ROMEing Around: One Million Sicilians

Sicily, Italy
March 8th – 13th, 2010

Our field trip started out with no sleep. We (Laura Farlee, Katie Ehlert, Kristen Reihl and I) stayed up until 1am trying to pack everything we needed for a week full of travels into one small carry-on bag. We all succeeded but it resulted in 2 hours of sleep because we have to be up at 3:30 am in order to catch our group bus ride to the airport. Once we got through security and everyone had boarded the plane, we instantly fell asleep. Most of us didn’t feel the plane take off or land! Now that is a smooth landing!

PALERMO
When we landed in Palermo, we were astounded by the conditions the city was in. There were trash heaps everywhere. It was like there were no garbage collectors to clear out the containers. People just pile on the garbage and it was overflowing into the streets and onto the sidewalks. There seemed to be no effort in trying to clean it up or consolidate the mess either. We all commented on how it felt like Mexico with the trash and dirty streets. This being said, it was hard to enjoy the area; the nicest part seemed to be our hotel; Hotel Casa Marconi. Katie and I shared a room while Laura and Kristen and Kalyssa shared another. In terms of going out, we mostly ate in a close-by restaurant and hung out at the hotel. Seeing the condition of the city, we were all a little nervous and skeptical about going out at night because we did not know what would end up happening.

While we were in Palermo, it seemed like we had a lot of free time, but there wasn’t much to do. Laura did manage to keep up her status and found 2 more pairs of boots. I think her count is now 12 pairs of boots bought since being overseas. Our tours included Capella Palatina, an old church that was COVERED with gold mosaics. Each stone was about a half inch by half inch square with either gold or colored backing on it. The walls were filled! The next day we toured Chiesa di San Cataldo and Chiesa La Martunrana. We then walked to Piazza della Pretoria and saw “the fountain of shame.” The fountain was given this name based on the large amount of nude sculptures surrounding the fountain and it was looked down upon at the time this was constructed. That afternoon we saw Castello La Zisa, but the whole day it had been pouring rain and by the time we got to the castle, everyone was tired of being cold and wet.

Mosaics from the church that covered almost everypart of the walls and ceiling.

On Wednesday the 10th, we packed up our stuff and finally headed out of Palermo! None of us could wait any longer to leave this place. We hopped on our coach tour bus and headed for Castellammare! Along the way we stopped at Gibellina Nuova. Here we visted the remains the monument “Il Cretto” by Alberto Burri to the town destroyed by the earthquake in 1968. This was a fun part of the trip because we got to do some hiking and after being stuck in Palermo and on a bus, we were all ready for a break.

In order to make a monument to this town, the ruins were simply covered with concrete, and the roads were left as they were. The new town is now moved about 15 min away.

Katie and I on top of the ruins!

Laura and I looking out over the fallen town.

After everyone let out some built up energy, we headed for Segesta to visit a Greek Temple and Amphitheatre. Little did we know, that major hiking was involved at this stop as well. All the girls were wearing boots or shoes unsuitable for mountain climbing. It was an adventure for sure! The views of this part of Italy were breathtaking! We were able to see the rolling hills of Sicily that went on until we couldn’t see past the horizon. After taking in these views, we left and checked into our hotel in Castellamare del Golfo, but before we did that, our bus driver stopped at a local bakery for us to try the local Cannoli. It had chocolate mixed in with mascarpone cheese, wrapped in a pastry shell; everyone loved it!

View from the amphitheater looking out over Sicily.

Greek Temple which we also explored.

Selinunte was the destination of our next day excursions. Here we explored ruins and excavations of Greek coastal town and temples. These were interesting at first, but then the repetition of ruins and rubble made for a long day. On our way back into Castellamare, our bus driver once again stopped on top of a hill looking over the coastal town of Castellamare. What a site! It was beautiful to see the town that was surrounded by water on one side and mountains on the other. Such a difference when compared to the trash dump of Palermo.

This was the site of the Greek temples we visited. Everyone had fun climbing them.

Katie, me, Kristen and Laura at the fallen Greek Temples

Looking down on Castellamare del Golfo

That night, we all went out to dinner for some local seafood and loved all of the dishes we ate. I split two dishes of pasta with Laura, one with salmon and the other with prawns and lobster in it. It was delicious! After dinner, our bus driver took us on a “party bus” (the coach bus we had rode around in all day, but blasted music while heading to the bar) to a local Italian bar with Karaoke. Everyone had a great time singing to Michael Jackson tunes all night!

On Friday, March 12th, we took a ferry to the island of Mothea. Here we were able to explore the island and rest from our busy fieldtrip. After this visit, we had a group lunch, again served with local seafood and foods from the area. It was delicious but a lot of food. We all tried to hold our selves back from the delicious food because that night we were having a group dinner, hosted by Coopertiva Libera. This group has been in charge of taking 600 acres away from the mafia and changing it into local farms and vineyards. They oversee all of the work and products that come from these places, making sure the mafia has no connection or contact to anything they produce. The food we had for dinner was all organic and wonderful! We were all stuffed and fell asleep on the bus ride back to the hotel. Once we got back, we all packed our stuff up, because the next day we were leaving to come back to Rome and begin our spring break! Everyone was anxious to begin their travels and adventures they had set up for the following week.

The following are some pictures of what we saw when driving around this part of Italy.