Thursday October 13th
Franco had promised us a taste of 3 fruits that I’d never heard of before, but he told us to wait for breakfast. So as someone who loves fruit I was especially excited. The first was called “fico d’India” which is actually the fruit of a breed of cactus. It is at least 1/3 seeds, and that took a second to get used to. I literally couldn’t get myself to swallow the first big bite I took. I couldn’t chew the seeds, they were too hard, but it would have been rude to spit the whole thing out, so I eventually just swallowed. That is the key to eating them. Put the piece in your mouth, squeeze the juice out between your tongue and the roof of your mouth, and then just swallow. It’s actually quite good, and I ate a goodly few of them. The second was “melone giallo” which is literally yellow melon. Very similar to a cantaloupe but with a different sweetness, I’ve never seen them at home, but I’d recommend keeping an eye out for them. The third, and the one that I was most looking forward to was (I’m going to spell it phonetically as I have no idea how you actually spell it) “Kah-kee”. Picture a tomato, then slice it open to find a stringy, jelly-like, seedless, sugar ball. It was such an odd flavor, almost like pure sugar, but with a touch of something that I couldn’t even put a name to. Anyway, an interesting breakfast, and an experience that we had only because of Franco and his sense of hospitality.
Today, and actually the next couple of days are pretty much devoted to Greek ruins. We started the day with Segesta which we missed on account of the traffic in Palermo the day before. Segesta is pretty much just one temple on a lonely hillside. It was never finished, and it was never taken apart, so it sits exactly as it was the day the last worker/slave walked away from it. There was a period when Christianity took over where they destroyed all pagan temples, but since there was never a roof on this one, and thus it was never consecrated, so there was no need to destroy it.
Not too far down the road is Erice, a hill town with impressive views from the castle. They say that on a clear day you can see Mt. Etna to the East, and Tunisia to the South. I’m not sure we saw either one. Franco being from this area told us that we’d need 5 days at least to see the sites. We had more like 5 hours, so a breeze through will have to suffice. But if you find yourself in this part of Sicily, staying at the Tenuta Manzo B&B, explore Erice a little further before moving on.
A hefty ride brought us to Selinunte, the site of another huge Greek temple. There is also another ruin, but it is so far away that most people seem to walk to the first, then return to their cars and drive to the second. You can also take a guided tour that drives you to both in a stretched golf cart.
It was at the second set of pillars that we invented a new Olympic sport. I think the ancient Greeks would be proud that something they built was the inspiration for a game, though they might not be so happy that it was in Italy. It’s called “Ruin Racing” and we’ve laid out the rules, the tie-breaking system, the different classes, etc. But I don’t think I want to share it with you as it isn’t the safest sport ever, plus I don’t want anyone else laying claim to it, just kidding.
Our lodging for the night was in Agrigento in the B&B Locanda di Terra www.locandaditerra.it What a place! It’s the hands down winner on having the best accouterments. Satellite TV, and WiFi internet meant that I could get the blog up to date, and Seth had something to watch while I did it. The bathroom was equipped with Dove cream soap dispenser, and the shower had Dove shampoo. The room was very large, and the sitting/breakfast room was just right. There was a great little garden with very comfortably lounge chairs around back. The evening was absolutely beautiful so we took advantage of the spot. Pirandello was a very famous writer from Agrigrento in the 1800's and this B&B is in what used to be his house. Just steps from the train station, and a short ride to the Valley of Temples makes this a great spot to call home while you are in Agrigento.