The Valley of the Temples . . and Relaxation!

March 31 & April 1 

AKA: Happy Birthday Kari & Sherine!

First day of my 57th year and we’re winding down the hill from La Pietra O’Munti for the last time.  As we get closer to the autostrada, we have a beautiful view of Mt. Etna (that’s the picture I posted on the Up, Up & Away post).  We couldn’t believe it was still smoking after 3 weeks and now, I was SURE it was the rumble of the volcano that I’ve been hearing the past few nights!

We drive south towards Catania and the GPS puts us onto the A19 heading west towards Palermo.  I have to admit, the roads in this part of Sicily are pretty darn good: well maintained (many new), wide with multiple lanes, and great rest stops (they call them servicio – and they’re pretty swanky)!  You can get coffee drinks – in ceramic cups (not Styrofoam or paper) and tons of good food (you should see the selection of sandwiches (panini) at these places – they put our 7-Elevens to shame!!!  They’re also the best place to find a reliable bathroom (and they usually don’t charge you for them).

So, we’re on this superstrada for about an hour and we’ve stopped a couple of times to use the bathroom and have a nice, civilized cup of hot tea.  At this last one, I see a beautiful hill town in the distance and I start taking pictures.  There’s actually two towns across from each other and they are both spectacular.  We get back on the road and start to see signs for Enna.  Now, I’ve heard & read about Enna and it’s supposed to be pretty awesome – but we’re headed for Greek Temples people and they’re supposed to be pretty spectacular themselves – so we wave bye-bye to Enna and keep heading west to Agrigento. (Quick side story – Mom & Dad went to Enna when they came to Sicily in 2002.  Mom warned me about these chocolate pastry balls they bought that ended up being filled with rum.  They ate them & got so drunk, that they had to stay longer & walk them off before getting back in the car.  I was warned – but since we didn’t stop – problem overted!!)

Now – you can forget what I said about great superstrada’s in Italy – because as soon as we pass the offramp for Enna, the roads turn to hell!  We continue for the next 90 minutes through multiple construction zones . . suffice to say, I was pretty tired of driving by the time we arrived in Agrigento.  Couple that with the fact that Sherine just didn’t feel herself today – and we were pretty spent.  I did however see my first road sign for Sciacca as we came into Agrigento and that was pretty thrilling for me (we were only about 45 miles away at this point). 

We arrive early and plan to park at our hotel and use their private entrance to the Temple grounds.  Instead, they say, “your room is ready if you’d like to check in early” and we of course, jump at the chance.  Now, this is just the beginning of a wonderful stay at Hotel Villa Athena which is labeled as one of the best small luxury hotels in Europe.  I knew when I chose it that it was swanky, but I didn’t expect this charming, 27-room, first class villa in the middle of some ancient ruins.  Noted – best find on booking.com to date! 

Once we saw the room, the views, and heard they had a spa (that had availability) all our plans went out the window! 

So, we decide THIS will be our day to celebrate our joint birthdays (mine was the day before, Sherine’s would be 2 days from now).   First, we go to sit by the pool.  The picture above was taken by ME, while I was sitting at the pool (no it is NOT a postcard!).  A waiter promptly arrives and I start my afternoon with an Aperol Spritz (for my husband, his favorite drink in Italy) and we just relax in the sun.  Then we move to the terrace for a wonderful lunch.  I order an amazing seafood salad (the calamari & octopus were to die for – actually – it was ALL to die for!).  We of course, order wine & dessert too.

We relax for another hour and then prepare for our 2 hours at the spa (Sherine actually had 2 ½ hours!).  To start, they put us in the private “bathing” room with three types of treatments.  The attendant says she’s going to turn down the lights and when they come back up, she will come to get us.  OK – we’re cool with that!  I start with the first treatment – which is a series of hot & cold showers that are on timers.  You move to the next when the little light comes on and it changes to a new temperature (I have to say the cold ones were a bit shocking!!).  Next, I move to the Turkish bath – kind of like a sauna, but with some steam – come to think of it, it’s more like a sauna & Swiss shower hybrid (if you’re a spa junky like me, you’ll get that reference – if not, suffice to say, it felt pretty nice!).  Sherine had already moved to the third step – a gigantic jacuzzi with these cool metal chaise loungers that were placed under the water, but over dozens of jets.  You had to kind of hold on for dear life is you didn’t want to get too jostled around!  No matter – felt wonderful.  I return to the Turkish bath for a while and come back out to lounge on the white leather chaise (did I mention this place was really slick & modern?). 

After a little while, the lights are turned back up.  10 minutes go by and still no attendant.  I say to Sherine, “I bet I know why it’s taking so long for her to come in”.  Her response, “really, why”?  My mind is working overtime now . . “I bet this room is mostly used by couples & the attendant is used to giving them plenty of time to finish whatever they are doing . . and you can imagine what they might be doing in this room!!”  She laughs and agrees!

We both enjoy our massages and great showers in the swanky bathrooms in the spa complex (keep in mind, the bathroom in our room is pretty swanky too).  We dress & get ready for dinner.  It’s pretty upscale too.  Unfortunately, it’s pretty early in the season, so they’ve moved food service inside.  The wait staff recognizes us from lunch – and we get plenty of attention (probably had a little to do with the fact that we might have been the only non-senior citizens in there – except one family with young kids).  I order another Aperol Spritz (he makes it huge this time) and Sherine orders a lemon drop (I had to sort of tell the guy how to make it – but he decided to make a vodka sour and put it in a martini glass – Sherine liked it nevertheless!). 

I have a big green salad and this killer tuna dish and finish with a dessert with – you guessed it – pistachios & ricotta (fancy canoli’s with a twist)!  More wine and we’re both ready for bed.

I wake up at 7am – throw on some sweats (a big no-no in Italy – but heck, I’m an American) and go down to the pool to meditate.  Yes, I meditated to the sunrise, with the Concordia Temple like 1000 yards from me, and it was AMAZING!!!!!

We head down for our “breakfast included” meal and we’re blown away.  This is like a really good Sunday brunch selection anywhere in the States – but the ingredients are better . . and the food tastes even better.  We fortify for the day, as we’re planning to hit the Temple Grounds this morning and the sun is starting to heat up already.

The Temples did not disappoint.  I took a ton of pictures for all of you – but like everything else in Sicily – you just have to come see them for yourself.  Until you are up close to these 2500+ year old ancient cities & buildings, you cannot really imagine what they are like.  After a few hours, we went back to the hotel to check out.  We had planned to drive up to the museum, but the desk clerk told us to leave the car where it was and hike up the hill about 300 meters.  It felt like 1000 meters – but we made it and found the entrance after winding through a labyrinth of signs & foot bridges.  We had to scrounge our change, as they didn’t take credit cards and we mostly had big bills (no one seems to like to make change in this country).  This museum was a real find and did not disappoint.   Again, enjoy the pictures – but plan to go there yourself one day.

We return to the hotel and are starving, tired & hot.  We have our 4th meal at Hotel Villa Athena on the terrace overlooking the temples.  I have the Italian version of a nicoise salad with more fresh tuna and a really yummy strawberry dessert . . I had to skip the wine on this one, as I would be driving to Palermo in a little while.  I think I drank about a liter of water to replenish the salt I lost that morning stomping around the grounds in the sun!

Sadly, we say good-bye to our new friends and thank them for their wonderful hospitality.  By this point, they know that I’m coming back to Sciacca for a week and they’re pressing hard for me to come back to the Villa for a visit.   As I’m writing this – I’m only about 40 minutes away.  Too bad, but I think it will have to wait until my next trip to Sicily, as I’m heading west in a couple of days and won’t be back this way again . . . at least on this trip.