Wednesday 2 September 2009

Ustica - Palermo 60km / 37 mi by sea

The alarm clock rings at 6am. We get up take a shower and make our way to the port. We driven down there by the hotel van. There is quite a crowd at the quayside at this early hour. The ship to Palermo. leaves promptly at 6.45 and an hour and 15 minutes later we are in  Palermo's passenger port. We take a taxi, that does not leave until the driver is absolutely sure he cannot get a better fare than us. He drives us to the hotel Centrale Palace. We cannot get into our room yet, but breakfast is available. It is very extensive, second to no other upclass hotel. And so it should not be. It is a fine hotel with chandeliers, nice lounges with all the trimmings. 

After breakfast we walk to the Palazzo Reale or Palazzo dei Normanni. It has been a royal palace for centuries from the times of the Saracenes. In the 11th century the Normans built their fortress here, but there is little that reminds us of those days. The present building looks Spanish in its archtecture. In the building the royal appartments can be visited. The highlight of the visit is the Palatine Chapel, dating back to the 12th century from the times of Norman King Roger II. It is regarded to be epitome of Sicilian-Norman medieval architecture. Magnificent mosaics have been made by craftsmen from Byzantium. The did the job in no more than ten years. You just cannot stop looking at the biblical scenes on the wall and ceiling. In the apsis a picture of Christ Pancreator, with the holy scripture is one hand, while blessing the congregation with the other. After this overwhelming beauty, we continue on the second floor of the complex for a tour of the various royal rooms, which have been integrated into the Sicilian regional parliament. Among them the rooms of Roger II with all kinds of hunting scenes in mosaics on the walls. The guided tour (in Italian) ends in the parliamentary chamber of regional parliament of Sicily.

Our ticket is also valid for the Punic wall that has been excavated between the foundations of the palace. It takes some imagination to make anything out, but the findings are used as scene for exhibitions of modern art.  

Outside again we take a taxi to Monreale a suburb on the edge of Palermo, where Norman king William II, who was engaged in a bitter rivalry with the English bishop of Palermo, ordered the construction of his own cathedral and monastery. The complex was completed within 20 years, but by the time it was finished the English bishop had already died. William himself is buried in Palermo. Inside the church we see an overwhelming number of mosaics depicting scenes from both the Old and New Testament. The side Apses are devoted to St Peter and St Paul respectively, who are shown in great detailed mosaics. In the central apsis a giant Christ looks down on us seemingly embracing all those in the church. This Abbey dates back to the 12th century and again is a celebration of the architecture during the Norman period of Sicily (1072-1194).  A ticket allows access to the treasury and the roof terrace. The treasury hold various relics and other church treasures. Via a staircase you can reach a bridge the guides you over the roof towards the outside of the apsis. From there I have a splendid view of all of Palermo. Back on ground level I pay a visit to the cloisters. Tickets cost 6 euruo which is a bit steep compared the church that is free of charge. It is worth while a peek inside though. 

  Our taxi waited for us to return and takes us back to our hotel for 50 euros (out and back including the wait). Our room is ready and we take a shower. After lunch at Osteria Primavera near the hotel we take a stand up coffee on the street corner in a tiny café. We then return to the hotel to escape the afternoon heat.  

After a siesta we take a walk in the old town. We start at the cross road called Quatro Canti near the hotel. The crossing divides the old town in four neighbourhoods. On every corner of the square is a half round building with a statue depicting a saint, a king and a season on its facade. We walk on cross the Corso Vittorio Emmanuelle, and walk onto the Piazza Pretoria op . In the middle of it is a fountain with naked white statues. On the edge of the square is the  Santa Catarina church and the town hall. On the other side is the San Giuseppe de Teatini church. Outside it has a simple façade, but inside it is richly decorated. There is a wedding about to start. We continue into theAlbergheria district and walk to the Gesú church. Here too a wedding in progress. At the San Nicoló church and tower we head back to the Corso. We reach the Corso via a number of narrow alleyways. We take a left towards the city gate and the Duomo. This originally Norman church was redeveloped in the 18th and 19th century to the detriment of the composition of the building. Its interior is neoclassical and cool. The eastern façade is the most authentic. We walk across the Capo neighbourhood and get into a street market. It is very busy and the goods on offer are funny to look at. They sell anything here from lamps to mattresses and a suit costs no more than 57 euros. Clearly the place is not geared to tourists. We walk to the Sant Agostino church. This 13th century church has a nice cloister. We have come just in time as the verger is busy closing up for the day. We continue through the Masqueda street which we turn left until we reach Quatro Canti again and our hotel. We head for the hotel bar around 8pm for some delicious prosecco and then the elevator to the roof top restaurant for a fine al fresco dinner overlooking the roofs of the city. The food is great and the Sicilian  Santogostino wine is great. 

Weather: warm and sunny, 32 degrees.

Thursday 3 September 2009

Palermo - Agrigento 237km / 147 mi

After breakfast we check out have the car fetched for us. On the very busy  Corso Vittorio Emmanuele we load our suitcases into the car make our way into the Palermo morning rush hour.  Our satnav guides us through the chaotic traffic. Even a road closure does not hurt us while finding a way out off the city. We just have to be brave and not afraid of scratching the car. Although traffic appears to be very undisciplined, drivers do give way to one another. You just have to be unfraid to take your turn. We drive in a westerly direction on the motorway along the coastline. At Castelmare del Golfo we turn off the main road to get a coffee in this small fishery village. We force our way through the alleyways, although our satnav have some trouble getting to grips with one way traffic signs. In the port it is busy with tourist boat tours about to leave and fishermen selling their catch right from the boat. 

After our coffee we head on south and after about an hour we arrive in  Selinunte on the South Coast. Here we visit the  temple complex. At two connected sites there are six Greek temples froim the 3rd century BC. The terrain is very open and the temples are far apart. Fortunately there are electric carts availables to drives us around. The logistics of this service is rather complicated and visitors with different tour packages have to change vehicles from time to time.  It excruciatingly hot, the a very faint sea breeze give a little relief from time to time. A number of the temples have been reassembled quite nice from the bits and pieces that were dug up.  Others are far from complete or just piles of rubble. We are allowed off the cart to explore the Akropolis on foot. The Akropolis has retained a clear street pattern and looks out over the sea. On the other side of the Akropolis we are picked up by another cart and driven back to the entrance building. We take our car and drive into the village for lunch in a small restaurant We take pasta as pizzas are only available at night.  

We drive via two lane roads through the hinterland a little away from the coast to  Agrigento. On our way we see a starting road side fire, but the fire brigade is on its way. At 4pm we get to Agrigento. Via a maze of streets we find our way to the B&B. Agrigento is not an instantly likeable town. Our first impression is one of ugly high rises built almost on top of each other and glued to the steep hills on which the town is built. Not until we reach Via Atenea, in the medieval and baroque centre the town shows its charm. We stay at B&B  Atenea 191, on the main street cutting through the old town. Our rooms are on the first floor, but the street at the back of building is much lower. We have uninterupted views on the coast and in the far we can see the temples, that Agrigento is so famous for. On the roof top there is a terrace where breakfast will be served tomorrow morning.  

We have a break and a so called power nap and hit the streets. From 5pm onwards the street is closed off to traffic and it is  Passegiata time. The winkels open up again and people start parading up and down the street. We take station at the outside tables of café Insomnia and a drink or two, watching the crowds passing by. 

At night we eat a pizza at La Corte degli Sfizi in a court yard.

Weather: warm, 32ºC/90ºF clear skies

Vrijdag 4 september 2009

  We are awoken by burglar arms going off because of a power cut. The power is on again after 10 minutes or so. The hot water in the shower takes its time to come through and the shower is less than generous with it. We have breakfast wit h a splendid view of the surrounding area. from the rooftop terrace.  The hostess does not stop describing all the facts of the city. Tonigh there is White Nights festival down on the temple site, which will free of charge. 

Our car is almost blocked by other parked cars, but Erik manages to get it out after much maneuvering back and forth. We drive down to the Temple valley and park on the almost empty car park. The temples mark the site of the ancient city of Akragas, that lend Agrigento its name. The city was founded by Greek colonists in 581 BC.  We by tickets for the temple site for 10 euros each. Via an automatic turnstile we enter the site and walk all the way up to the Juno temple. We are lucky with the weather, because it is a bit cloudy and the sun  is not shining yet. It is still 26 degrees. Half way up to the Junotempel we stop for coffee in a trendy (?!) cafe. The friendly barman offers his self baked cake for free. After the goodies we carry on to the temple. It beautifully set on a promontory with goods views of the sea and the town. The temple has been reconstructed from parts found by archeologists a couple of decades ago. You can even see some of the original white and red colours. We walk down and take a look at the Concord temple, built around 430 BC. It is the best preserved temple of the lot and with its red colour and fine location a marvoullous sight. This temple needed the least repair work as it was used as a church in the sixth century AD. The oldes temple, dedicated to Hercules  from the last decade of the 5th century BC is nothing more than 10 pillars and some rubble. The is also a ossified Greek cart track to be seen. We walk back to the parking lot and drink some iced tea in the air conditioned cafeteria for €3.20 each. After finishing that we go for the Jove or Zeus temple. It must have been the largest Greek temple ever. Unfortunately it was never finished and was sacked by the Saracens and an earth quake did the rest.  Behind the Jove temple is an area with excavations with some pillars here and there. Around 11am we go to the archeological museum.  It is a nice place to be and not just for its very pleasant airco system. The museum has a large collection of vases, plats, statues and other bits and pieces, all from around here. The sighns are bilingual, which not common in Sicily. After visiting the museum we drive to the centre. We have to pay for parking by this time. A guy sitting near our car charges way to much for a ticket. Later we buy a ticket at the kiosk and pay just one euro per hour. After a freshening up we go for lunch at  L’ambaciata de Sicilia around the corner from our B&B. Good food and none too expensive. 

We go to our room for our well deserved afternoon break. There is not much more you can do in the blazing heat of the afternoon. There is no wind nor cloud. 

After the siesta we go for drinks at  café Insomnia on  via Atenea. The passegiata is starting up and half the town parades us by. After a couple of agreable hours we join the crowd ourselves. Later that night we have dinner at Trattoria Vicoli. Not very special but it fills. We round off the evenng with a prosecco on a different side walk café.  

We sleep again with our windows open. We have no one looking in and there is no airco. Hoping for some fresh air from the see we let the ceiling fan do its work.  

Weatherr: warm en sunny 32ºC/90ºF

 

Saturday 5 September 2009

  Agrigento - Piazza Armerina - Siracusa: 216km

We have breakfast on the beautiful roof terrace. After that we pack and leave, much to the distress of our hostess , who was convinced that we would stay 3 nights. Apparently she had misunderstood my e-mail.  We walk - interrupted by a coffee stop at Insomnia - with our suitcases to our car. We drive towards Piazza Armerina, a small town, about 90 minutes' drive from Agrigento. A sight in its own right, but we have this way for the mosaics of the Villa Romana del Casale, a Roman villa from the 4^th century AD, which has been uncovered about 100 years ago. The mosaic floors are phenomenal, well preserved and very detailed. There is not much left of the villa's walls. A course made out of scaffolding, board walks, bridges and staircases guides is through the complex allowing good views of the floors. The most famous is one room with floor mosaics depicting sporting and playing women wearing Roman type of  bikini. And we always thought that this was an invention from the 1960's!! After some refreshment we continue our drive to Siracusa. We take the motorway Palermo-Catania and follow it beyond Catania in the direction of  Siracusa. It is about 2 hours driving. South of Catania the motorway is not quite finished. It will not be long before the final stretch of the motorway is ready for use. About 20 km further the motorway continues, leading us to Siracusa. Our hotel is on the ancient island of Ortigia, where the city was founded by the Greek. in the 7th century BC. The island is now filled with 18th and 19th century buildings. Our hotel Alla Giudecca is not easy to find, but we get there in the end. We have a spacious apartment with living room, kitchenette, two bed rooms and a roof terrace.  

Starved and tired we rush to a restaurant,  Al Mazari, for a lunch. It is a luxurious establishment we we have some great food. We walk back to the hotel to cool down and unwind. Close to 6pm we go out for a drink at the waterfront near Font Aretusa, an ancient pond.  We have great views on the bay and the boats passing by. We have booked a table at Don Camillo; we are told this is the place where Siracusans go take their out of town guests for dinner. Celebrities who were here before us include:  Gerard Depardieu, Giorgio Armani, Bono, Jessica Lange and Francis Ford Coppola. The restaurant is no disappointment. Stylishly decorated with perfect service. The food is excellent. Shrimp cake with fennel followed by Sword fish with egg plant. A Sicilian wine makes it perfect. Lemon ice cream for dessert. 

Weather: very warm and sunny 35ºC/95ºF

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