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Just-Imagine!
Friday 19th Dec. Another tick for the bucket list today. I really had a wish to see the Valley of temples in Agrigento in the south of Sicily. We had to catch the local bus as there are no tours this time of the year. After getting the information from the hotel desk it didn't seem too difficult, I had a brief lapse in remembering that we are in Italy! On arrival at the train station we were pointed in four different ways for the bus. I did begin to feel that we weren't going to make it, finally finding the right bus, and having walked around in circles, the four different ways did lead to a similar place! I find Italian people a bit vague with directions but then again it could be a translation thing.
Once on the bus it was a very pleasant two hour trip, nice to see some of the country side and agriculture of Sicily, mostly fruit and vegetable growing, olives, some sheep. Also passed the occasional wind farm and solar farms. Many farm houses look really run down and peasant like.
There was a fair bit of road work on the way but we still got there in the two hours. Once in Agrigento it was definitely time for a coffee while we tried to orientate ourselves on google maps. We had 4 hours - plenty of time Rob says - let's walk....I had read the best way is to catch a town bus buying your ticket at the train station. Becoming a little frustrated with Rob trying to work out google maps I decided to use my limited Italian to inquire about the bus & tickets because I wasn't going to walk and I don't think Liam would have been very happy. In the mean time Liam had lost us because we both went inside the train station while he was looking at something. When he saw us he was quite distressed thinking we had left him behind! not sure how he thought we could do that but it was a little lesson in paying attention for us all.
While waiting for the bus, at the stop a nice man explained were to get off and on at the temples. Once again we had lovely weather and very few people. Amazing (I know I use that word a lot but) to see these structures that are more than two and half thousand years old and still standing - Amazing. After spending about 2 hours walking around we headed back into the city for lunch and in time to catch the bus back to Palmero for our last night then it's back to Naples for a night.
Once on the bus it was a very pleasant two hour trip, nice to see some of the country side and agriculture of Sicily, mostly fruit and vegetable growing, olives, some sheep. Also passed the occasional wind farm and solar farms. Many farm houses look really run down and peasant like.
There was a fair bit of road work on the way but we still got there in the two hours. Once in Agrigento it was definitely time for a coffee while we tried to orientate ourselves on google maps. We had 4 hours - plenty of time Rob says - let's walk....I had read the best way is to catch a town bus buying your ticket at the train station. Becoming a little frustrated with Rob trying to work out google maps I decided to use my limited Italian to inquire about the bus & tickets because I wasn't going to walk and I don't think Liam would have been very happy. In the mean time Liam had lost us because we both went inside the train station while he was looking at something. When he saw us he was quite distressed thinking we had left him behind! not sure how he thought we could do that but it was a little lesson in paying attention for us all.
While waiting for the bus, at the stop a nice man explained were to get off and on at the temples. Once again we had lovely weather and very few people. Amazing (I know I use that word a lot but) to see these structures that are more than two and half thousand years old and still standing - Amazing. After spending about 2 hours walking around we headed back into the city for lunch and in time to catch the bus back to Palmero for our last night then it's back to Naples for a night.
- comments
Lisa Checker Loving reading your blogs Raelene. It sounds like you are having an amazing time and like you said ticking off the bucketlist things. What an experience for Liam (second time around). All this reading of travel is giving me itchy feet. All good here in WA, weather is heating up and should be a warm one for Christmas Day. Looking forward to the next update. Ciou Bella xx
Raelene Mariani Thanks Lisa, I know what you mean when you read about others travel adventures, makes you want to be there. Liam is mostly enjoying it, sometimes too young to appreciate it and we have to adjust to his wishes sometimes - like having MacDonalds for tea. Hope you have a nice warm Xmas. Liam does keep saying it doesn't feel like Christmas because of the cold.
Pam Batten You are doing so well catching buses and trains, so you are getting to see what you want to see! Well done. Great to tick something else from your 'Bucket List' and even better when you are doing it at your age.