There are so many beautiful surprises on the island of Sicily! Greek temples, 5 star restaurants, and steep white cliffs are absolutely among them.
Greek Temple of Concordia
We woke up early like we normally would for work on Saturday to get on a bus for a 2.5 hour drive to Agrigento.
Agrigento, Sicily
Through central Sicily with one short stop at a gas station we went through the mountains.
Pillars of Concordia with Agrigento in the background.
It was very scenic to see all the mountains and small towns on the way. Our bus did finally stop at 11am at the valley of the temples which is right by the sea with a view of the beautiful aqua colored Mediterranean.
Temple of Concordia
The sky was very blue and the light was harsh which made it difficult to get good photos of things, but I managed it.
Concordia in the background with the park around it.
The temples were all in mostly good shape with the temple of Concordia in the best shape I have ever seen a Greek temple in and I have been in Greece to a bunch of them! It is very true that if you want to see Greek temples Sicily is the best place to find ones in good shape.
Two kids play around the Greek Temple ruins.
The area is very beautiful with almond trees everywhere, flowers, and ancient walls around the cliffs to climb around. You can get very close to history here in Agrigento.
City of Agrigento
The town up on the cliffs above acted as a backdrop for the valley of temples and was a very picturesque and interesting pack of buildings.
The temple that is sitting up on the cliff is not in as good of shape, but it is still very beautiful!
These flowers were growing next to the temple which made for a beautiful foreground for the photo.
The ancient walls of the Greek city are still intact along parts of the cliff! Some people were climbing and chilling out on them.
This is the view from the Valley of the Temples with Concordia in the shot.
It isn't easy to get cool photos without distractions, but it works from some angles.
The age and size and condition of these monuments are so impressive to see and experience in person.
They really are giant wonders of the ancient world that are still very interesting to go to and see today. Though they won't entertain for very long.
The last temple is in the worst shape as it only has a couple of pillars still standing. I found it very photogenic still!
I really did love the area, but it was time to move on to our 5 star restaurant and views out over the Turkish Steps!
As we entered the restaurant there was a neat little fountain which I took a photo of. It took forever because people kept walking around it to take a photo out over the sea. It is really unfortunate because they missed putting a foreground element into the photo which would have made it much more interesting than a shot of the stairs and blue water…
Anyways, as we walked further in there was a beautiful little dining area that was open to walk through with blowing white curtains and the best overlook of the Turkish steps and sea you ever did see!
The whole place was just stunning and the top deck where we were to eat was awesome with panoramic views of the white cliffs and Mediterranean Sea that they fall into.
Our meal consisted of many different foods. There were about 6 courses with wine available the entire time as well as great water!
I did have some of the table wine as well as some of the better stuff that they came around with and served to us that was delicious! There was some Italian group on one side that kept toasting and giving speeches that I couldn’t understand. It was all fun to see them laugh and cheer!
We had some incredible things like octopus, pasta, shrimp risotto, and we topped it all off with a sherbet kind of dessert on top of fresh fruits that was great!
The entire restaurant was so beautiful and a joy to be at for the couple of hours we were there.
Inside and outside it was like this! The food may have been just ok, but the presentation and views were stunning!
Agrigento is definitely a place I could see myself returning to as the Turkish steps (next to the white cliffs) are something we missed and really deserve a visit!
