Driving in Italy is pushing my husband to his limit of patience and can I just say, he is a very patient man. After all, he has had three daughters and me to practise being tolerant with for all these years. We followed all the signposts to the Valley of the Temples near Agrigento but we missed the actual entrance because there was nothing to say that we had arrived. Then we spent the next half hour driving in circles trying to find our way back to the only place that had looked slightly like an entrance because this was where the tourist buses were stopped.

Once inside it was well worth the search. The ruins of the temples were huge and the remains gave an indication of their immense size and grandeur. We visited the museum and saw some of the artefacts and reconstructions that gave us an even better idea. The site covers a large area. I think we must have walked at least ten kilometres today when we included walking up the hill to the museum for a kilometre and back, in the middle of our wanderings.

My favourite part of the site was the Giardino della Kolymbetra. This garden covers about five hectares and the entrance is near the Temple of Castor and Pollux. There were many varieties of citrus trees, which we discovered came to Sicily with the Arabic invasion from areas in Asia. We also saw olive trees, almonds, pomegranates, persimmons, myrtles, poplars and palms amongst the great variety of exotic plants that have been cultivated in Sicily for many years. Some have described it as a Garden of Eden. The citrus trees were laden with fruit and blossoms. A sign at the top said not to pick the fruit. We were sorely tempted.

With the drive back to Palermo the stress levels rose in the car again. We will be very glad to hand it back before we return to Rome tomorrow.