Hello everyone
We continued along the northern coast of Sicily before
heading inland skirting the Monti Nebrodi hills – beautiful winding mountain
roads with very little traffic – and headed for Agrigento on the southern
coast. Here is the Valley of the Temples – a series of ancient remains from the
5th century BC set amongst olive and almond trees. Both magnificent,
the Temple of Juno is less well preserved than the huge Temple of Concordia
which was used as a church in the 6th Century AD.
From here, we continued along the coast road towards
Siracusa and its old town of Ortigia – a port island joined to the mainland by
a causeway. It was here that Archimedes shouted ‘eureka’ after proving his
water displacement theory. The cathedral here has the ancient columns of the 5th
century BC Temple of Athena incorporated in its outer walls – amazing! We
enjoyed just ambling around the old town, people watching and enjoying the hot
sunshine.
Leaving Siracusa, we headed towards Mount Etna – it’s visible
along most of the coastal route north. The steep and winding road led to the southern
car park where we stayed overnight with a couple of other campers. The view of
Etna smoking and the lava fields are fantastic. We climbed 2 inactive volcanoes
and walked around the crater which was amazing, and there was a welcome cool
breeze here. Etna lies directly on the 15° longitudinal meridian which is
marked by a small monument on the car park. After leaving here, we noticed the
van has small yellow stains on the bonnet and over-cab which haven’t washed off –
we think its sulphur from the volcanic atmosphere – what a souvenir!
From here, we made our way through Taormina – the main holiday
resort on Sicily – back to the ferry at Messina. There are some incredibly
narrow roads on Sicily which have proved challenging at times; coupled with the
typical local driving style, we’re surprised we left with the van unscathed!
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| Can you really trust your sat nav? |
Will post again next week - love to all
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