We are driving a counter clockwise tour around Sicily and checking out the ancient ruins that exist at various locations.  The weather was threatening rain as we loaded the car and grabbed breakfast in town before starting out.  From Cefalu we drove west through the now pouring rain, past Palermo and Monreale and on to the remains of what is described as the best preserved Doric temple in the world at the town of Segesta.  The weather had turned in our favor with the sun peeking out but the temperature had dropped a bit and the wind was whistling making for a cooler than expected visit.  As the photos show the temple is truly in remarkable condition for having been built around 430 BC by the Elymian people of Sicily.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segesta

After a few hours of touring the site we grabbed some lunch.  Karen managed to polish off a gelato even in the brisk weather but loved the warmth of car.  We traveled the short distance to our overnight location the hilltop town of Erice which Laura and I had visited previously.

Click the photos to enlarge them.

We loved the fact that even though this archaeological park is not more than 2 miles from the autostrad there were not more than 100 people there while we visited. It made for an easy time of taking photos without people in them.

You can’t always get photos without people.

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Apparently the temple was never finished according to the reference material. Part of the support for this argument is that the columns are not fluted.

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Thank you Sicily for not ruining this place and keeping it natural.

The Greek theater.

Scot and I both thought the seat cushion concession was the real money maker here.

One last shot and then on to Erice for the night.