Greetings from Persephone's Island
Posted by Diane Debevec on Friday, April 22, 2011
Three days into our Sicily 2011 adventure finds us having a low-key day after 48 hours of touring. All photos by Jeff.
We arrived mid-afternoon on Tuesday, Maryl picking us up from the airport and proceeding with an impressive naval base tour. We spent an evening at home, at Maryl's sweet apartment in Belpasso, a village in the foothills of Mount Etna, and went early to bed, with no trouble sleeping after being awake for 36 hours. This view is from the top of the street in Belpasso looking down the main drag. Er, make that Via Prima.
Wednesday. Taormina is a glorious seaside town about an hour north of us. We hiked up to Castelmola, (the view below taken along our hike), then back down. Arrived at Taormina's famous Greek amphitheatre too late to see it, and so took our evening stroll, and enjoyed a fine pizza. Although we typically show up for dining around 8 or so, this hour is too early for Sicilians and we are generally among the first diners.
Thursday. A daylong venture of the southeast. First to Enna, a city that sits high above the surrounding landscapes and offers views in every direction. The fields below Enna are where Persephone was allegedly abducted by Hades and taken to the underworld, and a nearby deep lake is supposed to be the way there.( In case you were wondering)
Next we drove down to Agrigento to see the Valley of the Temples, a place where there are a number of Greek ruins from as old as 500 BC. This one is known as The Temple of Concord & is dated at 430 BC.
I tried to make a painting here but it was too windy. Here's Maryl & I, me sketching while she looks on.
Maryl had packed us an amazing delicious picnic, and we finally got around to eating it at 8:30 in the evening. At last on the Sicilian timetable! By then we were in Caltagirone, and ate our chilly picnic in a chilly park, and in the dark, until the polizia came to close the park gates. "Buon Apetito! he wished us. Sicilians are very polite even when they are kicking you out of a place. Caltagirone is a village famous for its ceramic art, and the steps pictured below, each decorated with majolica tiles. 142 steps! The treads are made of lava, as are the streets which you can see clearly in Jeff's photograph.
We arrived mid-afternoon on Tuesday, Maryl picking us up from the airport and proceeding with an impressive naval base tour. We spent an evening at home, at Maryl's sweet apartment in Belpasso, a village in the foothills of Mount Etna, and went early to bed, with no trouble sleeping after being awake for 36 hours. This view is from the top of the street in Belpasso looking down the main drag. Er, make that Via Prima.
Wednesday. Taormina is a glorious seaside town about an hour north of us. We hiked up to Castelmola, (the view below taken along our hike), then back down. Arrived at Taormina's famous Greek amphitheatre too late to see it, and so took our evening stroll, and enjoyed a fine pizza. Although we typically show up for dining around 8 or so, this hour is too early for Sicilians and we are generally among the first diners.
Thursday. A daylong venture of the southeast. First to Enna, a city that sits high above the surrounding landscapes and offers views in every direction. The fields below Enna are where Persephone was allegedly abducted by Hades and taken to the underworld, and a nearby deep lake is supposed to be the way there.( In case you were wondering)
Next we drove down to Agrigento to see the Valley of the Temples, a place where there are a number of Greek ruins from as old as 500 BC. This one is known as The Temple of Concord & is dated at 430 BC.
I tried to make a painting here but it was too windy. Here's Maryl & I, me sketching while she looks on.
Maryl had packed us an amazing delicious picnic, and we finally got around to eating it at 8:30 in the evening. At last on the Sicilian timetable! By then we were in Caltagirone, and ate our chilly picnic in a chilly park, and in the dark, until the polizia came to close the park gates. "Buon Apetito! he wished us. Sicilians are very polite even when they are kicking you out of a place. Caltagirone is a village famous for its ceramic art, and the steps pictured below, each decorated with majolica tiles. 142 steps! The treads are made of lava, as are the streets which you can see clearly in Jeff's photograph.
I plan to blog as a way to chronicle this amazing journey of living into a more creative life. A daily journal-writer since 1999, writing has become integral to my life. Hopefully it will add perspective and dimension to this website.
Happy reading!
