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!
I love redbuds!! My favorite one by the Library of Congress is in bloom now — love how flowers grow from the trunk itself. And I also love those Grandpa pictures. So much to like :)
Thanks, Eden! We missed you this time. Come back again… with Charlie? :-)
I have been there and loved it. I’ve heard that those ruins are better than the ones in Athens, but I’ve never been to Athens. Have you?
Not yet, Jessica! I would love to go while we live here because we’re so “close,” although in reality we would have to take 2 separate, expensive plane flights to get to Athens. It’s on my bucket list, though. I’ve heard the same thing about Agrigento and so I wonder if I won’t be underwhelmed when I do finally see the Parthenon!