The clear blue waters of the Egadi islands |
28th July Today we sailed to the Egadi islands, three sparsely habited, rocky islands a few miles off the
coast. We dropped anchor for lunch and a swim in an unspoilt bay on the north
of the island of Favignana. The water
was wonderful for swimming, crystal clear and the most intense, aquamarine
blue. We are now in Marsala, home to the famous wine, which was actually invented by an Englishman.
The cliff top ruins of Selinunte |
29 July As we
sailed along the coast towards Sciacca today we could see the remains of the
ancient Greek city of Selinunte spread out across the cliff tops. Sicily has so many of these wonderful archaeological sites.
31 July. We’ve
stopped in the beach resort of San Leone to visit the ‘Valley of the Temples’
at Agrigento, a few kilometres down the road. There are seven temples, built by
Greek colonists in the fifth century BC.
Temple of Concordia |
Temple of Ercole |
We
visited the temples with our friends Jean-Marie and Soizeck, a French couple we
first met in Trapani. We all agreed it was too hot to wander around the 3km long,
unshaded site during the day, so instead we arrived just as the sun set, with
the stone columns glowing in the evening light. The main temples and walkways are
floodlit at night, enhancing their grandeur and creating quite a dramatic
spectacle. After wandering around the site we sat quietly in the dark on the
stone walls and admired the towering columns silhouetted against the night sky.
4 August We have
finally reached Syracuse in southern Sicily, our jumping off point for Greece. We are moored in the picturesque Grand
Harbour, next to the old town which is built on the island of Ortygia. We’ve enjoyed
wandering around the narrow, shady streets admiring the mix of Greek and Roman
remains, Medieval palazzos and Baroque churches. The Duomo cathedral in the
centre of the old town is particularly impressive: it’s built in Baroque style on
the site of the 6C Temple of Athena, and you can still see the temple columns
set into the cathedral walls.
Gate to the old town of Syracuse |
Duomo in Syracuse |
One of the temple columns within the Duomo walls |
Lifelike faces stare out at you from the Palazzo della Cultura |
There
are more Greek and Roman remains in the Archaeological Park across the bridge
in ‘mainland’ Syracuse, but we have decided to leave visiting these for another
time as it’s just too hot. We plan include Sicily on the route of our return
trip out of the Med and will try and time it so we aren’t here in high summer.
5 August The weather for the next few days looks fair
for the 280 mile non-stop crossing to Lefkas in Greece. This should take us
just over two days. We’ll leave tomorrow if the forecast is still good.
Hi Cliff & Anita
ReplyDeleteHow was your crossing to Lefkas?
I presume you are now in Greece. We are in Bonaire enjoying some wonderful diving