South of Tunis with Inspector Montalbano - and more Greek ruins

Before we left the UK we managed to squeeze in a couple of episodes of Inspector Montalbano to help us with our basic Italian language skills (!) and also to get a sneak preview of what Sicily might have in store. We noticed that in each episode and all locations, it seemed to be quite windy….

Although we hadn’t planned it, we happened to touch down on the southern coast right next to where Montalbano’s beach-side house is, at a place called Punta Secca. This is further south than Tunis and correspondingly hotter than we’ve experienced so far! We camped up just north of Punta Secca and were pleased that the campsite (Scarabeo at Punta Braccetto) had a beach-front plot free and was pretty calm with lovely views of the bay. This was the first site we’d come across in Italy that had differentiated pitches for ACSI card holders, but we decided that an extra four Euros a night was worth it for the location and view across the bay to the ruins of an 18^th century fort. It also had a much more pleasant vibe than the alternative site next door that we had looked at – plus we met up again with Roger and Karen from Cardiff who we’d first bumped into on the mainland in Calabria. Like us, they’re set to become grand parents for the first time this summer!

We enjoyed a couple of days lazing on the beach and walking, and then the wind began to pick up enough for the kitesurfers to come out…

And the flat sea started to turn into rolling surf…

And the wind blew for a couple of days – and nights - without let up. It got windy enough that we decided to put the awning away just in case – and as the wind increased in strength, the winding handle snapped – leaving us to make do with a pair of mole grips on the end of the broken pole! Luckily, we managed to get it wound in and next day we moved pitches to one that had some shelter and shade…

Of course, as soon as we moved pitches the wind dropped and we were back to calmer seas and watching the sun go down, as we have become used to…

Being so close to one of the sets used in Inspector Montalbano we had to go and have a look – so we decided to have a cycle down the coast on one of the windy days. The house and adjacent plaza is just as it’s shown in the series – although now it’s a B&B where guests can sit on the terrace where the Comissario takes his drinks – and phone calls – but under the constant gaze of a near continuous stream of tourists, which of course included us!

After a few more days of enjoying the life of beach bums, we started to get withdrawal symptoms for some good old ruins – so off we set for Agrigento and the Valle dei Templi. The journey across to the west revealed an agricultural landscape almost entirely given over to poly tunnels – mainly tomatoes and aubergines in industrial quantities. Away from the pockets of pretty coastline, a lot of the landscape is pretty bleak in this south east corner of Sicily.

Agrigento is yet another of those grand scale sites where the Greeks (and later the Romans) had settled and left behind a series of temples. These, set along a ridge line above the coast give the site an impressive setting from afar as well as the long and very hot walk up and back down again! This picture shows the view from the main temple at the top, back to one in the middle of the site – which starts at the bottom of the slope away in the distance!

The incredible state of preservation of the temples here is a testament to the respect that the Romans had for Greek gods, as well as a bit of later adaptation as Christian churches that just built around the main structures. With an interest in early cultures and a pan-European fad for ‘gentleman archaeologists’ in the 18^th/19^th centuries, much of the Christian stuff was pulled down and the early Greek structures revealed – and sometimes ‘restored’. Whatever the back-story, what is now left for people to go and see is quite incredible as the scale is so impressive.

Although for some peeps, one pile of Greek ruins may be much like any another, as we’ve wandered round each site (often in the middle of the day when, although it’s hot, it’s also a bit quieter) what we’ve found in each location is a real sense of awe and admiration for the ancients, especially when you take into account the effort and skill required to build on this scale – and often in locations that are not the easiest to access.

One aspect we’ve noticed in how the Italians manage their historic monuments, is that they’re not averse to chucking in some contemporary art – this bronze of Icarus (from 2011) was artfully poised just in front of one of the temples.

They are also good at helping visitors grasp the scale of some of the stuff that had fallen down/ been badly damaged. This is the remains of one of a number of 8m statues (telemones) that held up the roof on a temple that is now in thousands of pieces, helpfully re-assembled to get a sense of what they were like.

After a hot and sticky few hours under the Sicilian sun, we stopped for a quick lemon sorbet (served by a Italian from Aylesbury, of course!) and then set off for our next site, en route to the west coast. Camping Kamemi is near Ribera and this pic shows the now familiar ‘adapted’ caravans that the locals build around for their weekend and holiday homes on many sites. Not everyone’s cup of tea, but we’ve found (so far) that they lend a friendly air to sites and often mean that the shop and or bar/restaurant is well stocked!

Although we had a noisy night with the local dogs serenading us, the relaxed atmosphere of the ‘camper stop’ area and the adjacent pool, made for an enjoyable interval before we set off for the west coast and Trapani, next on our agenda. Technically, once we get to Trapani we’re on the homeward leg of the trip, having done about 2500 miles so far. So far, so good!

S.