SICILY/UK/FRANCE 2023

Our final breakfast with Duke (or Don) Diego was once again lovely and we really valued his helpful, friendly assistance.
However, this morning when we set out the little roads totally stuffed us around again! Eventually, we got onto the bigger roads BUT around very hilly, winding Ragusa the GPS which is not coping well, took us on the coastal road to Gela instead of northwards to Piazza Armerina. Never mind we did get the better road ultimately and with a little bit of Italian help and a wonderful Italian speaker called Lina 😉, we did find our place for the night called B&B Giucalem. After a quick turnaround, leaving our bags we next went to the brilliant Villa Romana del Casale which is the reason we came here. This is a large and elaborate Roman villa or palace. Excavations have revealed one of the richest, largest, and most varied collections of Roman mosaics in the world, for which the site has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The villa and artwork contained within, date to the early 4th century AD.
The mosaics cover some 3,500 m2 and are almost unique in their excellent state of preservation due to the landslide and floods that covered the remains. An extraordinary collection of frescoes covered not only the interior rooms, but also the exterior walls. Anyway, we all agreed it was worth all the driving hassle and THEN A MASSIVE STORM HIT. Craig and I just made it to the car and waited a long time for Janet and Sinclair to eventually make it also. Getting back to our accommodation was also tricky. No power, no internet, no hot water because of the storm. It did all eventually come back but then the owner told us that the meal they were going to provide was not possible but eventually he said he would take us to a restaurant. Lots of painful things today but the mosaics were certainly worth it.En savoir plus