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Itinerary - Leg 2: mainly mosaics and temples

 

Friday 27th April

We left Villa Rosa for a day of travelling interspersed with activities that Vitty was keen on, so I didn't expect many birds! First stop was the Roman mosaics at Villa Romane del Casale near Piazza Armerina. This was interesting, but would have been much more impressive if most of the site hadn't been closed off for restoration. There were birds here, but mostly immortalised into the floors:

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There were animals too:

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Some of the mosaics were geometric patterns:

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Others told stories or were scenes of life:

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mosaics at Villa Romane del Casale, 27th April

Next stop was the Valle di Templi at Agrigento. Here a number of ancient temples spread along a valley provided Vitty with architectural and historical interest while I kept an eye to the sky where Pallid Swifts and a Booted Eagle circled overhead. There's a bar half way along the valley selling ice cream which, in the heat of the afternoon, we thought we would appreciate. Unfortunately service was slow and the wait in the queue was so unbearably hot I needed more than one ice cream to refresh from that alone!

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Temple of Heracles (left) and Temple of June (right), Valle di Templi, Agrigento, 27th April

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Temple of Concordia, Valle di Templi, Agrigento, 27th April

Good food is always one of the things that Vitty and I both enjoy when we're on holiday and so we'd booked a table at the Michelin-star restaurant, La Madia, in Lacata. We enjoyed the first course immensely and, although most of the subsequent courses perhaps weren't quite so impressive (one or two were definitely more clever than nice), we had a good meal. We stayed at a B&B in the town in walking distance from La Madia – it wasn't nice but we were only there for the night so we could cope with that!

 

Click here to carry on to Leg 3 of the Itinerary...

Or here to jump to details of all the birds and animals seen, illustrated with photos of many of the species.