Agrigento

The umbrella salesmen are cleaning up lately. Its raining cats and dogs right now outside, but mercifully it waited until I completed my day of excitement to begin. Every other person I passed on my way back to my hostel today was a smug umbrella salesman, offering me an umbrella with a small smirk on their face. Yesterday I did buy one, because the salesman helped me out and lowered the price from five to three euros as I walked away. And it was pretty handy, because I was still pretty lost, and in the middle of a downpour. But its not much use to me now, warm and cozy in the hostel.

Today, I had it in mind to visit Agrigento, where I was told there were very cool Greek ruins. I headed to the bus stop and talked to a gruff man in an information booth, who muttered a couple of words through the tiny hole in his bullet-proof cover. Another man put his change in the window, looking to buy a ticket, as I stammered. Italians, as Hannah also attests to, dont understand the concept of a queue. I left, because obviously the guy didnt want to help me, and walked around. Eventually I made my way to another information booth, this one occupied by two helpful looking older ladies. Older ladies are my social forte. They are just so friendly! And these two were no exception, helping me find the bus station to the ruins, which I promptly ran off and caught.

It was a two-hour ride, followed by a forty-five minute local bus ride, which should have taken five minutes but neither I nor the bus driver did his job, but lo and behold, I arrived at the scene of the Greek ruins, which were wholly worth the trip. Two of the buildings in Il Valle dei Templi, the Valley of the Temples, were almost completely intact, and there were remnants of many others. These temples, in the lush green Sicilian landscape, were gorgeous. Ill put pictures up as soon as I can.

As my grandma pointed out, Im one quarter Sicilian, so I have every right to consider this trip a dramatic return to my homeland. Actually, I would be thrilled to spend a considerable amount of time on this island sometime in the future. Everything here is green, growing like mad, and the landscape rolls with hills and rocky promontories.

My times almost up and now I face the prospect of heading back into the rain for a pizza. I think Im going to the beach tomorrow, so hopefully it clears up. I noticed its 91 in Los Angeles right now. Damn.