Where was I? Oh yes, Update on our 3-month Italy road trip.

We left Erice and wound down to Agrigento, stayed at Villa La Lumia. Sweet place, overlooking the ruins from a distance. And older house and cottages but nicely updated. Just don't miss the turn down into the steep driveway--GPS doesn't know it exists. We parked in the town and walked around til we found it. Sometimes--lots of times--in these crazy, busy villages it's easier to park (if you can find a spot!) and set out on foot to find the hotel. We liked these ruins a lot--and the grounds were hilly and lovely-- but feel the ones at Paestum were more moving. Only one night here, then on to Ragusa--perched up high and another hellacious drive thru a small, twisty town. Again, we missed a crucial turn-off --the GPS gets lost sometimes in the canyons of buildings--and spent 20 minutes re-looping thru the one-way lanes. It's sphincter-tightening at times. Had to park and walk again to zero in on hotel. But, so worth it when we checked into the very nice Giardino Sul Duomo--a RS recommendation. Michele (sp?) was super helpful and we were only one of three parties there. The town is charming and easily doable in one full day. From there we were off to Ortigia, the tip of Syracusa. Hotel Livingston was decent and a little Baroque-ish in its overdone velour way but friendly and ideal location, plus they had a car parking valet deal that was so worth it after again developing a small ulcer finding our way there. Love having a car but hate having to deal with parking it. We were lucky, with a balcony room overlooking the sea. Weather gods smiled too--73 degrees. Ate well, walked 8 miles, did Ricky's walking tour and toured the fortress. Left there this morning at 9AM and made it to Taormina by 11. Not bad. Getting to hotel Casa Adele (GREAT place) was convoluted but we made it and the garage door right here was open and a welcome sight! We walked the town, sat, sipped, walked some more then did the ancient Greek/Roman Theater; the main sight to see here. It was impressive, perched up high, Etna in the (cloudy) background. Imagine a performance in this setting!
Went to a Ricky recommended restaurant for dinner, Pizza Villa Zucarro, and it was good food with hard- working staff BUT one of the noisiest restaurants we've ever been in. It's large and caters to groups and we just timed it bad. We asked for a table away from the masses but it didn't help that much. ANyway, onward tomorrow back to the Italian mainland. More updates when possible...