Spring Break Phase 1: Sicily

Ciao!

I just got back from Spring Break--5 days in Sicily and 5 days in Barcelona.  We did so much (and ate so much), and the experiences were so different, that I figured I would write two blogs posts, one for each half, respectively.  So, ladies and gentlemen, I give you Phase 1.  Sicily.

The first thing that you should know is that I ate.  A lot.

The second thing you should know is that I might not move back to the States, but have a farm in Tuscany and an orchard in Sicily and love you all from afar.

Did you know that Indiana calls itself The Crossroads of America?  Basically, you go to Indiana to go somewhere else.  I would consider the city of Palermo The Crossroads of Sicily.  This was our first stop on our spring break journey--we flew onto the island, but had to take a 50 minute bus ride into the city itself.  Palermo surprised me.  The best word that I can use to describe Palermo is gritty.  In Rome, there is a pulse of energy; people flow on and off the tram, a constant rhythm of "Scusi, scendere, permesso," people eating, talking, communicating.  I find Rome to be busy, yes, not the best economically to be sure, but happy.  Most people here seem to have some amount of  joy.  Palermo seemed to have a tense energy.  It was dirty and the buildings were dark.  Far more people had haunted eyes.  There were also a lot of soldiers standing around because of the unrest in Libya.  Italy was afraid Libyans would try to flee to the island.

Gritty or not, we were there, so we checked into our hostel and found some lunch.  I had Pasta alla Norma (pasta in a tomato sauce with eggplant), which is rapidly becoming one of my favorite dishes, both to make and eat.  

Boccon Divino = Divine Bite.  I don't know I'd call it divine, but it was good enough and cheap!

There aren't many tourist-y sites in Palermo, so Gemma and I just kind of wandered around the city, talking and taking it in.  Eventually, we came across this big beautiful church.  There was even a group of younger boys playing soccer in the plaza outside, which I thought was sweet until they nearly got into a fist fight.

It was beautiful.

And it was such a long building....

                              This is an alcove inside the church.  See the glass box to the right of the altar?  Yeah, there's a skull in there.

The next morning we hopped on a bus and headed to a small town called Agrigento on the southern coast.  At first, I was a bit bummed that we were going to be taking a two hour bus trip, but it turned out to be lovely.  We got to wend our way through the Sicilian countryside which has beautiful mountains (albeit it small ones) and tons of green pasture covered by blankets of yellow spring flowers.
  

God is a great landscape artist.

Once in Agrigento, Gemma and I headed off to see Valley of the Temples.  Many moons ago, Sicily was controlled by the Greeks, who of course built temples.  Ruins of several of these temples are still standing, just waiting for people to be dazzled.  They were spectacular--the ground was covered in tan dust that fell out of the cuffs of my pants later that night and there were both almond and olive trees everywhere, proclaiming the Mediterranean.

This temple was rededicated to Peter and Paul after they exorcised the demons Eber and Raps.

I really liked the statues that were scattered throughout the Valley.  Then I saw they were made in 1996.  Bummer.

Look!  No red coat and no black sweater!  It happened!

A sigh of happiness.

This is not a postcard.  This was my spring break.

I may or may not have hopped a fence to get this picture.....

 Are you ready for what was one of the highlights of my trip?


Good.


On the edge of the Valley, there was a tent set up and it looked like it belonged to some kind of environmental group, so we wandered over to take a peek.  Sure enough, it was a group called FAI (which is a conjugation of the verb meaning "to do" = you do).  This group has cultivated an orchard of native Sicilian plants, including grapefruit, orange, almond, lemon, and olive trees, as well as things like Cyprus plants.  For two Euro, we got a cup of freshly squeezed blood orange juice (that's really as close to the grove as you can get, Tropicana....) and entrance into the orchard.  We meandered through the trees and picked citrus fruits then sat on the ground, basked in the nearly setting sun, and ate to our heart's content.  It brought joy to my heart.  And no.  That was not a hyperbole.

I'm emotionally cheating on the Midwest...

Black Converse and the remnants of our feast.  Life is good.

It was so lush.

Happiness.

Just picking a blood orange, no big deal.

Because Agrigento is such a nice, small town, there were no hostels to stay in, so we stayed in a bead and breakfast for the night.  Actually, we were only supposed to stay in Agrigento one night, but we loved it so much that we decided to stay two nights, rather than going right back to Palermo.  Gemma asked the hostel manager, Gabriele, how to tell the manager in Palermo that we wanted to cancel the next night, and Gabriele just called for us.  Gabriele was just great all around.  Gemma and I were the only two guests, as it's still off season, and both mornings he put out a huge breakfast for us--milk, tea, juice, coffee, cereals, yogurt, fruit, and pastries from the pasticceria down the street.  He was very helpful in telling us how to get places and kept the place immaculate.  The only weird thing was this cross stitch that hung on the wall of Gabriele and his lover:
  

You do have to admit, whoever made it has talent...

The next day, we went down to the Mediterranean; it was still a bit chilly, so we didn't swim, but my toes enjoyed it.  

This was how I felt in Agrigento.

Gemma and me.

 Just a few more snapshots of Agrigento:

 We're almost done-I promise!
The next day we went back to Palermo and then headed to the next town over called Monreale.  I had one of the best pieces of pizza I've ever had there--Sicilian crust is just a touch thicker (still far thinner than say, Pizza Hut).  It was fresh and had all of these spices, fresh tomatoes, and onions on it.  So delicious.  The reason we went, however, wasn't the pizza, that was just a bonus.  Monreale has a church that is known for its mosaics, so I expected a pretty baptismal fount, a section of wall, or perhaps even a mosaic floor.  Oh, no.  The entire church was comprised of these beautiful, elaborate depictions of Biblical stories, Christ's life and death, and the saints (it was a Catholic church).  I'm sorry that my pictures are so inadequate!

The entirety of the walls and ceiling were covered.

They were so detailed and there was so much gold!

A close up of just a border.  Multiply this by the entire church.

The depiction of Jesus made him look so mournful.  Doesn't he know about his resurrection?

I found the creation story to be particularly beautiful.

Each day was interpreted in a way that I've never seen before--I'm sorry my pictures aren't clearer!

 The next day we headed to Barcelona and met up with three other friends.  Stay tuned!