There was a tourist information booklet in our B&B in Agrigento detailing all there is to see and do in the area. Beyond the amazing sights to see in the city itself, the booklet listed several half-day and full-day itineraries away from town. We wanted to do a scenic drive one day, and preferred the mountains to the coast, so we decided on Itinerary 5. It took us north from Agrigento on a loop through the mountain towns of Raffadali, Santa Elisabetta, Sant'Angelo Muxaro, San Biagio Platani, and Casteltermini, where we turned south to head back to Agrigento.
The drive itself was spectacular. The tiny roads follow the course of ancient footpaths from town to town. Each bend in the road offers a more amazing panorama than the one before. The camera just doesn't capture the true beauty of the place. And it certainly doesn't capture the scent of Sicily in Spring - almond blossoms, wild flowers in bloom, and smoke from countless fires burning olive branches and grape vine clippings.
Here are a few photos..... Click on any photo to enlarge.....
Fico d'India, also known as prickly pear, grows wild along Sicilian roads.....
The itinerary suggested that just outside of Santa Elisabetta there was an ancient castle in ruin, and you could take a small side road to see it. We found the side road and started down it. Passing the cemetery was probably a clue that we shouldn't go any farther, but of course we did. The road quickly narrowed and deteriorated to the point that we couldn't go any further. We had to back up a couple of hundred feet just to find a spot wide enough to turn around. Here's a photo of the
good part of the road. needless to say, we didn't see the castle.....
We continued on to Sant'Angelo Muxaro, a beautiful little hilltown which also has an ancient tomb where gold and silver artifacts have been found. Some of them are in the British Museum. The tomb has many mythological legends surrounding it, involving Greek and lesser known gods. The tomb is only accessible on foot, over rugged terrain, so we opted out. Here's a photos of the town from a distance.....
We did drive up into the town, where there was a small weekly market just packing up. We snapped a photo of this guy's truck, which was proudly carrying the banner "Truck Of The Year 1992". Wasn't that last century..... ??
The next village on our itinerary was San Biagio Platani. It is mostly known for the unusual arches it puts up on the main street for Easter. The arches are made of reeds, willow, asparagus, rosemary, corn and bread. We drove through town, but the arches weren't up, so we "borrowed" a photo.....
The last town on the itinerary was Casteltermini. We didn't drive through this town, as it was approaching cocktail time and we were still an hour away from our B&B. But we did get a couple of photos of the town from a distance.....
What a fantastic drive in the Sicilian countryside. It is such an amazing island, you could do these drives for weeks and not get tired of the scenery. And each town has at least a couple of snack bars and family-run trattorias where you can get an excellent and inexpensive meal.
One thing you don't see in Sicily are exotic sports cars, like Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, etc., which are fairly commonly seen in the north of Italy. We did see an unusual Lamborghini though.....
A Sicilian itinerary, a full tank, and a sense of adventure make for an unforgettable day!
