In the Temple of Hercules
Sunday, April 17, 2005
Ladies at the Murgo Winery
On Thursday, I visited the Murgo Winery in San Venerina on the slopes of Mt. Etna, only about 20 min. from my house, with the AVID ladies. Leslie, one of the tutors, knows the owners of the winery well, so she arranged a lunch and wine tour for us. The lunch was delicious, with typical Sicilian courses (antipasta-olives, salami, grilled artichokes and eggplant, sauteed mushrooms, etc.; primi piatta--penne tossed with fine breadcrumbs and olive oil; secondi piatta--meats like stuffed chix, sausages, pork chops; dolci--fresh fruits and a cake) plus tons of wine and spumante. The winery produces a brut spumante, which is made with a process identical to champagne production, but different from prosecco--very smooth! They also produce typical Sicilian red, white, and rose wines, a pure Chardonnay and Cabernat Sauvignon, olive oil, jams, etc. Leslie's friend who showed us around and ate lunch with us is named Micala, who is the son of the Baron who owns the winery. There is also a lovely Bed and Breakfast on the grounds. Here is there website and it has an English version:
www.murgo.it
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/hdlions/album?.dir=/7e4a&.src=ph&.tok=phmSV1CBIDLJSHNb
to view pictures from our visit that my friend Maryellen took
www.murgo.it
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/hdlions/album?.dir=/7e4a&.src=ph&.tok=phmSV1CBIDLJSHNb
to view pictures from our visit that my friend Maryellen took
Spring Break Adventures in Sicilia
Hello everyone! I am finally able to use the internet in our house, as it has been very tempremental for about a week now! I have to hurry and finish this before a cloud sweeps across Mt. Etna and ruins my connection!!
Phil and I have been on Spring Break since last Friday, and rather than jump on another plane and head off somewhere exciting, we decided that we hadn't spent enough time traveling around the beautiful island of Sicily. We began on Tuesday morning by driving down to the southwest corner of the island where the ancient city of Agrigento and the Valley of the Temples lies overlooking the coastline. We didn't go into Agrigento, because our real interest was with the ruins in the valley. The ruins are Roman in origin, with the oldest having been constructed in the 3rd century B.C.!! It felt really strange to be climbing and exploring over things with so much history and age. The temple that is in the best condition is the Temple of the Concord, which owes its well preserved state to the fact that it was transformed into a Christian basilica in the 6th century. Other ruins include those of a Early Christian necropolis, a Hellinistic-Roman quarter where the people lived, a rock sanctuary of Demeter, the Temple of Juno Lacinia, Temple of Castor and Pollux, Temple of Hercules, and the Temple of Olympian Zeus. This is a must see if you ever travel to Sicily!
Next we drove north along the coast and stopped in the cities of Marsala (home of Marsala wine) and Trapani (known for its sea salt extraction and fishing), but we settled overnight in the medeival mountain town of Erice, located on the mountain of Erice above the city of Trapani. We stopped for directions while in Trapani, but a man at a hotel said we shouldn't go to Erice then because it was surrounded by a giant cloud. We went anyway, but it was really spooky and mysterious. As we drove up the winding road to Erice, we began to see less and less of the beautiful aquamarine water and sunset below. First came a light fog, which became a very dense fog shortly, then the rain and wind. I felt like I was in an Alfred Hitchcock movie--it really was like medieval times. It was only 7:30 at night, which for those of you who have been to Italy, you know that is usually when everyone is starting to come out. Not here--there wasn't a person or car to be seen anywhere! As we manuvered our car through the narrow and winding streets, we finally found a little motel called The Edelweiss, which my friend Leslie had mentioned, however we decided not to stay there as it was a little "rustic" (as Leslie later mentioned to me). We opted for a place called Il Moderno, which was nice and had a restaurant. The next day it was still very foggy outside, but we managed to find some of the castles and churches nestled in the small town. Another neat feature are the streets in this town. They are constructed of interlocking stones cut to form an octagon with the inside of each octagon filled with smaller stones. Very bumpy and a bit slippery when wet, but beautiful! Of all the medeival towns in Sicily, this one definitely has the most authentic look and feeling. This is also a place we will be revisiting, but hopefully it will be a sunny day next time!!!
Lastly, we stopped at the city of Segesta, which is home to another well preserved temple, Greek theater, and church. It was founded by the Elymians in the 5th century B.C., but eventually fell under Roman control in the first half of the 3rd century B.C. The temple is of the Doric style (as are almost all of the temples in Sicily), but was never completed. It is, however, among the best preserved temples in all of Italy, and sits among a beautiful landscape of green hills and colorful wildflowers. The theater and church are located atop a hill which is quite a hike from the parking area (this trip was a major workout!!). It is partially built into the hillside and has a lovely view of the countryside and the sea beyond.
We were only gone for about a day and a half, but we managed to see a lot of Sicily in that time! Here are some websites where you can find more info about these places:
http://www.bestofsicily.com/agrigento.htm for info about Agrigento
http://www.bestofsicily.com/segesta.htm for info about Segesta
http://www.bestofsicily.com/erice.htm for info about Erice
http://photos.yahoo.com/ajaphilip too see our photos
Phil and I have been on Spring Break since last Friday, and rather than jump on another plane and head off somewhere exciting, we decided that we hadn't spent enough time traveling around the beautiful island of Sicily. We began on Tuesday morning by driving down to the southwest corner of the island where the ancient city of Agrigento and the Valley of the Temples lies overlooking the coastline. We didn't go into Agrigento, because our real interest was with the ruins in the valley. The ruins are Roman in origin, with the oldest having been constructed in the 3rd century B.C.!! It felt really strange to be climbing and exploring over things with so much history and age. The temple that is in the best condition is the Temple of the Concord, which owes its well preserved state to the fact that it was transformed into a Christian basilica in the 6th century. Other ruins include those of a Early Christian necropolis, a Hellinistic-Roman quarter where the people lived, a rock sanctuary of Demeter, the Temple of Juno Lacinia, Temple of Castor and Pollux, Temple of Hercules, and the Temple of Olympian Zeus. This is a must see if you ever travel to Sicily!
Next we drove north along the coast and stopped in the cities of Marsala (home of Marsala wine) and Trapani (known for its sea salt extraction and fishing), but we settled overnight in the medeival mountain town of Erice, located on the mountain of Erice above the city of Trapani. We stopped for directions while in Trapani, but a man at a hotel said we shouldn't go to Erice then because it was surrounded by a giant cloud. We went anyway, but it was really spooky and mysterious. As we drove up the winding road to Erice, we began to see less and less of the beautiful aquamarine water and sunset below. First came a light fog, which became a very dense fog shortly, then the rain and wind. I felt like I was in an Alfred Hitchcock movie--it really was like medieval times. It was only 7:30 at night, which for those of you who have been to Italy, you know that is usually when everyone is starting to come out. Not here--there wasn't a person or car to be seen anywhere! As we manuvered our car through the narrow and winding streets, we finally found a little motel called The Edelweiss, which my friend Leslie had mentioned, however we decided not to stay there as it was a little "rustic" (as Leslie later mentioned to me). We opted for a place called Il Moderno, which was nice and had a restaurant. The next day it was still very foggy outside, but we managed to find some of the castles and churches nestled in the small town. Another neat feature are the streets in this town. They are constructed of interlocking stones cut to form an octagon with the inside of each octagon filled with smaller stones. Very bumpy and a bit slippery when wet, but beautiful! Of all the medeival towns in Sicily, this one definitely has the most authentic look and feeling. This is also a place we will be revisiting, but hopefully it will be a sunny day next time!!!
Lastly, we stopped at the city of Segesta, which is home to another well preserved temple, Greek theater, and church. It was founded by the Elymians in the 5th century B.C., but eventually fell under Roman control in the first half of the 3rd century B.C. The temple is of the Doric style (as are almost all of the temples in Sicily), but was never completed. It is, however, among the best preserved temples in all of Italy, and sits among a beautiful landscape of green hills and colorful wildflowers. The theater and church are located atop a hill which is quite a hike from the parking area (this trip was a major workout!!). It is partially built into the hillside and has a lovely view of the countryside and the sea beyond.
We were only gone for about a day and a half, but we managed to see a lot of Sicily in that time! Here are some websites where you can find more info about these places:
http://www.bestofsicily.com/agrigento.htm for info about Agrigento
http://www.bestofsicily.com/segesta.htm for info about Segesta
http://www.bestofsicily.com/erice.htm for info about Erice
http://photos.yahoo.com/ajaphilip too see our photos
Saturday, April 02, 2005
Easter Weekend 2005
This was an interesting Easter, to say the least. I was excited, because for the first time in like 4 years, Phil and I didn't have to wait the tables of happy families celebrating their Easter holiday together at our respective college employments. We were going to have some friends over for a big dinner. Phil was supposed to be home on Saturday night from coaching his first men's soccer game in Aviano, Italy. However, I received a call from Phil on Saturday afternoon that he would be staying behind in Aviano with his goalie who had been taken to the hospital after being crashed into by 2 other players! They had to take him to an Italian hospital because there is no hospital at the Aviano base, and the doctors there told them that Andy was okay, he had just lost a tooth and his jaw was not broken. The doctors also said that he could not leave until Tuesday! I cancelled our Easter dinner because I didn't see much fun in entertaining by myself, and instead dyed Easter eggs and had an egg hunt with our friends Matt and Christine. After discovering that Andy actually could have checked himself out whenever he wanted to (darn translator!!), Phil came home with his goalie on Monday afternoon and after the boy checked in with the hospital on our base, he discovered that his jaw was, in fact, fractured in 2 places and that he would need jaw surgery--so much for that socialist medical system, eh? The boys lost their game 4-2, but apparently it was a good game, especially since Aviano is actually a Division 2 school and Sig is only division 3. Andy is currently recovering from his surgery and has to have his jaw wired shut for 4 weeks.
On a good note, Phil's boys won their game yesterday against Vicenza 2-1, as did the girls team 3-0. They play next in Naples in 3 weeks (after Spring Break).
On a good note, Phil's boys won their game yesterday against Vicenza 2-1, as did the girls team 3-0. They play next in Naples in 3 weeks (after Spring Break).
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