SICILY

We took a few days around Labor Day and flew to Sicily, the island just off of the boot of Italy. It boasts a rich history of sea and sword because of its location in the Mediterranean....first conquered by the Greeks(734 BC) then the Carthaginians, the Romans, the Arabs, and during the crusades, the Normans, then the Spaniards, the French and finally the Italians. We landed in Palermo (made more famous to us when Patton landed on his way thru Italy and later, France)and really enjoyed the culture and beauty of the area. Here we are at dinner in a small "ristorante" having some seafood and pasta. The next morning we drove up into the hills overlooking the city and to the wonderful Monreale cathedral (1174 AD) with its huge mosaic of Christ with outstretched arms and other biblical scenes in mosaic throughout. We then went on to the isolated Greek temple at Segesta sitting on a hill overlooking the sea and in wonderfully preserved condition from 42o BC! Above it was a large amphitheater, from which we took the photo above. (don't forget to double click on the photos for more detail) We then drove along the southern coast to our next night in Agrigento and the Valley of the Temples. The Autostradas were great highways like autobahns....the small roads sometimes more like a cow path, narrow up through the mountains and winding up and down, up and down.