Empuries

My first visit to Tossa de Mar was preremtory and there were clouds hanging over from the previous day’s storms. So I decided to go and explore it a little further on a cloudless blue day. I drove the lovely wiggly coast road with delight except for a few ks behind a bus and parked where I had last time and set off towards the older part of town. On the way I came across the Ametllers Roman Villa where there had been a posh house, servants’ quarters, a forum and a whole area devoted to vines and presses to make them into wine. And all a century BCE! There were clear signboards in Catalan, Spanish, English and French detailing the various edifices that would have been on site. There were also some interesting mosaics. It’s not Empuries, that massive site further up the coast near L’Escala, which I’ve visited several times, but it made for an interesting half hour.

I then wandered through the very pleasant old town and approached the castle walls. The knee is doing much better with my various new remedies but I’m still not going all the way up there. Narrow streets, lots of bougainvillaea and interesting shop signage seem to be a feature of most towns with a heritage old centre. Tossa was fun and my meanderings, oddly, led me to a bar near the beach for a restorative beer and then along the beach to a restaurant that – from the language I overheard – was frequented by locals. It proved a good choice and presented me with some freshly carved ham with asparagus and seven absolutely huge and juicy prawns. Tossa in the sun is fun so I’m glad I made a second visit.

Back in Lloret I once again had no need of further food but after packing for an early start tomorrow, I went for a stroll into another part of the resort – still not endearing itself to me – and then ended up in the hotel bar where I thought as it’s my last night, I’d better have a cafe and copa. And on a shelf above the bar I spied my favourite tipple Gran Duque de Alba, a brandy of wonderful smoothness and flavour. I was joined by Isabelle and Bruno, also guests at the hotel, who I’d not seen before, but who insited on chatting to me in French for an hour and exchanging WhatsApp details. I’m sure we’ll have no further contact as we talked about trivial matters and knowledge of Spain but it certainly dredged up reasonably coherent French from somewhere – albeit interspersed with the odd Spanish phrase.

It was an early start to drive to Barcelona Airport and return the car. Google maps said it would take 1 hour 28 minutes so I allowed a little more. Thank goodness. The wonderfully clear roads predicted as I started out soon turned red around Barcelona and I began to panic a little about making the car return and the terminal in time for check in with all the warnings I’d carried from my 90 minute wait to get through passport control on the way in. It didn’t help that RecordGo have places at both terminals and I blindly followed SatNav to the wrong one. A five-minute dash got me to Terminal 2 and I was quickly inside seeking the Ryanair desk.

I did feel a bit fraudulent having asked for assistance on the way out but glad I had, as a wheelchair took me swiftly through a special passport lane and then an 8-person buggy took me straight to the gate where I was the first to board. The flight was on time and my other panic proved unnecessary as I was able to get the Stansted Express to Liverpool Street a bus to London Bridge and a train home. A quick shower and it was back to Stratford East to join Fran for Ava Pickett’s new play Bloodsports. Having not been to a show with Fran for a fortnight before I went off to Spain we now have six evenings in a row in each others’ company. More about the play in the next more leisurely post.

After a pleasant breakfast on a sunny terrace at the BnB with views up to the top of the old town and out to sea, I set off for Selinunte, the amazing archeological site just ten minutes from the centre of Agrigento. I noted as I went to the car, that inverted umbrella displays were not the sole prerogative of Valdepeñas where I’d first seen streets full of them a few years back.

As you approach the main entrance this magnificent ruin dominates the hill – yes hill – in front of you.

*The Temple of Juno Lacinia built between 460 and 430 BCE*

I wanted to stop the car to shoot it from a distance but the stream of visitors’ vehicles would not permit that. Just believe me it’s a breathtaking moment, like first seeing downtown Boston from the I-93 or the City of London from the M11. There was chaos at Gate V so I carried on to a gate at the other end of the site where there was no access, for no specified reason. I was told to return to Gate V. There was less chaos by now and I was able to park under a shady olive tree, buy my ticket and trudge up the hill. It is steep and it’s definitely not a valley. There are lots of useful information boards in Italian, English and French and the site goes on for a long distance from this eastern end along a ridge towards the sea. It is quite stunning.

This first temple of Juno is obviously a ruin and as I walk along the hill/ridge I pass burial chambers and evidence of multi-cultural appropriation. The Romans desecrated the Greek buildings and remade them. The Arabs had a go too and finally the Christians took over and the original worship of Gods various and Nature were subsumed by the dominant faith. Original fortifications became burial sites since they thought they were safe from invasion. I was reminded of the triple-whammy of Empuries in Spain where the Carthaginian original settlement was successively taken over by Greeks and Romans all with their own ideas of what’s to do with the place.

Then as you walk musing about all this along you come upon this:

*The almost complete Temple of Concord from 440-430 BCE.*

I really needed hiking poles (not available) to scale the outcrop to get this shot – but I was very careful, I promise. (For new readers I have a recent history of falls resulting in stitches to the head.) It is a stunning piece of craftsmanship and design and crowns the site with its awesome presence. Even I’d be inclined to pray. There are lots of other ruins, sculptures and relics scattered over the hill but there’s also a garden and you know how i like a garden. It had oleanders, rosemary, lavender and herbs I wasn’t sure about but a lovely fragrant and cooling period on the hillside at 32 degrees.

*Oleander, olives and prickly pear – very Mediterranean!*

Around this point I decided I’d gone far enough and found this excellent shady arbour for my return. The only problem was that I was accosted by a lizard and history tells what trouble that can get you into. (Again for those who weren’t there, an inquisitive lizard in Ibiza led to a group of us entering a team of plastic lizards in a local 5-a-side football tournament. Full story is in YBR 39 available from https://thewatfordtreasury.com/ or I can send the text of the article as a pdf to anyone who cares.) Happy memories of absent friends.

On my way back I passed an enclosure celebrating the return of the mountain goat to the – signboard quote – mountainside. I guess the threat of sacrifice has passed and they can safely graze. There was a cafe nearby so a late morning coffee set me up for a cross-Sicily drive. I hadn’t covered the entire site but had spent a full two and a half hours of marvelling at the ‘Valley’ of the Temples.

My next four days were to be spent in Siracusa so I needed to traverse Sicily from the Mediterranean Sea on the west coat to the Ionian Sea on the east. With a co-navigator I might have drifted about the centre from town to town, but as a lone traveller, I decided to take the A19 motorway that cuts straight through the middle. It was a scenic journey nonetheless, with the lush citrus groves near the coast, giving way to olives and almonds and then to a rugged landscape of harvested cornfields, rock outcrops and an overall brown-ness. It was very hot today but we were clearly gaining height as warnings about winter tyres being obligatory were joined by snowflake signposts and skidding dangers when icy. Hard to imagine that today. But like roads everywhere there were many stretches with road woks reducing the dual carriageway to two-way operation. What I did note was that in every lay-by there was scattered litter – some loose, some in plastic bags. From my limited experience I would say that Sicily is a mess when it comes to both clearing up rubbish – and I regret to say dog shit – which is everywhere.

Another aspect of Sicily that’s rubbish from my sample of one is the food on offer in service areas – I stopped at one for a late lunch and fuel. Everything was in bread including a soft bread bun that contained breadcrumbed chicken fillets! No salads just ciabatta, panini, focaccia and buns. I finally settled for a lemon Fanta and a bag of crisps. And I have to say that the offer was familiar from a number of the numerous ‘street food’ outlets in Palermo and Agrigento.

For once I found the BnB very easily but had to wait for someone to come and let me in. He was pleasant, efficient and explained that the breakfast part was served in the Hotel Mediterraneo two minutes walk away. He also carried my suitcase up these and into my very pleasant apartment which has this open plan living kitchen, dining area and a bedroom and bathroom and a balcony with clothes drier. Good choice I think.

Parking is free in nearby streets – narrow and mostly one way – I had to move my car to let someone else pass while waiting for the guy to arrive. So I went and parked, returned to put the phone that’s done sterling SatNav duty and charging block on to charge, unpack and then set out to explore the immediate neighbourhood. Luckily just round the corner is a bar with a much-needed post-driving beer. I start walking towards the sea and passed a garden that made me stop and think because of its very explicit signage. I’m used to Jewish quarters in lots of Spanish cities and had read that the Giudecca is one of the areas to explore on Ortygia, the island that forms a large part of Siracusa.

I make it to the twin bridges across to Ortygia but had planned that for tomorrow so I do a restaurant recce, buy some basic supplies for ‘home’ drop them off and then go to eat Siracusa-style tuna, cooked with onions peppers and tomatoes, helped along with an Etna red, half with the meal, half carried through the streets to enjoy while unwinding with music and a book. Buonanotte.

Tag: Empuries

Back to Normal?

The Valley (!) of the Temples and sea to sea