Greek, some more greek, and a dash of Roman too! [beware this blog is almost entirely full of ruins]

Me, being me, made sure to get in my fill of ancient sites this spring break, visiting Paestum, Capri, Taormina, Syracuse and Agrigento, all of which had some pretty awesome ruins. And let me tell you a little secret- I love the Romans, but they just can't compare to the Greeks when it comes to flair and setting. Man, did they know how to pick locations!

Paestum: we spent our first day in Paestum, and it was probably one of my favorite days of the trip! The site was in the middle of Italian countryside, it was the most beautiful day, and I was blown away by my first views of a intact Greek temples!

 Capri- Tiberius, the Roman Emperor is famous for abandoning Rome at the end of his reign, and retreating to Capri. We spent the early morning walking up to and around his villa- by far my favorite part was the Salto dei Tiberius. Pictured below, it is a 500 meter drop from which Tiberius (supposedly) flung people he didn't like.

 Taromina- this theater showed off the flair of the Greeks. Behind the Sceanae frons the audience was delighted with views of the Ionian coast and the shoreline. This wasn't the only epic view though, attenders were delighted with more views of the hilly terrain, rocky beaches, and on a clear day (which we didn't have) Mt. Etna as they filtered in to the theater from the corridors behind

Syracuse- this epic Greek colony was absolutely beautiful! And once again the theater afforded a beautiful view of the sea. The archaeological Park (an actual park!!!) also included a really cool Roman amphitheater and the huge cave called Orecchio di Dionisio (ear of dionysus, apparently coined by Caravaggio), which gave me a feeling that I had somehow wandering into Middle Earth.

Valle dei Templi, Agrigento 

This complex of ruins is set in a valley of almond groves, overlooking the sea with a backdrop of hills, dotted with windmills! This day was also one of my favorite- not only was the Valley absolutely gorgeous, but the day was wonderful (it was so nice I got my first sunburn of the year), the town of agrigento was cute, and we stayed in our favorite little hostel.

When standing up, this guy is REALLY big! (refer to picture below)

Me pretending to hold up the entablature, like the hercules statue behind me.

Look at how big the bottom of the base of the column is!

Me pretendign to eat a not ripe almond