Wednesday, April 28, 2004

THE LAST VISITORS

THE ENCHANTED GARDEN, SEGESTA, ERICE
Carl and Claudia from California are here this week, the last of a group of guests that have been here since we got back from Mexico. We have stayed with them the last two summers when we went out to San Francisco, and we were glad to return their wonderful hospitality. A few memorable things have happened while they were here.
Just before my dad and Ang left, we saw a fire truck and several firemen at Paolo’s house. We drove up to investigate, and he explained that there had been some problems with the wall collapsing. The next day we saw that our road home along the beach was closed because the wall looked like it was going to come down at any time. Since then we have been taking the old “short cut,” a twisty, turny road that borders the sea. There was barely enough room for one car and it was a two way street. So we blew the horn at each blind corner. This morning, Claudia got out of the car and took a picture of the road to immortalize the memory. And on our way home from our day’s adventures today, we saw that a grader truck had come along the road, at least clearing off the roadside weeds and eliminating some blind corners.
Another misadventure-we took a walk at sunset point, and we think that is where Carl managed to pick up a tick. I’ve seen one other, on Giusy’s dog Negrita last year, but I was still surprised. We called Dr. Gaspare, and he did not seem too concerned-just told us to take Carl’s temperature daily. That’s something we manage to do while we sit around nights playing Scopa. Sometimes we have a little trouble adding to 10. Carl and Steve continue to relive their youth with attempts to write poetry to share with the other guy from their high school-days threesome, Rick
We saw the Enchanted Castle in Sciacca, a place with many heads that were made by a man when he went mad. Too bad they all looked so much alike, but it was a lot of fun on a beautiful day to wonder the olive and almond grove. After, we enjoyed the “Tastes of Sicily” at Perrones. As usual, we ate too much and spent too much.
Segesta was next on the agenda today, and it was as beautiful as always. The new theater reconstruction is great, and much more believable than the Taormina theater, which has red brick all over it from centuries of reconstruction efforts. The flowers were gorgeous again. I cannot seem to stop taking pictures of those valleys and views, so please bear with me-the spring display is almost over. We eagerly await the summer production schedule to plan to view a play in that gorgeous theater.
We hit Erice as a weather front started to slide through the area, and the clouds flew past us on the hillside. The castles were great as always and the Sicilian donkey cart driver that gave mouth harp lessons was fun to watch. The little horse was NOT having a good time though. They have moved the crane working on the Venus Castle, so I have hopes of some day soon getting inside of that place.



Sunday, April 04, 2004

STILL CANNOT LOAD PICTURES

Sorry-it is out of my hands now. Check again real soon. Promises have been made...

Thursday, April 01, 2004

THE WORKMEN HAVE ARRIVED! ERACLEA MINOA

And they tell Steve after they finish each phase they will have to leave things to dry. So we will not have a floor that can hold the appliances, etc., till Saturday. Hey. at least it has stopped raining! But it rained like hell again last night and my capers did very well-no erosion whatsoever.
Yesterday after we heard from the “muratori” (wall and floor workers who will lay the floor), who promised they would be at our house bright and early the next morning, we decided to take a day trip. We felt like it would be a day of freedom after waiting for word from the workers that might not come for a time, since we had to be around while they worked. It was overcast but warm, no wind, almost 70 degrees. So we decided to explore some ruins of an old settlement in our area, and then head toward Eraclea Minoa. We had been there several years ago and it was not much to see then, but the scenery was great, overlooking one of the best beaches in the area.
The ride over was beautiful, and we were pleasantly surprised at how much they had done in such a short time. Nevertheless, a huge area remains unexplored. But drainage areas had been installed, walking paths were everywhere, and covers put over the theater and the houses. We saw much more this time, as we knew what to look for. Italian ruins are notoriously lacking in explanations of what you are looking at, so we usually piece things together and then go out and read a guide book. The Touring Club of Italy calls it an ancient settlement, one of the loveliest and most interesting archeological sites in all of Sicily. It also describes the findings of the different cultures that have lived here, dating back to Neolithic remains. The name of the place is familiar to Greek fans because of the Cretan King Minos/Daedalus/labyrinth connection, and “Eraclea” after the time of it being a Spartan colony with the Greek name for their hero Hercules.
Anyway-what a setting! The vantage point from the World War 2 bunker at the top of the hill overlooking the site is spectacular. The rock cliffs are made of marl, soft clay/limestone molded by the wind and erosion. The beach is just lovely, and we have swam there with locals who wanted to show us where the “sweet water” (non-salty) enters the sea from the river Platani. Unfortunately, the sandstone theater is very easily worn away, and it has been covered a little late. It is in an advanced state of erosion. The flowers were just starting to put on their spring display, and it was fun spotting bright red poppies here and there.