Picture It: Sicily 2023. Part 2.

Day 3 Continued

Have you ever played "Frogger" before? You know, the infamous 1981 arcade action game highlighted in an episode of Seinfeld back in the 90's? Try playing that in real life but on a metered electric scooter, in a foreign city with insane traffic while trying to keep google maps open on your phone with one hand to navigate your way to meet up with your hiking guide. Jackie and I were laughing our heads off but in reality we were absolutely terrified. I was in the lead because I was the navigator but these stand up scooters don't really go as fast as they need to when you're over 200lbs... it was the little engine that tried hard haha. After a few near death experiences in the streets of Catania with insane drivers that make their own rules to the road... we made it. Our guide was incredibly welcoming which made our journey all worth it; we were off to climb Mount Etna.

In front of the large passenger van were two older women from England, back with us were two girls from Germany and two girls from Hong Kong. We drove to the base of Mount Etna where our guide took us and showed us the effects of the landscapes by the past eruptions and gave us some history of the glorious volcano. After that we began driving up the Volcano where we reached a spot where we got out to explore the caves created by erupted lava. We were given helmets and head lamps to explore these glorious magma-made caverns. As I approached the end of the cave I heard a commotion behind me; one of the British ladies fell. Jackie caught her and tended to her wounds before helping her out of the treacherous site. When we got back to the passenger van our attentive guide tried to clean her up and patch the wound but she only lived by Ayurvedic medicine. She quickly told Jackie and I about her life as a witch as well as all of her ways in which she stayed one with the earth.

When we reached the base of the summit the skies opened up and the heavy rain began so Jackie and I decided to stay back to shop through the tourist shops and we convinced Anna, our British witch, to stay with us. Anna regaled us with many stories while we shopped. It was an interesting day to say the least and we didn't even get to climb the summit of the volcano. *we lied and said we did anyway haha... woops! spoiler.

When we got back to Taormina we rested up for awhile, grabbed Haleigh and headed out for a nice dinner as it was my last day in Taormina for a couple days as I was off to meet my friend's relatives on the other side of Sicily.

Day 4

Remember Giusy? My Sicilian godmother? She convinced me that it would be much easier for me if I just allowed her to book me a private car to drive me from Taormina to Agrigento so I agreed. She promised that when I returned to Il Piccolo Giardino she would give me the nicest room in the hotel.

The sexiest tanned, perfectly quaffed, Italian man of whom dressed in a perfectly tailored navy suit pulled up in his luxurious Mercedes Benz and promptly opened the door for me as I got in to head off to my next life changing adventure.

We passed through the most picturesque rolling hills with proper Italian landscapes capturing my eye. I eventually napped my way through this luxurious ride. I will never tell anyone what it ended up costing me to have this private chauffer, I only ever told Zio Toto and Zio Liborio... we'll get to that later but I can guarantee that godmother Giusy apologized profusely.

I felt the car slow as we pulled into San Leone, Sicily. San Leone is a seaside town and port South of Agrigento. It rises on the Akragas point, near the mouth of the Akragas river. It was the calmest place I had been since years previous visiting Kamari, Greece. I checked into my bed & breakfast but quickly took note that no one else was there. I walked out onto the balcony and listened to the roaring waves off the beach. It felt very calm. Too calm. Was I about to star in my own horror movie? I promptly texted my dear friend Anna Maria back home (who recommended I visit this place) and asked if maybe I should just go to the main city instead. While I contemplated my next move I went for a walk along the beach which was so peaceful but so very empty. I decided to go to Agrigento instead because Anna Maria told me the town would likely stay like this because it wasn't the weekend or not quite summer yet.

Off I went, my giant overstuffed Homiee backpack taking up about 2 feet of back space and my rolling carry-on suitcase, into a massively crammed local bus. "Ragazzi! Ragazzi!" the women were yelling while back handing boys hanging from the above railings on the bus, everyone yelling at me to take my backpack off and I didn't understand what they were saying until one person in English told me. If you moved you bumped into 4-5 people. I think there were people standing on other's shoulders, tucked into rafters, 6 in a 2 seater, wherever you looked... people. It was insane.

"Agrigento!" the bus driver yelled, I was there. Thank god. I scurried over to my hotel that was inside the main centre train station. I was done. I was exhausted. I crashed the rest of the night.

Day 5

*CRASH* *SMASH* *BANG* OH MY GOD, I'M UNDER SEIGE! WAIT NO, THERE'S A TRAIN IN MY HOTEL ROOM!... Did I mention my hotel was in the Agrigento train station? Holy crap. If you wake up before the trains start for the day then you're fine but if you want to feel like you're waking up in a war scene at 05:00 then I can totally recommend this place to you.

Well, I was up for the day. My hotel room had a full kitchen stocked with goodies and essentials so I made myself some espresso and ate a croissant while I got ready for the day.

Anna Maria (as well as her Zio Toto in our correspondence) had told me about a really cool archeological site nearby that I definitely had to check out: Valley of the Temples.

Out front of my hotel I grabbed the local bus and headed down to the historical local treasure. As I traipsed up the dusty path to the head office there were a few little vendors along the way so of course I grabbed a quick espresso before going into the main building. Once I paid my admission they gave me a detailed map and an english audio guide so that I could self-guide my way through the famed historic site.

To say it was magical would be an understatement. I love history. I love imagining what/who stood here before me. As I followed my audio guide through The Temple of Dioscuri, The Temple of Olympian Zeus, The Temple of Concordia, the Statue of Icarus, The Temple of Heracles, The Temple of Aesculapius, The Tomb of Theron, The Golden Gate, The Temple of Vulcan and The Temple of Juno... I was in awe of the incredible architecture that still stood of the glorious Greek masterpieces. *If you're visiting western Sicily and love ancient architecture as much as I do, you need to visit this place.

Once I finished up touring the Valley of the Temples, I jumped back on the local bus and went back to my hotel to meet zio Toto.

There, meeting me, was a friendly face that looked as if I had known him my whole life. This man is the uncle of my friend Anna Maria. He and I had been talking for weeks in preparation for this trip.

Zio Toto did not speak English and my Italian is not very good, which is sad because this was my fourth time in my favourite country. I immediately pulled out Google translate and we used the speech to text function and the rest of the day went seamlessly because of it.

As we drove from Agrigento Centrale, Toto told me we were going to his summer house and then onwards to Anna Maria's grandmothers house that she lived in from 1980 until she passed years later. We drove up to a gorgeous property surrounded by exotic trees and lush foliage to a charming stone house with teal doors and shutters. It was a simple, yet magnificient bungalow with a small courtyard dividing the house a bit. Brown tile floors, butter yellow walls and wooden beams accenting the vaulted ceilings. The dining table was lined up with many chairs as of course you'd imagine, that is so the whole family can dine together over decadent Sicilian meals. The wood ovens in the courtyard and large claw pots all around. It was simple but truly inviting.

Next we went to the family home where I stood at the gate and zio Toto told me many stories of his siblings and their families. You could already tell how much love and adoration he had for his large family. This home was really more significant for his children and all of his nieces and nephews but later he would show me the home that was truly an important foundation of he and his siblings lives.

It was then time to meet his brother, Liborio. We pulled up to the gates of Liborio's country estate and as the gate opened I noticed all the names of his family listed on the stone columns at the front gate (homes and complexes in Sicily are typically gated as car theft is pretty prevalent in the area). Once we arrived at the house zio Liborio came out to greet me with his wife. Liborio spoke french so he was able to communicate a bit more fluid with me that way but would often switch back to Italian so we continued to use our translator app. They had fresh, local food for me to snack on and a nice cold Coca-Cola. We sat around the table and talked about the family and I started to learn a lot about their history. Once we talked for a while, Liborio and Toto took me to the cellar of his home; this is where they gather to celebrate and have parties. "You have to take a picture of the pizza oven, this is where we make our bread and even cook lamb, my sister Pasqualina will be very jealous" Liborio said as he mimicked her crying haha (or thats what was translated).

From there we journeyed into the main part of the town of Aragona. This is where things became very clear that it was going to be an emotional visit. Both Toto and Liborio were excellent story tellers and they shared with me every detail they could remember as we strolled through the town. We started with the Palazzo Principe where the city originated in 1604 by virtue of the prince. People came from all over including distant countries with hopes of increasing their qualities of people to work in the fields.

As we walked through the town, I couldn't help but be amazed by the incredible architecture that still stood today. See, most people left Aragona in the late 70's - early 80's as they were struck hard by a recession, this is when Anna Maria’s parents came to Saint John, NB, Canada (where we both live and work together now). Some left and went to other countries and those that felt they couldn't or didn't want to typically moved out to the countryside where Liborio lives.

I noticed little paper memorials all over the city and some were from their family and they kindly shared with me some history of Anna Maria's fathers family as well.

They took me to their childhood home where they told me stories of the silly things the brothers would do to the sisters and of course all their mischevious childhood behaviors. Liborio showed me where they'd play soccer in the streets as young boys and infact where he played when he met the boy who would later become his brother-in-law (Anna Maria's father). They took me to my friend's paternal grandmothers house and shared with me that people in the town would come to her house to use her oven to make bread.

"This neighborhood was as big as a city with how many kids there were in the courtyards and it was always full, even after midnight. There were always people playing and when we were hungry, we smelled the food being cooked we went to whatever house the smell was coming from." I was in love with how incredible this community sounded, it was truly one big famiglia in Aragona. He showed me where his little sister would play on the stairs and you'd often find her sitting and enjoying the fresh ricotta she went to buy every morning and share with her siblings/friends along with delicious fresh breads.

Liborio told me a beautiful story about how his little sister and his brother-in-law met, engaged and married in this town so Toto took me to the church where they got married. Something about me is that I love churches. They hold so much history of incredible as well as devastating memories. There were still decorations up because I arrived not long after they would have had the huge, glorious Easter celebrations. Toto got very nostalgic as he told me about the baptisms and marriages that were held in this very special church.

There were so many stories and special memories they shared with me, it was truly heart warming. I am a big family guy and they are too so we definitely had a day of bonding. A couple years before this trip I had lost one of my uncles who played a huge role in my life and the energy and spirit I got from Toto and Liborio had me fighting back tears all day as they reminded me of him (my uncle/zio Mike would have made a good Sicilian, he loved hard and big and made sure everyone felt it).

From there we jumped back into the car and took me to a family restaurant that wasn't yet open for the season but it sat high on the hilltop across from the center of Aragona. "Roba Nica", it was beautiful. All along the property were the biggest, brightest roses I had ever seen. We went inside and dusted off some chairs and a table so that we could sit and talk over some delicious espresso. More stories, more love.

Toto and I took Liborio back home before venturing off to our next stop on the tour: La Scala dei Turchi. We parked on the side of the road looking out over the ocean and Toto guided me over to a great lookout spot. There, I stood in complete awe of beauty. Humongous, extraordinary white cliffs that have been carved into a staircase by the wind and sea, surrounded by the bluest sea I have ever seen. The rock is composed of marl, soft, calcareous, clayey and is just the most dazzling white. The salty breeze has smoothed out every angle. It was the most melancholic feeling standing there in the sea breeze.

We then drove down to the beach that sits below the cliffs and my cell reception went to zero so we had no ability to communicate but to just walk on the silk-like sand and just be. Toto and I just listened to the waves as we walked, breathed in the fresh sea air and took note of the faint smell of seaweed that reminded me of home. After we walked for awhile we made our way back to the all white beach bar that sat at the start of the beach. He ordered a couple fresh, lemon Granita for us and we just sat and enjoyed the last bit of sun before nightfall.

We finished off with probably the most delicious pizza I have ever had at his friend's restaurant a few km's away. We sat and talked about everything we saw that day and I expressed gratitude to him as much as I could for doing all of this for me. I have never met a kinder man. I even strongly insisted on paying the bill but he was having none of that.

As Toto drove me back to my hotel he pointed out the Valley of the Temples off in the distance because at night the ethereal ruins were gorgeously lit up. I again thanked him repeatedly for one of the best days of my life. Zio Toto was all class, he acted as if it were nothing and thanked me for coming to visit.

I got back to my hotel and immediately screenshot every single conversation we had through my translator because I never want to lose them, these stories will always be special to me. I then went to sleep because I would have an early morning the next day as I was taking the bus back to my new friends in Taormina.

... to be continued.