Last – Exploring Agrigento: Valley of the Temples and Scala dei Turchi – Day 8
The Morning Run and Drive
Today we are going from Agrigento to Ragusa. So I got up in the morning and practically did the same run as the day before. Although, I didn’t get started right away. I opened the door to a light drizzle. Waiting a few minutes, it seemed the rain wasn’t getting any worse so I decided to give it a go. It was likely in the mid 50s and with the rain I was pretty apprehensive but once I got started all was good. I ran the length of the levy and then back to the apartment.
By the time we were ready to leave for Ragusa the sun was out and the rain was a distant memory. We got in the car and tried to locate a place to stop along the way from Agrigento to Ragusa. We decided on Villa Romana del Casale. An old roman ruin that had supposedly the most in tact mosaics than any other place in Italy. We were on our way. The route took us back into the center of Sicily to the town of Armerina. We ended up getting to the ruins a few minutes before 1pm. We had a quick lunch from the back of the car from the food we purchased the night before and went in.
The Mosaic Roman Ruin
So Villa Roman del Casale is a Roman ruin from about 300 to 500AD. I was reading different reviews from Trip Advisor of over 4000 of them and based on the reviews we decided to also pay for a tour guide. So overall the price was 17 euros for entry and 15 euros for the tour guide per person. Our tour guide immediately took us into the main building. I saw the most breath taking set of mosaics I have ever seen.
Having a tour guide let us fully appreciate what we were looking at from what the mosaics represented to what the rooms were used for. Though I’d assume we could have stayed longer and read the placards or rented a self guided audio. This was the easiest and most rewarding. Any questions we had she answered promptly or repeated anything we didn’t understand. All the mosaics have a roof covering them for preservation. It was a blessing because it rained several times while we were viewing them and we had to break out the umbrellas as we moved from one location to another.
Check In at Ragusa and Dinner
We ended up leaving at about 3:30pm and got to Ragusa by 5:30 pm. Our host Salvatore was waiting for us. We were staying on the edge of Ragusa Superiore overlooking Ragusa Ibla. The views from here are breathtaking at night. We moved into our rooms had a bottle of wine and waited for our 7:30 pm reservation for dinner.
Dinner was interesting is the best way to put it. The location was incredible, overlooking the old town. Our waiters were friendly and accommodating. The menu was posh. They offered five course meals for land or sea from 50 to 60 euros per person. We opted for appetizers and individual plates. We got two appetizer dishes one was smoked trout another was ceviche prawns. I got a rabbit ravioli dish. Others got fish dishes. The presentation was decadent. The food was meh. The flavors were muted and the textures, the best I can say, were interesting.
The music and staff were engaging. We finished another bottle of wine. I also had a mixed drink a “Sicilian Mule”. After leaving the restaurant, we did a quick walk to the edge of the road. I snapped off a few more pictures of the city at night, and we went to bed. I slept like a rock thanks to 2 bottles of wine.
