愛上意大利高跟鞋的女生 Ciao! Bella Italia ~: 愛在古希臘與西西里小巷 Agrigento (Agrigento, Sicilia)

Agrigento 是西西里南部的小鎮，是個古希臘小鎮，所以當地的古希臘神殿 - Valle dei Templi (Valley of the Temples)亦十分有名，也是世界文化遺產之一，因此不少人也慕名前來。(像我一樣，沒去過希臘的人，對這個神殿也十分有興趣，不過，對於一些已到過希臘的人來說，這個神殿可能是沒太特別吧~)

Agrigento也是一個山城，城鎮建於山上，可由Palermo乘巴士前往，也只是需要1-2小時左右。我們則由Trapani那邊乘Lumia 巴士前往，路途確是有點遠，需要在Trapani機場上車，大概需要4個多小時，但整體上交通也十分方便，因為中途也不用轉車，車費約為11.9歐羅，而且，也可以作為從西邊的Trapani，到東方的Catania 大城的其中一個中途站。

另外也有火車到達，西西里的火車主要由trenitalia 營運,差不多每小時一班，車程約兩小時 (從Palermo)，在Agrigento 的 Stazione Centrale 下車，車費也不便宜，約9至15歐羅，部份車程更需要3個多小時呢。不過trenitalia通常會有早鳥優惠，早買可以平一半以上，大家可留意一下。

也也有巴士從東面的Catania 前往，但需要3小時，中途亦需要轉車，所以在計劃行程時可考慮下怎樣走最好。

位於山上的小城，坐擁一望無際的海景，不少人也會從市中心搭乘巴士到海邊，從Agrigento更可以到另一著名的海灘 - Scala dei Turchi，那裡地勢獨特，一級一級的XX 而上，海水青藍，是我夢寐以求的海灘勝地，下次到西西里，我也決定一定要去游水呢! (不過當然交通就相對沒有太大方便)

Agrigento算是一個小鎮，沒有什麼可走走看看的地方，市中心主要由一條大街組成，大街大旁有不少小商店，大街一邊連接著廣場、郵局等等。從大街向海邊方向走，便可找到火車站，和教堂 (見到教堂就找到了火車站呀!) 教堂外便是乘巴士到Valle dei Templi和海邊的巴士，十分方便。

巴士會從山上一路往下車，記得當經過中途, 有餐廳的地方便要下車，那裡正正就是神殿的售票處、博物館和入口，錯過了，要等好一段路才能下車，那時候，便麻煩了 (我們那一次就是這樣子發生了點小意外，卻發現西西里人的友善之處)

Valle dei Templi面積很大，每到一個temple 都要走上一段路，在烈日當空下走，確是不是味兒。Valle dei Templi共有7個神殿，分別係Temple of Juno, Temple of Concordia, Temple of Heracles, Temple of Olympian Zeus, Temple of Castor and Pollux, Temple of Vulcan 和 Temple of Asclepius。7個神殿各有特色，遺跡所見十分不同。其中最常見到的一幅相，便是有個毀壞了的銅像橫訓在其中一個神殿前，那個就是Temple of Concordia。

而另一個就是只遺留下幾條巨柱的Temple of Heracles, 應該會是第一個到訪的神殿。

還有一個較常見的是在Temple of the Olympian Zeus，有個雕刻成男性模樣的巨柱橫訓在地上，部分文物則放在入口位置附近的博物館，大家也可以去參觀一下。

要慢慢行完成個遺址，最好預備一個上午，有遊客亦會參觀晚間團，因為晚上開了燈光，整個遺址景色也大分吸引！但記得晚間團需要預先報名呀，網上可以報名。

小記:之前提過我們錯過了車站，到下一個話時已走到很遠很遠。是公路的中心似的，因為巴士一路下山到海邊。我們本打算在下車後走過廿山對面看看有沒有回頭巴士，可惜發現不像香港那樣對面一定有巴士站，在慳妹想法出現後，便決定截順風車。每當有車經過，我便嘗試望著他們，口裡說昔著什麼，希望有司機番留意到，初時沒有什麼人看得見我們，後來有架貨車走過，我知道司機他們是看得見我們想日尋求幫助的，但我見車子卻一洗而過有點失望。後來我們發現他們在前面停下來坐在乘客位的那個男人走了下來，在溝通不到的情況下，只好指著地圖說temples, temples , 哈而他們也估到我們想去，他和司機朋友說了幾句後，便著我們上車。初時也有點擔心的，因為他要我們坐在中間，而貨車頭前面其實只得一個空位，但既然朋友也不怕，我們便上了他們的車了。約十分鐘車程，他們有問我們是不是日本，又遞煙給我們問要不要，大家在雞同鴨講的情況下，便開開心心的到達神殿，我們還請他們一起拍照呢！他們更問我們要不要接我們，一來我們也不知道要行多久，二來接了我們後也不知道會去邊，所以也婉拒了他們。所以，我都是覺得在這些小城市，才能找到友善的，可信的朋友呢！要是在大城市，我一定不敢上他們的車呢！

Agrigento is a small town lociated on Southern Sicily. It is famous for its greek Valle dei Templi (Valley of the Temples) which was named UNESCO World Heritage. Many tourists come to Agrigento to visit the Valle。(For those who haven't been to Greece, like me, the Templi were really something special to me. But maybe for those who have been to Greece, they may think it's just more or less the same.

Agrigento is also a hill town, the main activity, and the centre is built on the hill. From Palermo, it takes around 1-2 hour to get to Agrigento by bus. But we went there from Trapani by Lumia bus, it was a bit far away and need to get on the bus from the Trapani Birgi airport and it took you 4 hours to get there. Nevertheless, it's still convenient as you don't have to get change on your way and the cost is just 11.9 euro. It can be one of the cities to visit if you want to go to Cantania from Trapani.

There are also train to and from Agrigento and it is mainly operated by trenitalia. From Palermo, it will be around 2 hours and get off at the Stazione Centrale of Agrigento. It costs around 9-15 euro but some trains take you 3 hours. So you better check which one fits your schedule in advance. Trenitalia has some early bird discount from time to time and you may get more than half price discount if you buy in advance.

From Catania, you can take bus to Agrigento but it takes around 3 hrs and you have to get chance on your way. So it's important to plan your trip itinerary.

From the centre of Agrigento, it oversees a piece of beautiful and tranquil sea view and many people will take the bus to the seaside down the hill. There is a famous sea side place called Scala dei Turchi with the most beautiful sea. Scala dei Turchi in English means Stairways of the Turks with a very beautiful and rocky cliff overlooking the sea. The color of the cliff is pure white and it is made of stone called Marga. This is one of my dream seaside and I have to visit it when I go to Sicily next time! (However, the transport is not that convenient)

Agrigento is quite a small town and there may not have much to see. There is one main street in the centre with lots of shops, and on one side of the main street, there is post office, etc. From the centre walks towards the sea side, you can find the train station (Stazione Centrale) which is outside the church. And right there, you can get on the bus to Valle dei Templi and to the sea side.

The bus will go down hill and remember, when you pass by a restaurant, you should get off there as it is indeed the entrance of Valle dei Templi. You can also find the ticket office and the museum. If you miss the bus stop, the bus will just keep going down and it's difficult to just walk back to the entrance. (And that was what happened to us last time.. but this turned out to let me feel and know that how nice the Sicilian are)

Valle dei Templi is very big and you have to walk for a while from one temple to another temple. It's not a good choice if it's under the sun. There are 7 temples, Temple of Juno, Temple of Concordia, Temple of Heracles, Temple of Olympian Zeus, Temple of Castor and Pollux, Temple of Vulcan and Temple of Asclepius, each with own characteristic. The one people may always see on the internet may be the bronze sculpture of Icarus laid down in front of the Temple of Concordia.

The first one you will see should be the Temple of Heracles, it is the oldest one with long and thin pilar standing.

And the other one you may know if the Temple of the Olympian Zeus, where you can find the remains of an atlar, a support scuplted in the form of a man, which may be used as column or pilaster.

You can also pay extra money to visit the museum and get to know more about the history of the valle.

To walk around the whole site, it's better to spend a whole morning or afternoon. Some visitors will join the night tour where the scene is attractive with some lights are on. You have to enroll the tour in advance in its website.
side story:
I mentioned earlier that we missed the bus stop and when we got off at the next stop, it's already quite far away from the site. It is just like the middle of nowhere with a few shops there. The bus keeps going down to the sea. We first tried to go to opposite side and found a return bus, but just found that there's no bus stop there! (it's not just like Hong Kong, most of the bus stop is on the opposite street) We won't want to pay again for the bus ticket, thus, we tried to get a free ride there. We kept looking to the driver when they passed by and said something so that they may get off and helped us. At the beginning, all the cars just went by but then, a small truck passed by and i know the passenger saw us and noticed us. First they passed by and i was a bit disappointed, but then they indeed stopped the car and the guy came down and talked to us. They didn't really speak English and we didn't speak Italian, we just tried to show him the map and said: temples, temples. and luckily, seems they understood what we were talking about. He talked with his friend, the driver and asked us to get on the truck! We were just happy but was a bit doubt at the beginning also, as there was only 1 seat, but nevermind! it just took around 10 mins and I didn't think there's any problem of overload! We sat in the middle and we tried to chat , ha yes tried! They asked if we were Japanese and passed a cigarette (which of course we didn't take), then we were here! After we got off the truck, we took a photo together, and they even asked when we would finish and they can come to pick us up! But we rejected them as we have no idea how long it take and we didn't know where he would bring us to later.. Anyway, we were still happy and just couldn't believe that how nice they are. I'm sure that it may just happen in these kinds of small cities and towns, if we were in those big cities, we dare not to do this!