So far the first couple days in Sicily have been really fun. I probably won’t get a chance to post this blog until after I come back from my trip, but I will recall about my experience thus far.
On Thursday Leanna, Meredith and I skipped classes and got up early to catch a Terravision bus to Pisa airport. Our flight was delayed about two hours due to weather conditions in some other location, so we were off to a late start but once we got there things were downhill from there.
Once we got into Palermo, we took a train into the city and from there it was about a fifteen minute walk to our hostel. Our hostel, ironically enough, was called Hotel Firenze. It was the cheapest place we could find (hey we are students!) and it wasn’t too bad… we ended up staying with this one girl from France. She appeared to be on a trip by herself. She seemed to understand and speak a little English, but we didn’t really communicate other than the usual “hello”. This was the first time I had ever stayed in a hostel with another random person. I guess you have to experience that while traveling on a budget at least once, right? Nothing else too exciting to report about the hotel- it had bunk beds and a sink…. Not even a bathroom!
Before leaving on the trip I asked Karin (our “mom” of the pensione) to help me find an Italy book that had information about Palermo and Agrigento (the other place we are staying at). According to the book, Sicily is known for their most drop-dead gorgeous ruins and architecture, amazing seafood (except I don’t eat it) and vegetables. One thing I noticed right away was the prices; they are significantly cheaper here in Sicily than in Florence for example. Palermo is best described as a fishing village and a big city in one and Agrigento is known as the Valley of the Temples where you can time-travel back to the 5th century B.C. One cultural thing I noticed were the men was even more vicious and aggressive when trying to talk to you. We got honked at many times and even a few of the locals (one being our waiter at dinner last night) were trying to take us out last night after dinner!
Palermo reminded me of Florence to many degrees. The narrow streets, the cobble stones, the Tabacchis, bars and architecture were very similar. One other comment- I have been forced to use all the Italian I know here because pretty much NO one speaks English. And if they do, it really is only a few phrases. Leanna and Meredith have only taken 101 so I have been the main interpreter/main talker the past few days. It has been challenging at times to get my point across (or ask the right questions), but it definitely is good practice for me. The dialect here is very different though than in the other parts of Italy. Even when I speak slowly and use my best annunciation, the locals sometimes do not understand what I am trying to say (even when they repeat what I think sounds exactly the same as what I had just said).
When we first got to Palermo on Thursday we relaxed for awhile and then just walked around and found the local market that sold really random stuff along with some fruits and veggies. The markets in Palermo are known for their souklike Arab features in their customs of selling and buying in their colors, odors, and items on display. After we walked through the market, we tried to find a restaurant to eat at, but it was so early in the day that nothing was open yet. We ended up embarking on the huge shopping street. Those who know me would probably think I went crazy here, but my shopping days have been put aside temporarily because of the drastic costs of traveling. It is definitely worth it though! However I do let myself get a postcard or two at every location; also I promised Chris (boyfriend) that I would get him a little something from every location I go to after he left Florence. Another observation I have found is that all the shops are displaying purples! I know it is a popular fashion feature or (molto MOLTO di modo) as the Italians like to say, but I saw stores that appeared to only sell purple clothing!
After searching for what seemed like forever for something to eat, Meredith and I ended up getting some sandwiches that a lady said were “molto buono” and we were set for awhile. We ended up walking to what we thought was the “coast” but didn’t make it very far because we were surrounded by boats and we couldn’t quite figure out how to get to the beach, or if that was even possible. Meredith was interested in viewing other things in the city, and Leanna and I were exhausted from traveling most of the day and from getting up super early that we just walked back and along the way we stopped at a villa with interesting trees (same ones as I talk about below), then we went to the grocery store, and hung out at the hotel for the rest of the afternoon. That night we went to a place to eat that my book recommended called Shanghai. Don’t be fooled by the name- it was by no means Asian food, but delicious, cheap Italian food! This little, very ugly restaurant lies in the middle of the Vucciria market (which I mentioned we visited earlier). Even though the entrance was unattractive, we knew we had to give it a shot because it was rated so highly in my book! I had some bread with olive oil and vinaigrette and some chicken. They kept trying to serve us other things like Apertivi (buffet style little meals) but we kindly declined. Later that evening we checked out the party scene on our street (turns out it was really hopping for night life). There were locals everywhere! We could barely make it back to our hostel it was so crowded. We felt a little out of place because no one really spoke English and they kept hitting on us, so we decided to call it a night.
The next day we took our maps and my guidebook and did a self tour of the
Duomo and other various parts of the city. This church was built in the 12th century on the foundation of an earlier basilica that had been converted into a mosque by the Arabs. I really liked the architecture of this building- even though I must say I am getting a bit sick of churches (gasp! I know…). We ended up going inside and just before the entrance I saw some rosaries on sale and I remembered that my friend Emily asked for me to get her one if I saw one. I hope she likes it! After our visit to the Duomo, we walked around and got a bit lost trying to find San Giovanni degli Eremeti. Apparently it is one of the best sites in Palermo to see, but we just got so frustrated not being able to find it (even after asking for directions) that we decided to go our separate ways and Leanna and I went to the Botanical Gardens and had a lovely time. I found some of the weirdest plants/trees I have ever seen in my life!
The thing that baffled me the most was these trees that had several sections hanging down… very hard to describe and even the picture doesn’t quite capture the mysteriousness of these figures. We also saw bananas growing from trees, papayas and lots of various types of cacti!
Leanna and I met up with Meredith again later that afternoon and we hung out for awhile at our hostel and had another late dinner on the town. We went to another place that my book recommended called Antica Focacceria San Francesco. This is known for the best all-around dining bet in Palermo. We had a great time sitting outside the little restaurant. I ordered a lasagna-type dish and my friends got other various pasta dishes. It ended up being a bit pricier than we expected (they added a coperto of 3 euro each!) but it was worth it. This was the place I mentioned earlier where our waiter asked us to go out to town later. Of course he spoke no English but I could gather that he wanted to drink (bere), dance (ballare) and talk (parlare), and go out (uscire). He was nice, but a little too much for us. He originally slipped his number to me on a receipt and winked at me several times.
It was getting pretty late at that point, so we decided to just hit the hay because we had to get up fairly early to catch the train to Agrigento the next day. We caught the 10:35 train and we then figured out how to take the bus into the area where our camping site was. We are staying at this camp ground (much like the place we stayed in at Venice) where we have cabins with electricity, beds, etc. We ended up getting bumped up to a nice room with a toilet and shower without any additional cost so that was nice. We do not have internet here (hence the delayed blog post) but it is nice just to relax and be in a place that is not so crazy. Another nice thing about our mini cabin is that is has two bathrooms and a mini kitchen! We definitely have taken advantage of that so far because we cooked our dinner (tortellini and red sauce) and bought some eggs for tomorrow’s Breakfast. It definitely saves money to get food at the grocery store- for lunch we only spent a little more than a euro splitting cheese, baguettes, and salami. Yum!
Today we walked to the Valley of the Temples, which were amazing! The first temple we saw was called the Temple of Juno which was erected sometime in the mid-5th century B.C at the peak of a construction boom honoring the deities. Next we saw the Temple of Concord which ranks along with the Temple of Hephaestus in Athens as the best-preserved Greek temple in the world. Moving along we also saw the Temple of Hercules which is the oldest, dating from the 6th century B.C. After that we went to the Temple of Jove or Zeus, which was the largest in the valley, similar in some respects to the Temple of Apollo at Slinute, until it was ruined by an earthquake. The last temple we saw was called the Temple of Castor which has four Doric columns intact; it is composed of fragments from different buildings. Overall I would say the visit was a pure success… definitely worth the “schlep” to get there! The rest of the day we have just been studying, doing homework (yes, very studious students here!) relaxing, reading (I am currently reading Eat, Pray, Love) watching Gilmore Girls/OC and cooking. Very “chillaxed” as I like to call it.
So far I have preferred Agrigento over Palermo. Palermo was nice but it was very large and I prefer the more tranquility and “legit Italy” experience here in Agrigento so far. Tomorrow we are planning on going into the town by bus and also going to the beach, which is apparently close to our camp site. I am excited! I hope the weather is nice so perhaps (cross your fingers!) we can hang out at the beach in our swim attire and possibly catch some rays!
Ciao!
Note:
Most of these pictures shown above are from my visit to Palermo's Botanical Gardens and the Agrigento Temples
In the morning I had a philosophy test but the rest of the day was fun. I got surprised by my boyfriend Chris with a dozen roses! It was the sweetest thing! I have never seen roses that big before...
During the day I mostly relaxed because I didn't have a final the next day like most people. Around 6:30 my friend Annie and I went to this ritzy bar called Art Bar and I got possibly one of the best drinks of my life! It was decorated with tons of fresh fruit. It was happy hour so the drinks were all 5 euro. Annie treated me to the drink too which was very sweet. 
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