Sicilia: Vay-cay

What a great way to wrap up a year of epic weekends! This was all I could've asked for: an exciting, interesting, and relaxing vacation in beautiful Sicily thanks to Conor's family.

The trip actually started late Wednesday night or early Wednesday morning, whichever way you want to look at it. After the end of the year dinner, Matt and I DJ'd at Joshua Tree for the last time. I bounced early to go to YAB to do some studying for my upcoming Italian final. While I was there, time flew by, and when I glanced at my phone, it was already 2:30. The bus to the Pisa airport left the train station at 3:30, so I wrapped up my studies and then ran all the way from Piazza Repubblica to my pensione. I finished packing, grabbed my bags, and then John, Matt, Conor, and I made our way to the train station.

After a few hours of bus riding and flying, we ended up in Trapani. We were going to take a bus to Agrigento, towards the southeast part of Sicily, to meet Conor's family in their rental car, but we had to wait for a few hours before the bus came. Fortunately the people in Sicily were extremely friendly and gave us all the information we needed. The best part of our wait in Trapani was this sandwich stand that was right next to the bus station. They made us these huge sandwiches with whatever meat, cheese, and vegetables we wanted for only 2 euro. The best part was that unlike most sandwich places in Italy, these guys had sauces, like mayo and hot, to add a little bit of flavor. It was probably the best deal we've found all year. We were all pretty stoke about it as we sat at the station eating our delicious sandwiches.

The busride to Agrigento wasn't too bad, and we drove by some pretty incredible ruins. Conor's family rolled up in the rental car as soon as the bus arrived, and we hopped in and drove a couple hours to the coastal town of Taormina where we'd stay for the next two nights. I found the landscape and scenery of Sicily incredible. It was much greener than I thought, and every green hill and field was covered with bright wildflowers. The terrain was like nothing I'd seen in Italy...it almost reminded me of some parts of Hawaii.

Taormina was a vacationer's paradise. It was green little village perched up on a cliff overlooking the ocean. Our hotel, the Belvedere, was incredible, with beautifully landscaped gardens and a pool overlooking the sea. Weary from over 12 hours of traveling, Matt, Conor, John and I went to our rooms (Conor's parents booked us an extra one so it was 2 to each room!), cleaned up, relaxed, and got ready for dinner. Conor's dad, Frank, came in with some wine. That pretty much set the tone for the rest of the weekend- they flat out took care of us.

We walked around town, which was lively with many nice shops, restaurants, and fruitstands. Once again, I couldn't believe how lush Sicily was, as everywhere you looked there were beautiful flowers and other plants. We got dinner at a pizzeria and then headed back to the hotel. We were exhausted and called it a night pretty early.

The next morning we went downstairs for the breakfast, which was one of the best I've had all year. Then we headed down to the beach, a beautiful cove with crystal clear water and incredible scenery. The walk down was a long one, and Conor's little brother Aiden caught a few lizards with his net on the way down. When we arrived at the beach, there was a large group of elementary school kids from Catania who had just taken a tour of this small island adjacent to the beach that had been converted into a villa that was now owned by the government. This villa was something else: a house on its own tropical island. It looked like something from Gilligan's Island. The large group of young kids was intrigued by us, and I spent some time talking to them. I asked them where they thought I was from, and it took them about 4 guesses before they came up with America. They asked all sorts of questions and we joked around for a while before they took off. After that we layed out on the beach all day, did a little swimming, and got some lunch at a restaurant right on the beach. We went back to the hotel in the afternoon, swam in the pool for a while, and then got ready for dinner.

We went to a nice Sicilian restaurant off the beaten path that night, and I had some great pasta and some of the best pork I've had in Italy. It was pretty late and Conor's family had to catch a very early flight home the next morning, so we said our HUGE thank you's and good-byes. Then the four of us went to an Irish pub, O'Seven, for a Guinness.

Saturday morning we woke up around 9 and got another great breakfast. Our flight left Trapani, the other side of the island, early Sunday, so today would be dedicated to getting back to that area. We had a lot of traveling to do. First, we took a bus to Catania. Next, we transferred and headed to Palermo. I didn't sleep much on this stretch, which was lucky because the scenery in this part of the drive was incredible. I saw nothing but green bluffs, mountains, and valleys covered in flowers and sliced by flowing rivers. I never expected Sicily to be that beautiful.

In Palermo, we did a little bit of sightseeing. We walked north to this cathedral that had catacombs. Before we went down into the catacombs, we once again encountered a mob of elementary school kids. This time, they were fascinated by Matt's height. After a little bit of conversing, we went below the church. I was expecting ancient catacombs from the Middle Ages, but what we saw were around 100 years old. Apparently it was honorable to have your body preserved in these catacombs for all to see, and the resulting product was a basement full of skeletons and mummies. It was strange, scary, eerie, and captivating at the same time. The creepiest ones were the little kids. Every skeleton was still clothed and some still had hair and parts of the skin attached. I wouldn't recommend it for a date, but it was definitely worth seeing.

We then hopped on a train to Trapani. By the time we arrived, it was already pretty late and we hadn't eaten all day. My appetite had been put off a little by the visit to the catacombs, but now I was starving again. Our coveted sandwich stand was closed, but we found a pizzeria next to the train station that had a great deal: fries, a pizza, and a beer for 7 euro. We ate well that night. The 'za was awesome and the fries were a great addition. Then we went searching for a cheap hotel to spend the night. Matt and my Italian skills were very valuable, as we were able to search and bargain a little until we found a place in Old Town that had a couple rooms for 17 euro a piece. We got a decent rest, hopped on the very early bus to the airport, and arrived in Pisa and then finally Florence around 11.

This afternoon, I went to the Fiorentina match with Professor Batterman and a bunch of the GIF students. They played Siena, a pretty bad team headed down to Serie B next year, but La Fiorentina played horribly and barely scratched out a 1-0 win. Still, it was nice to get out one more time to see a Seria A calcio match.

Notes from Sicily

• The people in Sicily are a lot more friendly than most places I've been in Italy, and the women are also more attractive.
• Conor's parents took care of all four of us the entire weekend and made everything possible. Really, all we had to do was get down there. The rest was taken care of. How lucky are we?
• I knew as soon as I walked into our hotel room that this was the perfect weekend, the perfect way to wrap up a year of incredible trips.
• This past week, with the final trip to Cinqueterre, the Tuesday night soccer game against the Brazilians, the end of the year dinner, and the trip to Sicily, has definitely been one of the best of the semester and one of the best of the year.