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Temple of Castor and Pollux
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Telamon
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Telamon
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Temple of Hercules
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Temple Concordia
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Temple of Juno
Friday morning we left Marina di Modica waving off our new friends Mr Milan & Mr Verona ( not their real names but from the cities they live in). We decided to go to Marina di Ragusa so hit the road. Pulling up we see our lovely Italian neighbours from Syracuse leaving. The wife hopping out and running over to say hello. Shes going full on Italian and im saying completo (full), about the parking at the sosta as there is no space for us with electric, which we need. The manager at Ragusa asking us if we know them, and we say yes, they are our friends. We decided to load up and move onto Baia dei Coralli campsite where our friends Angela and Klaus are. We later find out that the campsite hosts more of our friends Horst & Martina  and Michael & Maria. We all met at Giadini naxos before Xmas, so it was good to catch up and say hi once again. The drive there was full of clingfilm towns, not as bad as spain though. It does take some of the beauty away. We decided to stay one night, catch up on laundry and electric. As Angela and Klaus were leaving the next day we decided to make a convey behind them to Gela about an hour and a half from Agrigento. The car park on the edge of town, it was free for the night in front of the courthouse. We had a little walk around town as we both where trying to get over colds. Well, it reminded me of Vietnam and Jason of the slums of Africa. Not the best place we have been. Having drinks with Angela and Klaus that night it was great to have a laugh and share stories. Angela giving me her homemade cold medicine. I think it definitely helped. It was that or a combination of the wine, and homemade mandarincello ( like lemoncello, but with mandarins). I am definitely getting a recipe for that. We awoke the next morning and looked out the window to an asian man dressed in his checkered pajamas and slippers doing Tai chi at 7.30am in front of the courthouse and its cameras. I found this particularly entertaining as this is what you see at 4.30am in Vietnam. So maybe my description of Gela was closer than I thought. Waving off Angela and Klaus we headed on the SS115 towards Agrigento and the campsite in San Leone. The drive fairly interesting, lots of castles on the beach and war bunkers into the hillside. We took a wrong turn just before our stop, but it was actually ok as it drove us right below the Valley of the temples. Stunning from the roadside, I was excited. Parking up, we caught the bus from the campsite with the dogs to the Valley of the temples, about 2km up the road. €4.80 return for us and the dogs, is pretty good. Entry into the valleys site is €10 each and through a metal detector. You hear everyone talk about the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento. Well it is one of the best places we have been too. The history and the views on a sunny day….breathtaking. We entered in through Gate V to the Temples of Castor and Pollux. And then to The temple of Olympian Zeus and its Telamon. A giant statue of a man, that was lying down. His head resting on his hands that are placed behind his head. It was really cool. Temples of Hercules, Concordia and Juno, huge structures that are so well-preserved. The view out over the valleys green lush fields with olive groves and yellow flowers. About twenty birds flying above the Temple of Concordia. The sea also present and Agrigento up on the hill behind. You can walk to the museum, past a hotel down in the valley. It was closed sunday, but we went to the Hellenic Roman quarter, that did house twenty homes, it has a few mosaics including a reverse swastika symbol. A huge ancient site you can see from the road. All in all it was a fab day out, the dogs as we loved it. A must see place in Sicily. We are at San Leone for a week, hopefully doing a few side trips to Agrigento and the waterfront here. Then onto the Scala dei Turchi (turkish steps) and Selinunte. Before hitting the far west of Sicily.