Photos from Valle dei Templi, Agrigento
As we drive into the parking lot of the Valle dei Templi, there's sand and dust everywhere. It's early August and Ferragosto hasn't started yet, but it feels like the whole of Italy has planned to come here today. Cars criss-cross the terrain like ants, and — in typical Sicilian fashion — there's little signage to tell you where to go. After all these years of coming to Sicily, I've grown used to a bit of organised chaos. I like it, actually. It makes Sicily so much like Sicily — a stark contrast to the planned, orderly street architecture I'm used to in the Netherlands.
Today I won't have many opportunities to take photos. Still, when the moment arises, I attempt a few shots. I don't want to disturb the guide as he talks — which he does so well — walking us through the complete history of the Valle dei Templi in just over two hours. For the pictures I do manage to shoot, I've set my camera to RAW. It helps preserve the highlights under this burning sun. What I sometimes like to do in these situations is shoot deliberately into the sun. It gives you a silhouetted foreground, and paired with the vintage 50 mm Takumar lens, it creates a really nice, warm vintage look.
We conclude the day, all very satisfied. This was such a beautiful experience. It's incredible to witness how these ancient structures have survived destruction, wars, and natural disasters over the millennia, yet they are still standing — a testament to the people who built them. They knew a thing or two about construction, and so much more besides: agriculture, astronomy, mathematics — things we, 2000 years later, can still learn a lot from. This visit definitely deserves a follow-up in the form of a good book about these temples. Or who knows — I'll be visiting them again someday. They're not in a hurry, after all.
For now, it's back to the dusty parking lot to queue up with my ant friends. I forget about the ancient Greeks for a moment as my mind slowly drifts to granitas and an ice-cold Peroni.