Sicily by Sea: Agrigento

Temple of Concord, Agrigento. Photograph by Christine Begley

The Sea Cloud is transporting us across the sea and back in time, to the land of the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, the Greeks and the Romans. Sicily is as magical and majestic as I imagined. While yesterday we witnessed a landscape I can only describe as brutal, yet punctuated by churches that were as baroquely ornate as wedding cakes, today we sailed into the port at Agrigento and walked through the so-called Valley of the Temples, home to some of the greatest Greek temples still in existence. Along a sloping hill amid a landscape of almond and pistachio trees, rosemary, jasmine, and pear cactus, stand breathtaking monuments to the greatness of Greek architecture. Agrigento is worth any traveler's time, and for lovers of ancient culture, it is definitely a must-see.