Sicilia

The past week, Abby and I have been in Sicily soaking up the last bit of our time in Italy. Everyone says that the further south you go in Italy, the nicer the people are. People in Lombardy are more closed and instead those in the south are more open. We were excited to get to the south and speak with open Italians. Yet, we faced something a little different ... Palermo was full of Americans! We went to lunch our first day and saw tons of broad-shouldered, muscled, buzz-cut hair, English-speaking men. That's right, the US Marines docked in Sicily for the weekend. We saw Americans everywhere, and here was our first glance at the American flag in a while:

Along with 3,000 Marines, we took a sight-seeing tour bus and saw the various sites in Palermo including the Cathedral, the Catacombs, Palazzo dei Normanni and the Teatro Massimo.

Cathedral, Palermo

Teatro Massimo, Palermo

We took some day trips and with a 20 minute bus-ride went to Monreale. We saw the Duomo and had lunch. The Duomo was full of mosaics and had terraces to climb for a view of the city.

Duomo, Monreale

View from Terraces, Duomo, Monreale

View from Terraces, Duomo, Monreale

Mosaics in Duomo, Monreale

We also went to Cefalù, an hour train ride from Palermo, to go to the beach. We met up with the cousin of one of my friends from Boston College. The Duomo looked more like a fortress and a climb from the historical center was a huge rock they call La Rocca.

Duomo, Cefalù

La Rocca, Cefalù

After Palermo, we went to Catania. It was a much smaller town with more pedestrian city-centers as opposed to Palermo. In front of the Duomo was an obelisk with an elephant on the bottom made of lava rock left over from the eruptions of Mount Etna. I constantly found mosaics of the elephant in Catania. The city has layers from the Greek and Roman cities before the modern Italian city. In fact, an old river runs underneath the Piazza del Duomo and actually all of the city. 

Duomo, Catania

Elephant on Obelisk, Catania

Part of the river underneath the Piazza, Catania

On our last day, I visited the Monastero dei Benedettini or the Benedictine Monastery in Catania. It is the second largest monastery in Europe and now holds part of Catania's university. I went on a guided tour to see the remains of the original monastery and the university's efforts to function within the history and ruins of the Greek, Roman and Benedictine control of the space. The library is among the ruins. I just can't stop thinking how amazing it would be to study in this atmosphere.

One of the coutyards

Modern courtyard

Part of the students' library

After 8 months in Italy, I'm heading home stateside tomorrow. Thanks for reading my thoughts and reflections through this experience, which I know have helped me appreciate it more.

Ciao, ciao

Leonessa Americana