Meeting the Mafia

Only a masochist would make their first trip to Rome during Easter, so we headed further south to Sicily, and the town of Palermo.

Palermo was warm but shabby. Apparently, Mafia corruption has thwarted any attempt at civil regeneration, as mafiosos pocket (as consultancy fees) most of the funding sent by UNESCO for construction projects. Whether this is true or not, Palermo looked very poor from the moment we got into town. It is also quite large; it took a long time to get from the airport to our B&B, and our hostess (Claudia) was not impressed by our late arrival. Put off by her manner, we dumped our gear and made a dash outside for dinner.

Somehow we wandered into a lively but small piazza surrounded by kebab bars. A jazz triplet busked for us as we ordered food poorly but drank beer well. I know you won’t believe me, but it was all actually very tiring. So, once it started raining we took this as our cue to leave and headed home, where we gladly fell into bed.

Sadly, sleep had done nothing to improve out hostess’ mood, and the breakfast on offer did nothing to improve mine. Claudia had furnished us with prepackaged rubbish – those horrid budget pastries, sugary ‘juice’ and the most amazing ready-made toast. (Note: amazing is not the same as delicious.) It was like the worst of the hostel food I had in the States, and these were not hostel prices!

So... we again left the B&B with the air of escapement, and headed off for the train station. On the way we passed a few reminders that language differences render some things quite amusing:


Anyway, childish sniggering aside, our plan for the day was to head to Agrigento - a town famous for its ‘Valley of the Temples’.

The Valley is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and a very cool spot. The undulating ridgeline is small and soothing, and the ruins were golden in the late afternoon sun. It felt what I imagine a tourist-free Athens or Rome might be like. I was really pleased to have made the effort to see it.

This is the largest and most famous of the temples. Of course, the construction pixies were following me:


As well as being places of worship, the temples were also a welcome beacon for soldiers returning from the many wars needed to defend Sicily. When lit up, they are able to be seen from miles away. And the reverse view from temple to ocean was pretty good too:


Aside from the temple busily being cleaned in preparation for the on-season, there were plenty of other gorgeous monuments at which one could look. This is a nice and crumbly one...


Up close, one gets a better idea of what time, wind and pollution have eaten away:


Walking from one end of the site to the other at sunset was quite special. And, having seen some excellent Sicilian countryside, we decided adventures outside Palermo are a good idea. Thus, a trip to the beach was planned for the next day…