Saturday

Sicilian Travels



Thursday, October 2nd

Today we went to Zingaro National Park and walked along the beaches and went into the museum of Natural history. The museum was small, but there was a small display of animals, and some topographical maps. After the museum I hiked the trail with Megan, Elyssa, and Ilene, and we stopped at a small rocky beach. Part of me wanted to swim but the rocks hurt my feet so I decided to stay on shore and work on some watercolors and take pictures. When they got back we ate lunch, and we found both jellyfish and an eel-like thing. When we saw them, we all got excited and decided to catch them in a plastic bag and look at them. Of course, once we were finished we put them back in the water.

Friday, October 3rd

Today was the day that we traveled from Palermo to Catania. It was a long drive, but when we were about half way we stopped at the Piazza Armerina to look at the mosiacs. The Piazza Armerina was one of my favorites so far, and I could have spent days in there looking at and studying all the mosaics. It's amazing how much time and effort must have gone into them! I tried to read most of the signs, but a big part of me still wants to learn more about how they were made, and all the stories behind them. After we finished at the piazza, we began our travels to Catania. It was a couple more hours, but once we got here it was worth it! Catania is a lot nicer than Palermo, and it seems cleaner and not quite so run down. The motel is also really nice, and while the internet doesn't work well, the rooms are really big (and they have balconies!). For dinner we went to this one restaurant, and I had tortellini's with cream and prosciutto. It was amazing there, and I'll definitely be coming back!

Saturday, October 4th

Today we went to the Greek theater, the ear of Dionysus, and the archeology museum. First we went to the Greek theater, and we got to walk up to the top to look around, and to look through the necropolis. Next, we spent a couple of hours at the museum of archeology, and I really enjoyed looking at the different pieces that were sorted by date and period that they were made. At first I spent quite a bit of time looking around the museum, reading signs, and taking pictures, but after I toured the entire museum, I decided to follow everyone else around and try to learn as much as I could about the different containers, and how to estimate what time periods different pieces were made in. 

Sunday, October 5th

Today we traveled to Taormina, and I think this is my favorite place so far! First we went to the Greek and Roman theater, and it was beautiful. It was on top of a very high hill and it overlooked the ocean most of the way around. At the top of the steps, you could see out over the top of the ruins of the theater (which is still in use today) and see the ocean. There were also a few quiet spots behind the theater that you can look out and view the ocean too. After we learned about the theater, I picked a nice spot at the top and worked on a watercolor. I probably spent about two hours on it, and once I started I didn't want to finish until it looked somewhat decent. When I was done, I traveled around Taormina and looked in different shops. I found this really upscale art store, and it inspired me (and made me wish I had a lot of money to buy some of those paintings!). I also found a really nice garden (which was out of the way, but it was absolutely amazing), and I enjoyed the peace and quiet while I walked around. It was a large garden, and I'm sure that I didn't see the whole thing, but there were towers there, and several small ponds, and lots of flowers.

Monday, October 6th

Today was our last day in Catania, and while I'm kind of sad to leave this place I'm excited to head to Rome. I slept in a little while, and then when I finally woke up I traveled to the fish market. I enjoyed it,and I thought that it was cool how all sorts of people can set up shop and sell their fish, meat, and produce. A couple of places even had full lambs (I think they were lambs, but I'm not quite sure what they were) hanging up so people could buy them. At one point, one of the vendors pulled Michaela aside to take a picture with her. When we were done at the fish market we headed to the bus stop, but as it turns out we ended up at the wrong place. We saw the bus starting to drive by, and we flagged it down. Thankfully they let us on, but Mark and Micheal stayed back to try and figure out where we were before our flight left. I felt so bad! Once we got to the airport we were finally able to get a hold of them, and we all made it there in time for the flight. It was a crazy day, and once we finally got to Rome we were tired (but we still had enough energy to eat at this cute little restaurant next to the hotel).



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