Saying good-bye to the electric yellow flower-filled ruins.

February 6, 2010

We woke up to the sad realization that today was our last day in Sicily. Being so we had to pack a lot into one day. We left very early for Taormina. Taormina is a small city on top of a very curvy hill (it reminded me of home a lot - the curvy hill with a ocean view). The city looked over what seemed to be all of Sicily’s mountains and ocean (top), and you could actually see main-land Italy. We first went to the Greek theatre at the top of the town, which had spectacular views of everything below in the town, the ocean and the surrounding mountainside. Like the ruins in Segresta, electric yellow flowers overran the theatre growing out of the stone seats now cracked with time.


After taking in the views at the theatre for a long while, we went to adventure in the town for a little while. It seemed as if every other store was a ceramic store selling more or less the same things with different designs - huge vases, tiny espresso cups, every size plate you would ever need, turtle figurines, etc. It makes you wonder how much ceramics one person can have in their house. Apparently a lot. Sadly our day was cut short because we had to drive to the airport to catch our flight back to Florence. Exhausted later that night we arrived back at our host families, both happy to be home but sad to leave Sicily. 

Echo from the past

February 5, 2010

Today we had a visit to the archeological park in Siracusa. Like the many others the site was huge. At one point the entire site had a stone roof, which has since fallen down and the site had been taken over by trees and greenery. There is a huge cave-like alcove (right) that once entered only reverberates one strong echo, which is highly unusual, which might add to the strong acoustics to the theatre (left) that is situated directly above it. On the other side of the site there is an ampatheatre (below) that reflects somewhat like the inside of the Coliseum with its oval structure (it does not have the walls like the Coliseum but just the same basic ground level), and was perhaps used for some of the same purposes.

After exploring the archeological site we were free to wander around Siracusa for a few hours. We went into the duomo (right), which may be one of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen. It was built on the site of a roman temple, which had been destroyed during a earthquake. When building the duomo, the architect used the columns of the ancient temple, which were the only things that reminded and incorporated them into the walls and structure of the building.

Later in the afternoon after exploring the city for a while, we departed again for another nearby barocco town called Noto. The town itself was very small and everything seemed to be on one main street. The main cathedral (left) had been rebuilt sometime back because the original had been destroyed in an earthquake (apparently there are a lot of those here, I had no idea).  While the cathedral itself was still beautiful you didn’t get that overwhelming sense that it had been there for centuries (granted it hadn’t) and it seemed a little out of place in a town that you knew that everything else had been there since its founding. We headed back to Siracusa and had our last dinner all together later that night. Everyone was in a bittersweet mood, everyone loving the week that we had had so far and sad that it would have to come to a close the following day. 

Valle dei Templi

February 4, 2010

We left bright and early this morning for the Valle dei Templi, or the Valley of Temples for a guided tour around one of the most well-preserved archeological ruin sites. The site has seven temples all together all of which are immaculately preserved. All dedicated to different ancient roman gods they vary in size but for the most part retain the same basic overall structure. While walking from temple to temple the road on one side was lined with almond trees which had just begun to bloom and on the other was lined with a type of necropolis were they would have buried people. Now these necropolis, which for the most part look like walls with giant holes in them are open and look out over the valley. The site seemed to go on forever with monumental building following the next. I was continually amazed by the magnitude of the buildings that people in ancient times were able to build without the use of any modern machinery, but simple tools and manpower.

After gawking at all the temples at the Valle dei Templi we went started our journey for Siracusa which would be the last city that would visit while in Sicily. On the way to Siracusa, we stopped at the beach for a few hours. Basking in the sun, hearing the crashing of the waves and the strong smell of the salt water, while walking on the sand made me think I was in California. Walking along the untouched beach, I collected way to many shells which I as convinced would make my luggage overweight on the way home – happy to report it did not- (and for all of you Ireland sea-shell collectors I quadruple checked all my shells so no “incidents” would occur. I can safely say that all of my shells made it back safely, and without any sea-stench). After a little while we headed out and finally arrived in Siracusa.

After arriving we wandered around the city for a while, stumbling upon beautiful cathedrals, fountains, churches, and ponds with ducks. Eventually we started searching for a open place for dinner, which proved harder than it originally seemed and after dinner headed back to the hotel for some much needed rest. 

Sacred Sites Starting with S

February 3, 2010

Today we headed out from Palermo for a final destination of Argrigento. Before we made it there however we stopped first at Segesta. At Segresta we explored the roman theatre and temple ruins. The site was flooded with sunlight and electric yellow flowers. I was amazed at how well preserved everything was throughout the entire site after so many thousands of years, exposed to every sort of weather. Walking around places like always makes me amazed at the things people were able to accomplish so many thousands of years ago. It always makes me amazed that they are still around today, and for the most part well preserved. I always wonder what people throughout the centuries must have thought about them, and what possessed them to keep it around. (don’t get me wrong I’m pretty happy that they did).  At the site there two temple ruins and one theatre ruin spread out over what seemed like acres of land (first and smaller temple = top left hand photo, theatre = top right photo, larger, second temple bottom left photo). Surrounding each archeological ruin were green cascading mountains, and trees as far as the eye could see. We even encountered a large flock of sheep grazing right next to the larger of the two temples. When we got to the theatre, we decided to test out the flawless acoustics by singing Spice Girls “Wannabe” together. I have a feeling it was not like anything that used to be san or preformed when the theatre was originally built. 

 

After wandering around for a while we headed out for yet another ruin site at Selinunte.  Here too was an archeological ruin site with a large temple, which was being restored while we were there, surrounded by ruins of smaller buildings and homes. Plants and wildlife mostly overran the site but the overall plan of the site was still apparent and was interesting to see the design of the huge site. This site unlike the previous overlooked the beach, and with much effort and climbing we ventured down to the sand for a while. After frolicking in the sun at on the beach for a while we headed out from Selinute for out hotel in Agrigento, a tinny little beach town.