We stayed almost two weeks in Sicily, enjoying the beautiful scenery, resplendent in the November sunshine. We watched the local fishing boats land on the beach and hand over their catch before turning back to sea to continue fishing. We didn’t see any fish markets, just small stalls that closed as soon as the catch was sold.
After spending some days in Taormina we travelled to Agrigento, an archeological site of an ancient city at the Valle Dei Templi. High on the ridge was a line of temples built by the Greeks 2,500 years ago – the temples had once served as beacons for homecoming sailors.
Eating in nice restaurants was not cheap but we chose to treat ourselves and make the most of the opportunity to enjoy the freshest of fish, beautifully prepared. We would expect to pay €120 for starters and mains with a couple of beers and a glass of wine followed by coffee.
We preferred eating at lunchtime – by 6 pm it was getting dark and our ten minute walk down to the marina was an obstacle course not to be attempted after dark; we had to negotiate broken tiles, holes, tree trunks, lamp posts, broken bottles and dog poo. We even saw a dead kitten lying on the path that had been there so long its little body had desiccated and fused to the pavement. Walking in the road was also very dangerous.
