Sicilia

January 31 - February 6, 2010 may now be one of my favorite time frames of my life. This to say yes, I loved Sicily, and I now hold the belief that every human being must see it before they die. It was the most uniquely beautiful place I've seen in my life, and I've seen a lot of beautiful places. I really can't describe it better than pictures can...I assume most of you are my facebook friends and can see my albums. When I was still passionately involved with my xanga back in the day I used to write these MASSIVE posts after I went on vacations, describing every detail. Because I essentially had no life. I have more of a life now but I'm still gonna do it.

A taxi came at 11:30 on Sunday morning to take us and 2 other Smith girls to the airport. A few hours later we were in Catania, where a coach bus was awaiting us outside the airport. We had the bus for the week. We would soon call it "the discobus" thanks to our awesome and super silly driver, Gianni, who liked to blast disco hits (also middle school music and cringe-worthy 80's ballades) as we drove along, sometimes flicking the lights to the beat. The bus was definitely one of the best parts of the trip. When my entire family went to Ireland for a week when I was in eighth grade to celebrate my grandparents' 50th anniversary we also had a bus and an awesome driver, Denis, who we bonded with. So it reminded me of that. And Giovanna reminded me more of my Aunt Lynne--they are both exuberant and caring and want to pack as many activities into the day as possible. And they both have red hair. Awesomeness factor increased. Anyways, it was about a 3 hour bus ride to Palermo, where we would be spending the first 3 nights. What we saw passing by the windows (AND THE PIT-STOP FOR FOOD WHERE I FOUND CRISPY M&MS, MY FAVORITE M&M OF ALL TIME THAT IS NO LONGER PRODUCED IN AMERICA) is what made me realize the trip was going to be amazing.

I had never seen such ancient enormous rocks. Or such intense, practically neon greens or such tall and jagged cliffs or such blues of the ocean or such adorable box-shaped colorful houses scattered on hills. At one point Camilla said, "I feel like we're in the Shire." I said, "Aye, Mr. Frodo." No I don't think I actually did but I should have. No, what I did say was, "My mom would love you right now" because she is absolutely obsessed with Lord of the Rings. Crap now I want to watch it. Moving on. We arrived in Palermo and were on our own for dinner. Camilla, Emily, Sophie and I (I was rooming with Sophie and Camilla was rooming with Emily) went on a quest for dinner. We finally found it, the holy grail: Fratelli La Bufala. Buffalo Brothers. Basically everything on the menu featured either buffalo cheese, buffalo meat, or whatever else you can make with buffaloes. I got perhaps the best pizza I had had in Italy so far and then the waiter decided what we should get for dessert: a "buffalo ball" and buffalo cheesecake (obviously made with buffalo cheese). The buffalo ball was like a profiterole I think. In any case, it was a delicious start to the vacation and we were grateful for the majestic creature that is the buffalo.

May I just say that all the hotel breakfasts and hotel showers were SPECTACULAR. That is all. So the next day we went to the famous Monreale cathedral. It was ancient and damaged on the outside, the most beautiful building (not just church) I had ever seen on the inside. It was enormous and not a single surface was devoid of unthinkably detailed gold/bejeweled mosaics. We also climbed to the top, where there were stunning views of the seaside city illuminated by sun streams. We spent a long time inside, and could have spent more. Then we went to the University of Palermo where we were compelled to mingle with the English students (er, they were Italian students studying English) in a lunch-mixer thing. After much awkward tension, a group of 4 girls came up to us to talk and we ended up exchanging numbers with them. Obviously never saw them again. They were nice though. It got pretty rainy and dreary after that, so we decided to lighten our spirits by going to the CATACOMBS! It was hilarious because at first everyone was like "awesome yeah cool ok let's go!" Then we got in and saw actual dead mutilated skinless gray corpses with rotting torn rags and jaws askew dangling endlessly in rows down endless dark dusty hallways in some sort of nightmare. And changed our minds. I seriously had to resist the urge to just break into a dash for the exit...I could feel the edge of panic mode creeping. It was truly disturbing. And yet...could not...look away....

So! Then we had 3 hours to kill before dinner so we watched Shaun of the Dead which I told Camilla to bring. Zombies were an appropriate theme. We had a group dinner at a nearby restaurant. Honestly I was kind of disappointed...I'm starting to feel like I have some ridiculously refined palate here. I was REALLY looking forward to fish (pisci spada = swordfish) because I love it and we never get it here. But it was chewy, flavorless and drowned in oil. Also I was absolutely exhausted and was about ready to fall face-first into my plate.

The next day we had a tour of Palermo with the very nice and engaging professor we had met yesterday at the University. We saw more amazing churches and we were accompanied practically the whole time by many stray doggies. One of them even tried to enter a museum with us, and they waited faithfully outside while we got lunch (amazing sauceless arugula and mushroom pizza). Two remained at the end, lying a few feet from the parked bus in the rain. It was sad :(. Then we departed for Cefalu, a seaside town with unbelievable views. We got cannoli (which Sicily is famous for) and romped on a beach. Yes, beach. In February. Ok it wasn't BALMY but still...good times. And towards the end of the bus ride back we had a dance party. Yes, we actually danced and sang in the aisles of the moving bus to "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" and "I Will Survive." Dark except for the flashing white and green lights. That night we had been told a group of the Palermo students would be in front of the Teatro Massimo (where The Godfather 3 was filmed) at 8 to meet whoever wanted to go out. A group of 9 of us decided to go. Being Italian, they were a little late. It was a group of about 6 girls--I recognized a few. As we learned within the first negative three seconds, they were unbelievably loud and crazy. Traveling up and down the streets like fools looking for a place to eat, we didn't draw any attention to ourselves at ALL!! The Italians decided on an outdoor place. It was freezing and I ate my pasta with gloves on. It was so uncomfortable that it wasn't uncomfortable, but rather hysterical. They practiced their hilarious English. The girl next to me decided to announce that she sang, that she was a GREAT singer, and that she needed to sing right then and there and we needed to give her suggestions. But as it turned out she had brought her own karaoke CD, which she gave to the waiter to have him play. It was none other than "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You." And at a different point she broke into "My Heart Will Go On" and decided to take my hand and the hand of another Smith girl on her left and sway. Pictures were taken. Apparently they were going to a pub afterwords for more singing and shenanigans. Camilla, Emily and I opted out.....We got a ride back to the hotel from the only guy that was there, who showed up later, and who had an IMPECCABLE British accent. It was quite amusing. A priceless experience all in all.

Phew. I'm gonna start condensing things if nobody has any objections. The next day may have been my favorite. We went to Segesta, where we saw our first ancient Greek temple (well, of the trip. Also the first I had seen in my life). There were breathtaking views (ok at this point it's just a given that the views were incredible at any given moment) of cliffs and specks of trees and tiny flowers and massive stones. In Selinunte we saw more temples...this time we could climb and explore. Yes, we climbed on ancient toppled over columns and within still-standing columns. Atop a mountain of ruins after a somewhat risky climb we saw a field of sheep whose countless bells were jingling. The whole sweeping area was surrounded by electric yellow flowers. I want to DIE there. Holy crap it was heaven. Oh and we had a guide: another stray beasty who followed us from the first site to the second, all the way down to the beach that we had to cut through thick brambles and step over low barbed-wire to get to. The sand was reddish brown and we didn't need our jackets. That night we spent in our amazing new hotel in Agrigento. The was a LITTLE issue with the heat but Giovanna helped us figure it out. Then I somehow screwed it up and froze until dinner (my roommate, Julie, and Camilla were in the hotel sauna at the time...perhaps I should have gone). The hotel is clearly summer-oriented, which means we will have to return. We had a delicious dinner in the hotel as a group. I especially loved the antipasto: swordfish fillet in lemon juice (because it was raw), arugula salad, and sweet baby shrimp in a yummy sauce.

The next day we had a tour of the ancient temples and theaters of Agrigento. We got to climb and explore again, and it was very cool. Then we had a great lunch sitting at long tables outside in the sun (every time our group of 20 girls entered a restaurant I was always struck by how funny and bizarre we must seem). Then we drove to a beach. We maneuvered along rocks that lead to a long, wide jetty that reminded me of my beloved childhood places (Rockport, MA and Kennebunkport), except here the water was turquoise. We collected shells and wandered along the shore so slowly. After a bathroom break where many of us also got ice cream snacks (not gelato, even though the sign said 'Gelateria'...grrrr), we drove the 3 hours to Siracusa, the site of our last hotel. Camilla, Sophie, Julie and I found dinner together. We were literally the only people in the restaurant. It was pretty good even though I spilled an entire glass of wine all over myself. For I am full of grace always when I eat. Then we went to a bar. It was a fun night. Siracusa lit up at night was (duh) gorgeous. The ground in the main piazza was remarkably pristine and smooth and the halo on one of the saints atop the Duomo was glowing perfectly.

In the morning we had a scrumptious breakfast (with very attentive waiters) followed by a tour with a rather eccentric yet captivating guide. We saw even more ancient ruins. This time we went inside a man-made grotta, where every minuscule sound echoes exactly one time. It was sweeet. Also it was a GORGEOUS day. Within seconds of reaching the main piazza everybody stripped layers and put on sunglasses. The Duomo was just as amazing in the daytime. The tour ended but the guide told us we should all go inside the church next door because it had a real Caravaggio. It did indeed. I studied Caravaggio last year so it was pretty swell. Unfortunately I didn't recognize the painting but it was still awesome. Then Sophie, Emily, Camilla and I went to find lunch. It took about 5 years for the man in the place we entered in desperation (we were starving and had been searching for a long time to no avail) to make 2 cheese and tomato sandwiches. But he was nice and looked like Gaston. And then...we went to a place that had THE BEST CANNOLI EVER. We went in and saw the glass display case filled with delectable pastries, including cannoli. (there was a case of gelato on the other side so I was quite torn at first). I noticed some of the cannoli shells were empty. I wondered why this was. Why was this? Because they fill them up FRESH. Have you ever heard of a chocolate cannoli? NEITHER HAD I. IT IS GODLY. The woman asked me if I wanted chocolate sprinkles or crushed almonds. Sprinkles of course. Camilla got a vanilla cannoli with almonds so obviously we had to share. And then she sprinkled it with powdered sugar. When she gave it to me on a plate I turned around at the exact second other Smith girls were walking in. I turned around and presented it, beaming. Nom nom. At 2:45 the bus brought us to Noto. No surprise, there were more amazing churches and more stray doggy friends. We ran into Giovanna and Monica and they brought us to a gelateria. I got chocolate chip and mandarin. Most savory. That night we had our last dinner :(. All 20 of us each got our own individual pizzas.

Our last day was shortened but no less fantastic than all the rest. We went to Taormina. Had to switch to a smaller bus to get to the top. This was my favorite town, it seemed to embody everything Sicily is: mountains (the best view of the active Mt. Etna thus far), oceans (we could see the Italian mainland in the distance), and ancient Greek ruins (the columns opened up to expose a panoramic view that seemed to be the backdrop of the stage). We took lots of pictures and "filled our eyes" (there's an Italian expression, "riempirsi gli occhi"). Despite being miserably depressed that we had to leave soon, Taormina was enchanting. It was so sunny and clear and every tiny side-street and plant growing from a crack in a rock was worthy of being photographed. We got sandwiches and famous "granita" (like a really good slush) for lunch. On our last bus ride, to the airport, Gianni blasted the craptastic music and flicked the lights and we all sang along.

I was all set-up to be miserable for at least the rest of the day. But the enthusiastic greeting we got from the twins and the delicious spicy chocolate tort our host mom had made in advance especially for us made coming back to Florence not so terrible. However, Sicily...I will be back.