The Absent-Minded Tourist

Mom chose the title for today's blog entry... in honor of the facts that her camera battery died about two photos in on our trip to Agrigento AND she forgot to bring along her sunglasses and so spent the day squinting. The sunglasses thing wasn't really her fault, though. It was dark and rainy when the tour bus picked us up in front of our housing area on Saturday morning. Honestly, were it not for the fifty bucks a person we'd dropped on this tour, there's no way we'd have gone. But we were so glad we did! In the two hours we drove from Sigonella to Agrigento, the clouds parted, the sun came out and we ended up with beautiful weather. You'll see in the photos. :)

Let me back up for just one sec, though, and fill you in on our down-day - Friday. The weather forecast on Friday was calling for rain as well, and we were all thinking that it might be a good idea to lay low for a day and regroup. We had laundry to catch up on and only a few quick errands to run, and by the afternoon we were on the couch watching a movie. Well, I was watching a movie. Mom was napping. But we knew Saturday would be a long day, so it actually worked out perfectly. We ate an early dinner at Alphio's - a short walk from our house - and then came back home to get ready for our trip to Agrigento.

Agrigento was incredible. I can't believe that it has taken Don, Olivia, Sienna and I this long to make it out there. From the area of the ancient ruins you can see for miles, straight out to the Mediterranean Sea. I took hundreds of photos. We spent a few hours there. We had a tour guide who spoke English and knew a lot of history, but we broke away a few times, too, just because there were so many interesting things to explore. We saw 600 year old olive trees, and Christian tombs in the old city walls.

Temple of Juno

Sienna, Beeba and Olivia at the Temple of Juno

Don, Sienna and Kristen at the Temple of Juno

Temple of Juno

Christian tombs

The Mediterranean Sea through the "windows" in the wall

Temple of Concordia

Olivia at the Temple of Concordia

Sienna disappeared on us all day. Too many cool places to explore!

Temple of Hercules

After we left the ruins in Agrigento, we traveled back towards Sigonella and stopped at the Bagliesi Winery for lunch and tastings. They set out a HUGE antipasto buffet, and I was thrilled to find FRIED CAULIFLOWER. For those who might be reading and aren't familiar with my father's Italian family and their traditions, fried cauliflower is a special dish my Italian grandmother taught us all to make. After the antipasto, we ate sausage, steak, oranges dusted with pistachio, chocolate-covered strawberries and tiramisu. The winery was generous with their tastings, and were even pouring for Olivia and Sienna. The photo below of Sienna was just for fun - we were quick to claim Olivia's and Sienna's portions for our own. :)

A photo of our antipasto when we finally remembered to break out the camera!

Mmm... fried cauliflower!