Weekend Plus Trip to Sicily!

Friday, September 26th

Today was a very busy day today, and we spent most of it learning art history. After we finished with that, we at dinner and then went up to the orange bar to hang out. Since I've never had alcohol before coming to Italy, I decided to order a margarita (because I've always thought they look good), and I really liked it. After the orange bar, I walked back to the villa and went to bed.

Saturday, September 27th
  
We went to Perugia early this morning and I really enjoyed it. Our first stop was a church (unfortunately I forgot the name) and Rosella gave us a tour of the church and showed us the different rooms and explained the different paintings and artists to us. While we were touring the church she brought us downstairs to a room that was excavated. Inside was an old tunnel that was an ancient hideaway and place of worship for the members of the early church while they were still being persecuted. I thought this part was the most interesting because they had a set of tunnels they could use to get away in (but confuse anyone who tried to follow).

After we toured the church we stopped by a pizza place to eat lunch, and while I already had a pack lunch, Rosella bought everyone some pizza. The pizza here is really good, and it's surprisingly cheap. Once we finished eating, we walked to the top of Perugia and browsed around in the open market and explored the area. On the way up we got to travel through an underground city that was built in the middle ages as an act of rebellion against the government. While it was interesting, I don't understand how (or why) people could live underground (it's just my opinion, but I don't like caves). The open air market was interesting, and I had some gelato and almost bought a purse, but changed my mind when the lady told me it was 70 euros.
 

Sunday, September 28th

Today was just a relaxing day, and I studied, did homework, and hung out. After dinner I started packing to go to Sicily and Rome, showered and went to bed.

Monday, September 29th

 Today was spent traveling to Sicily on plane, and then on the bus. It seemed like a long trip, and even though it seems like Sicily should be more of a tourist town, it also seems like a lot of people live in poverty. I've seen so many homeless people already, as well as stray cats and dogs everywhere. There was also a lot of graffiti covering the walls. After we got to our motel, we all went to this really nice restaurant and I tried lobster for the first time. It was really good, and I plan on eating it again when I can.

Tuesday, September 30


Today we all took a bus to Selinunte, and we got to look at the ancient ruins of several temples, the acropolis, and go to the beach. At the archeological site, we started by looking at the temple of Hera (which was my favorite), and then went on to look at the other 2 temples. All but the temple of Hera had collapsed in an earthquake, but it was fun climbing in the ruins and looking at the different types of construction. I also got some cool pictures there. What I thought was interesting, is how the Greeks built these temples and they are still there for us to look at. What's even more interesting, is the one's that are still standing. It surprises me how big they were, and how much time it must have taken them to be built. After looking at the temples, we took the long walk to the acropolis, and once we got there we got to look at a couple more temples and wander around in the ruins there. There was this one house that had most of its foundation still intact, so I wandered around inside and tried to imagine what the floor plan was like in comparison to today's houses. Once we were finished at the acropolis, some people chose to climb down the steep hill and take a short cut to the beach, but since I didn't think I would be able to climb down without sliding halfway, I took the long way back. Once I finally made it to the beach, I got to swim in the sea. This was my first time doing it, and I had so much fun! At one point, we buried Leo in the sand and turned him into a mermaid. We spent a while at the beach, and while I had a lot of fun, I got the worst sunburn I've had in a really long time (but it was worth it!)

Wednesday, October 1st

Today was the day that we went to Agrigento, and I made sure that this time I had a hat and sunscreen! We spent most of the day outside, and looked at some more of the Greek temples. One of the temples (I think it was the temple of Concord), was really cool, and was still mostly intact. While it was blocked off, and we couldn't wander around inside, it was interesting being able to see it from the outside. I also learned that the arches inside were a Roman addition after the temple had been converted into a church. After we finished walking in the ruins, we went to eat lunch in this garden. I wish I had had more time to wander around, but from what I saw it was really beautiful and refreshing. After we got done in Agrigento we went to this one beach (and because I didn't want to make my sunburn worse), I stayed in the sand and did a watercolor.