magnificent Scala dei Turchi, we drove along the southern coast of Sicily to the city of Agrigento.  We had reservations at a lovely B&B called Villa San Marco.  It’s a peaceful, lovely spot right on the grounds of the historical park of the famous Greek temples of Agrigento.  We had a great view of them, in fact, right over the pool:

Our rooms were in the old barn, we think, of the original villa.  Scattered around the grounds are tables and chairs for comfortable lounging and reading, and Elliott and I did a lot of that over the weekend as Lena napped.  Roaming the grounds is a gigantic Italian mastiff (called a Cane Corso), a snuggly Dachshund puppy, gorgeous peacocks, white fantail doves, a cheerful cockatiel, and maybe a hamster.  (Elliott thought he was hibernating.  I thought he was… well, you know.)

Our first morning there we explored the grounds before breakfast.  There were so many almond trees in blossom!  When our group had assembled, we drank lattes over homemade jam (apricot, peach, and prickly pear), fresh rolls, and blood oranges.

We headed into the park to take a closer look at the beautiful remains of the Greek temples.  The air was fresh and cool, filled with bees buzzing around almond trees and the laughter of all the children in our crew. 
 

Mixed in between the ruins were these interested iron sculptures.  Not sure what the point of them was.  Fallen Greek gods?

We stopped for lunch at a little cafe on the park grounds.  The kids went to work cracking open last season’s almonds with their dad, Josh.  Caleb also helped out by holding Lena.  They both need more practice, I think.

The kids offered Lena and me the tasty nuts they had cracked.

We wandered along the ridge to the final temple and stopped for photos of the vista.

Then Josh, Grant, and I took some jumping pictures…

Even little Lucas jumped off the ruins!

We waited until the sun was about to set before finally heading home.

The next morning we couldn’t decide whether to leave early or stick around for more sightseeing.  While we pondered, we waited for peacocks to show their colors:

tasted pine needles (and flowers and leaves and rocks and other things), took rides on large dogs,
 
and checked out the ducks with our friends.

Finally we decided to head home after all.  One of the peacocks turned up his feathers at the idea!  Quite a farewell.

3 :: in family, friends, Italy, Lena, Sicily, travel

snapshots on a Friday

Things have been busy around here!  We have some friends of friends staying with us for the next few days and so have been eagerly preparing for them and now are enjoying their visit.  They work in Romania and are in Sicily for vacation.  It seems that Sicily is doing her best to welcome them, for it is a glorious spring day with temperatures in the mid-60s, filled with birdsong and sunshine.  The kids are out on the balcony enjoying the warm Sicilian sun to their heart’s content.

Here are a few photos from my phone, all taken within the last few weeks.  Happy weekend, everyone!

“I have got to find those clothespins Mama hid in here!”
& starting a newly commissioned knitting project 
what you do when your baby wakes up with a stiff head of hair that smells like spit up: give her a bath at 8am!
& enjoying her bath book, which I read every summer in my grandparents’ tub when I was a child

 admiring the view of the valley with her daddy 
& still her favorite thing to do: watch the wash go ’round and ’round

a trip to the library after church 
& another day in the library… look what we found!
5 :: in family, home sweet home, Lena, Sicily

snapshots on a Friday

Things have been busy around here!  We have some friends of friends staying with us for the next few days and so have been eagerly preparing for them and now are enjoying their visit.  They work in Romania and are in Sicily for vacation.  It seems that Sicily is doing her best to welcome them, for it is a glorious spring day with temperatures in the mid-60s, filled with birdsong and sunshine.  The kids are out on the balcony enjoying the warm Sicilian sun to their heart’s content.

Here are a few photos from my phone, all taken within the last few weeks.  Happy weekend, everyone!

“I have got to find those clothespins Mama hid in here!”
& starting a newly commissioned knitting project 
what you do when your baby wakes up with a stiff head of hair that smells like spit up: give her a bath at 8am!
& enjoying her bath book, which I read every summer in my grandparents’ tub when I was a child

 admiring the view of the valley with her daddy 
& still her favorite thing to do: watch the wash go ’round and ’round

a trip to the library after church 
& another day in the library… look what we found!
5 :: in family, home sweet home, Lena, Sicily

a trip to the farm!

On Saturday Elliott, Lena, and I were invited to a kid’s birthday party.  This particular party took place on a farm which, according to our friends, is overrun with wonderful animals.

They were not mistaken!  The woman who owns the farm has about 10 pigs (9 of which are piglets), about 8 dogs, a calf, and a goat.  We stepped out of our car and spotted piglets running around… and Elliott and I were in heaven.

This piglet is the family favorite and gets more free rein than the others on the farm.  But we spotted the rest of the crew with their mama, easy to find with your nose or your eyes!

One of the German shepherds had herded this little guy into the orange groves.  I tried to coax him out, but nothing doing.  He was content to just stand here, tipped forward on the hill, batting his eyes at me.

Later, after roasting hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire pit, we found the calf back in the barn.  He was snuggling in the hay with his friends Goat and Piglet.

What a place!  This renewed the desire in our hearts to one day have a farm with our own animals (as well as our children) running to and fro.  We both agreed that we wanted fewer dogs and pigs and we’d probably like to add a pony, a cat, and a dozen or so chickens…

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5 :: in family, Italy, Sicily, weekend

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