sicilia part due: the temples and the theaters

Wednesday 

Wednesday was an absolutely fantastic day wandering through the ruins of Segesta and Selinunte. In this case I would say that a picture is worth far more than a thousand words. My personal favorite was, by far, the almost fully complete temple amidst the field of neon yellow flowers…. Pretty stunning….

Mamma Giovanna made us sing in one of the Greek theaters which was pretty adorable….

After seeing all the 2,000 year old beauty, we decided to try and find the beach, something made quite possible with the aid of our little stray tour dog who lead us there quite happily. We wandered the beach and collected stones and shells and then skipped back up the hill to the DiscoBus at which point we headed for Agrigento – an area of Sicily I would absolutely live in. Right on the beach, not a single tourist in sight in January, gorgeous, adorable, sweet, calm, perfect. And our hotel was incredible! A four start hotel up on a hill overlooking the ocean. And a delicious dinner with the group at said hotel – equally incredible!

Thursday

Thursday we headed to the Valley of Temples with an adorably sweet tour guide named Michele. As usual, the sun was shining in our favor despite the rainy forecast. Every temple was even more gorgeous than the previous. We walked from on to the other, basking in the sun and the amazing silent feeling that surrounded each temple. We then stopped for lunch, on Zia Sophia’s (aka Smith College’s) bill since our lunch the day before (which we had paid for ourselves) was a) overpriced and b) pretty bad….. That’s what to you get for stopping at an Italian truck stop complete with “Sicilian art museum” (if you could call it that) and outdoor wax museum complete with Elvis, characters from American cop television shows and Frankenstein…. Thursday’s lunch was great – a little buffet at an adorable little trattoria with outdoor seating in the sun. After lunch we spent a few hours wandering on the beach and collecting more photos, pebbles, rocks and shells while relaxing in the sun. 


We then drove to Siracusa, naturally having another discopartyyyy!! This hotel was by far the most gorgeous and again four stars (perhaps they were avoiding the possibility of bedbugs….) We had dinner on our own so I wandered off with Breana, Alayna, Christine and many others to find a fantastic little trattoria where we ate yummy pizza, salad and beer. Afterwards, we wandered Ortigia (the old part of the city of Siracusa which is a little island) and found some delicious famous cannoli (which I do like after all!), and took some beautiful photos of the Duomo at night. Breana and I then found a Baby Yogurt (amazing frozen yogurt with fresh fruit sauces,etc.) and then headed home for a bubble bath (Breana and I had the only hotel room including those of Monica and Giovanna, which not only had a bathtub, but a bathtub with Jacuzzi jets).

Friday 
Friday we visited the temples outside of Siracusa with a very, veryyy quirky guide. No one really liked her because she talked very slowly which at first seemed as though she thought we couldn’t understand Italian, but really she was just dramatic and theatrical and loved the temples and telling stories about them so she spoke in a very particular way. Breana and I thought she was sweet and very dedicated to her work. We got to see the stone quarries where slaves cut stone 2,500 years ago as well as this amazing little grotto with a really neat echo called the ear of Dionysus. We stopped by another huge Greek amphitheater where they still have Greek theater during the summer and then headed back into Siracusa to wander and find lunch. We stopped by the Duomo which is also called the Temple of Athena because it in fact has been both a Greek temple and a church many times in the last 2,500 years. Not too too long ago when there was a huge earthquake in this area of Sicily (including many cities and towns, not just Siracusa), literally the only thing left standing were the columns of this old Greek temple. Today, the columns have been filled in with walls and the entire Duomo in a combination of old Greek tradition and newer architecture – in other words, it’s beautiful and amazing and powerful.

After lunch we hopped on the bus to visit a teeny tiny Baroque city called Noto where we visited the cathedral and ate the best mandarin gelato ever! After returning back to Siracusa, we had our last dinner all together at this great little pizzeria at which point we headed back to the hotel and Breana and I had a second, extremely bubbly, bubble bath and watched Italian MTV until we fell asleep.

Saturday 
Saturday morning we woke up early, ate some breakfast and headed to Taormina, a beautiful little city on top of a hill overlooking, you guessed it, the ocean. Naturally we visited another Greek theater that just so happens to look over both Mount Etna, a very active volcano currently covered in snow (yes, you can go skiing on it) and the beautiful turquoise ocean – something pretty incredible if you ask me!! And, of course, an adorable older man stood in the theater and played his harmonica for us.... Pardon the noise!


Again, pictures explain this experience much better than I ever could! After finding some lunch, we headed back to Catania with one last little disco party, sang I Just Called to Say I Love You with Gianni, said goodbye, and sadly hopped on the plane back to chilly Florence.

More photos! 

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=382268&id=500755531&l=d5ebd56bc9

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=382277&id=500755531&l=dab0419666

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=382279&id=500755531&l=618a84bd2b

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=382286&id=500755531&l=f4ba3f490f

I am now all settled back in Florence, doing laundry and preparing for the beginning of this semester. Just need to choose a class at the University of Florence (which won't start for a few weeks, thus giving me 4 day weekends for a little bit...) and then I am good to go! Looks like this semester is going to be FANTASTIC! And on top of that, Alessandra is coming to visit in less than 2 weeks and Gabriel will be here a month from Wednesday! And Carnivale is happening as we speak and I am most likely heading to Venice next weekend! Possibly Viareggio as well! 

Baci galore!!!