Sicily trip: Dec 26, Agrigento

The famous Greek temples and ruins of Agrigento are interesting, but I think Paestum and Segesta (see Dec 28) are more impressive. We went to the museum first, because it was open only until 1 pm. The centerpiece is an original giant telamon (about 8 meters) in a big hall that describes the temple of Zeus.



A Greek vase (5th cent BC) with "a sacrifice to Apollo."



One of these was sold for over one million dollars -- and that was over 30 years ago.

Terracotta reliefs with molds, a rare find:



A cute statuette of a god:



Etc.

The temple is on the hill...



... overlooking pretty countryside.



I think these temples are not very photogenic: in pictures they look as if they are built from a toy construction set. In reality they are magnificent.

Some almond trees began to blossom -- the peak is in February. M picked some last-year almonds and brought a bag of them to Viterbo! They were edible!



After the ruins we stopped at the house where Pirandello was born and at his tomb.



In his will he asked to entomb the urn with his ashes in a simple rock somewhere in the countryside. They did that, near his house, under a lovely pine tree. We saw it in a picture, but apparently the tree had to be taken down -- they left a couple of pieces and planted a new tree:




Inside there was a little exhibit on Pirandello and the war, that is, WWI. It turned out he was swept by the patriotic surge, despite his generally ironic demeanor. Happens.

On the way back we stopped in Sciacca (about 20 km from our agriturismo) to check e-mail and find a place for dinner. We found an Internet point near the port, in a game hall packed with teenagers. Slot machines were ringing, music was blasting, and cigarette smoke went right up into our noses -- not a perfect place for computer work. But we managed to check e-mail and send a couple of messages.

As far as dinner is concerned, most places were closed, but one, by the port, was open and it was OK.