PS Abroad

For those who want to know what it's like to live without Xbox for four months, and trying to figure out how to cook for yourself as a College Junior, you've come to the right blog.

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Oh and happy belated Halloween!

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The second trip we took was to Mt. Etna, the epic volcano just an hour North of Siracusa. I've been taking a volcanology class for the past couple of months, so this trip was to teach us more about Mt. Etna, and it was really cool. We woke up bright and early and drove North in the good ole Reale Bus to Mt. Etna. The volcano itself is around 3000 Meters tall, but the top 2000 meters are a national park, so anyone living on the volcano has to live 1000 meters up or below. The plan was to go hiking on a lava flow field (the area where lava once flowed out of the volcano. Etna has many, many fields, most are covered by the more recent eruptions) that was fairly high up, but unfortunately it snowed (!!!) the night before, and the weather was looking iffy for that day, so we changed spots on the volcano. We hiked up the 1979 lava flow field, which you can basically see in the first picture. I know it looks like a bunch of rocks surrounded by trees, but you gotta realize there were once trees where the rocks are, and that those rocks were molten lava at one point. Yeah, a bit cooler now, right? So we hiked and hiked until we got to the top of a small hill on Mt. Etna, where we could then see across the Valle del Bove, a valley that had been carved out by much older lava flows. That's where we could see the snow capped peaks of Mt. Etna, and the whole valley, which led down to the sea. It was an epic view, so naturally, we all took turns having our picture taken in front of it. We also saw a rainbow on the way up, and I think you can just about make out the second rainbow from that picture. (Yes, this was referenced: http://youtu.be/OQSNhk5ICTI).

All in all, a very cool day. I have officially hiked on a volcano and have taken a selfie on a volcano. Bucket list is going pretty well.

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Okay so since the Mid-term break, we've gone on two trips. The first was to the Archeological park here in Siracusa, where there is a Roman Amphitheater and a Greek Theater right next to each other, with a huge rock quarry as well that was active back in those days. The first two pictures are of the Roman Amphitheater, which is in an oval shape, compared to the semi-cicular shape of the Greek theater. There was another section of seats above the "top" level that you can see in the pictures, so you can imagine that it was very big. Of course when the spaniards came many years later, they "borrowed" some stones, and basically dismantled some of the Amphitheater. Anyways, this Amphitheater is just like the Colosseum in Rome, it was a place for entertainment, where gladiators fought animals (they would pop out of that central underground room right smack in the middle) and other gladiators. The third picture is from the rock quarry, where a cave was carved out in order to throw prisoners in there, and this cave was called the Ear of Dionysius, because it had (still has) such an echo that the ruler of Siracusa, Dionysius the Tyrant, could stand on the rock above and hear the conversations of the prisoners inside.

Last but not least is a photo of the Greek Theater. The Greek Theater served a different purpose than the Roman Amphitheater, being used mainly for shows and religious ceremonies. The theater was the only sort of propaganda the Greeks had, so the shows always had a "moral of the story" because it was the only way to educate people about good and bad habits, as well as how to carry out religious sacrifices. Again the theater was not looked after very well after the Greeks had been conquered. The Romans first tried to convert it into an Amphitheater, but then they decided it wasn't big enough and just moved a bunch of the stones over to the other area. They had destroyed the stage while doing this, so they just converted it into a garden. Silly Romans.

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...Oh right, I have a blog.

So I know it's been awhile, but I've finally got my lazy butt up and decided to update the old blog. Here are just a few pics from my mid-term break, when I went to Lucca (right above Pisa) for a few days to just kick back and relax. Nothing to spectacular about the pictures, but Lucca was just a really nice place to hang out for a few days.

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The Trip back to Siracusa

So off we went, traveling in our tiny tourist bus, headed for Siracusa. We had a terrific, just a real swell time in Palermo, but we were ready to get home. We rolled along for about an hour and a half, two hours, and then disaster struck. I smelt something bad and assumed it was another car we had passed, but I shortly realized it was our bus. We pulled over to the side of the road and stopped. Our bus driver hopped out and popped the lid and started rummaging around the engine. We were told it was busted (not really sure what had actually "busted") and that we were basically in the middle of no wear. Sicily's highway (two lanes in each direction) basically cuts through the island as a means of connecting the different sides of the island. Obviously this isn't the land of rest stops and whatnot, but the nearest town was at least 30 minutes away, so even if we got a replacement bus (on a sunday), we were in for a wait. So as young adults do, we started cracking jokes about just how long we could last. If you know me, then you know I had a bag of cookies with me, so I was negotiating deals for cookies, and so forth, but overall we were in pretty good spirits. So we're told another bus is coming, as well as a mechanic, so which ever gets to us first will be our way home. We were fine with waiting, but just then one of our professors says "right, guys, you're coming with me!". Wait. We aren't going to PUSH the bus are we??? Yes. We were. We hopped out, got behind the bus, (all three of us) and pushed. And what do you know, IT WORKED!!! I pushed a bus and started it in the middle of the countryside in Sicily!!!!*  So we raced to get back on, and our bus driver floored it! He wanted to get as close to the next town before our bus broke down again. He blazed through a tunnel, which in Sicily always go through a mountain they couldn't afford to go around, and we were trucking along, until again the bus died. This time, we were half in the road, half in the shoulder, and cars were blazing by us (they drive pretty fast here, even past a stranded bus). So we were told another bus would come get us, because they had some room on board and were headed in our direction. So this was great news, however I raised the question to the bus, just who was going to be on the bus?? Cause they had obviously just received the same message, "We are picking up a bus of American kids" and probably felt a certain way about it... My guess was old German tourists or something, people totally different from us. So the rescue bus finally arrived, and we ran from our bus to their bus. I come up the steps, and all I see are boys, about my age. I soon realized there guys were a soccer game, and by the smell, coming home from a game. What are the chances! Turns out they were the youth team of a small town in Sicily, called Enna. They started talking to me, (my professor kindly told them my name) and they had a fun time laughing at my soccer knowledge. Anyways, we drove to Enna, dropped all of them off, then headed home, and ended up with quite the story. So in the end, kids, don't take silly selfies with a giant Jesus portrait or else... 

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So on our way home, we made one last stop at a small town (sorry forgot the name of this one...) which has the "twin cathedral" of the one in Palermo. It was said that the Norman King commissioned both, but let one of his bishops design the one in Palermo (said to have the fancy outside) and he would design this one (with the fancy inside). So you know the drill by now, through a ton of gold leaf on the walls, depict a few bible stories, and through up a humongous J-Dawg on the wall. Also it was brought to my attention (yes you mom) that J-Dawg isn't the most obvious nickname. Jesus. If it wasn't clear. The Normans really enjoyed big pictures of Jesus. You can see just how elaborate the walls and even the ceiling were. I also took a pano looking back at Palermo just before we left.

So the story about how we got home deserves its own post, but let's just say that the selfie above is my guess as to why it happened... My bad.

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So our last day in Palermo. We started our walking tour in front of the famous Opera house in Palermo, which was fitting, because it was featured in The Godfather pt III, and our tour was being led by a member of the Anti-mafia group, "Adiopizzo". "Pizzo" is the fee that you pay to the Mafia in order to receive their protection. You don't really have a choice, if they come knocking, you pay because you want your business to stay open. It doesn't matter how much you pay, but the fact that you are paying legitimizes the Mafia's power, and acknowledges their influence in the public sphere. So Adiopizzo, the group, aims to provide shopkeepers and entrepreneurs with a safe haven so that they do not feel pressured into paying the pizzo. The Mafia cannot attack all the businesses if they stand up together, and so far they have been very successful. No member has left their group, and they have been recognized by the city and the police force. 

So our guide was going to lead us to several important parts of Palermo, which each had a connection to the Mafia. We walked through one of the open air markets in Palermo into the middle of the courts in Palermo. There is a monument to the magistrates killed in the fight against the Mafia, most famous being Giovanni Falcone. The green statues represent the wings of justice, and the pillars are supposed to represent the importance of respecting and abiding by justice, because (as seen on the columns) the farther you stray from justice, the more cracks form. 

After that we continued through the streets, coming across a small parade in the market, with the kids leading with the flag, and of course very respectable men in special garb. Naturally I had to document my presence there...

We then arrived at the main Duomo in Palermo, which was a true spectacle.  It has two important stories connected to it. First is the story of St. Rosalina, the patron saint of Palermo. After she died, a plague struck Palermo, and she guided a traveler to her grave, and told him to take her remains and walk them through the city of Palermo. He did so, and the city was cured of the Plague. Her remains were then buried in this church. Every year they city walks her remains through the city on a certain day, to pay homage to her actions. The second story involves a very prominent priest who "fought" against the Mafia. He went into neighborhoods were the Mafia had a large influence and tried to convert them to proper Catholicism (the Mafia of course believes they follow religious doctrines). He was assassinated and became a sort of martyr for the Anti-Mafia movement. He too is buried in this church. The church itself has a great history, being commissioned by a Norman king, but had islamic and baroque styles of architecture mixed in.

Next we walked past a workshop that painted the designs for carts.This is a very old tradition of Sicily, with either the entire cart being painted to depict a story or just the rear panel, but as you can see, the tradition has evolved now, with the use of very small three-wheeled cars being used instead of carts. 

Finally I want to give an honorable mention (shout out for all you youngins) to this man. I have no idea who you are, but I hope that you will come to the realization that your pants are just to high. How do you not have one permanent wedgie? Do you have the shortest torso known to man? Does your wife not advise you to wear something different in the morning?? I can't imagine you said, "I know, I'll wear my super shorts today" and thought it would be comfortable. Just had to share your story Mr. Eric Highpants. Nigel Tightwaist. Roger Tallhips. Alfred I'velostthebottomofmyshorts. Dick Shorttrousers. Stanley Bearknees.

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So we drove into Palermo (this is when I figured out we drove through it the day before) and we went straight to Cappella Palatina, a Norman Palace in the City. This place was amazing, for me personally, because...I love goooooooooold! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOFAnpb8I3E) This Norman King, as all Norman kings evidently did in Sicily, just had to show his faith (read wealth) by building a magnificent chapel church thing in Palermo. Roger II (yes Dad, his name, the King's name, was Roger) had it built in 8 year, being finished in 1143. The cool thing about the Norman rule in Sicily is that the Normans, being of the North (nor[th]-man), did not capture Sicily with a large population. After sacking Rome, a part of the Norman army continued South and attacked Sicily. In fact, they were hired  by one of the Islamic Caliphs to fight another Caliph because they were having a territory spat. The Normans helped the Caliph, but soon realized the island was in such disarray that they could conquer the whole thing. Which they did. But anyways, back to my point, the Normans essentially slipped into the elite of Sicily, but kept most of the Arab workers, etc, so while this is a chapel to the J-Dawg and all that, it is built with Muslim architecture. The raised arches and the ceiling are the clearest example of the muslim influence in the building of the Cappella Palatina. The first picture shows what you can see from the throne, and the fourth picture is what was above the throne. Needless to say, good old Roger thought his rule was legitimized by divine powers. The last two photos are different rooms in this building. The one on the left is another room, depicting in gold, the hunting that took place on the island. The other picture, on the right, is a shot of the chamber of the Sicilian Parliament. Sicily boasts the first ever parliament, and today this is where the Parliament meets, under a tremendous painted ceiling. 

Well that concluded Saturday, we went out to dinner after that and hit the hay once again. Next was a walking tour of Palermo, with a representative from the anti-mafia group Adiopizzo. And no I have not found a horses head in my bed...yet.

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Okay, I know I said the next stop was Palermo, but we stopped on the way. We stopped at Segesta, an ancient sight with lots to see. We first went up to the top of a hill and explored the remains of a very small town. This town was unique because it was inhabited by an indigenous population of Sicily, people living on Sicily before the Greeks got here. They had already established a town here, when the Greeks, moving West came to their territory. We know that the Greeks lived amongst them for some time, however they eventually split up due to the fact that the Greeks were trying to conquer the island. This town has the ruins of a Greek market, a Greek Theatre, a Muslim Mosque and a Norman church and castle, all on a very small hill top. While only the foundations of the church, mosque and castle remain, the greek theatre is mostly intact. So of course I had to take a few photos. There was also a spectacular view behind the theatre so I snapped a few pics of that too. And in that selfie you can see two of my professors, on the right in the red hat is my mythology teacher. Dude is an archeologist that gets to explore ancient Greek ruins. Fun job. Then on the left in all green is "Mafia Guy" as we call him. And yes, he has a glorious beard. 

So after the fun there, we headed to the adjacent hill where there was a Greek temple. It was never finished, so it was never dedicated to a God, because the Greeks started a war with the people, so the works were pulled off this site. And yes, I took a selfie in front of that too. 

Then we had lunch at another national park called Cappo Gallo which was another beautiful coast line. After that, we departed for Palermo (for real this time). 

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So I know what you're wondering, what did you do for dinner your first night in Western Sicily? Well I just so happened to attend the annual Cous Cous festival. Yes, you read that right, there's a Cous Cous festival, and I went to it. Their slogan was "Make Cous Cous, not war" which I wholeheartedly agree with. I had the Moroccan style Cous Cous which was dee-lish, and for dessert, what else but a Cannoli! Actually, a Cannolo, because Cannoli is plural in Italian. I had just the one. And beneath was quite a sight. At one of the many vendors at the festival (it was kind of like a street fair, but covering the whole downtown of this town) was baskets of candy, in which one was filled with (I think) giant marshmallow strawberries (fragole in Italian). And no, I didn't have one of those, but I just had to show the world that there is something (I'm guessing) worse than peeps. Or maybe not, I could have missed out on the best dessert in Sicily. Oh well. 

After that we returned to the hotel, and I can't remember what happened after that because my head hit the pillow and the next thing I knew, it was morning. Off to Palermo!

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Soooo where was I? Ah yes, the trip to Western Sicily. So, our program had planned a trip to the Western side of the Island, centered around a trip to Palermo. Now, due to a lot of classes, meetings, midterms etc, this trip actually took place 2 weeks ago from this post, but let's just on with the story shall we?

Right, well Friday morning (7 am...) we set off for the Western side of Sicily, about a 4 hour drive. So the first thing we drove by of any significance was Mt. Etna, the volcano just by Catania. It is one big volcano, believe me. I've been learning all about it in the Volcanology class that I've been taking, and in November I'm going to go hiking up it with my class. So more stories about Etna to come.

So after intermittent resting of my eyes, I was able to take a few pictures of the middle of the island. Sicily has a fair amount of hills and mountains, so it makes for very dramatic landscape photos. Next, unbeknownst to me, we drove through the suburbs of Palermo on the way to our first destination. However I did think the buildings were the perfect example of the architecture here in Sicily. It is very telling that the buildings are all done in a 60s and 70s feel, because that was the last time anything got renovated here. The next picture is a shot as we climbed a small mountain to our first destination, Erice. A beautiful place, with a city and castle on the top of this mountain. When I stepped off the bus I felt a breeze and I felt cool, not cold, but cool for the first time in about a month and a half. So we explored the town and had lunch up amongst the clouds. As you can see I found the castle on the mountain in the next photo. It was occupied only by Phoenicians, Arabs and the Spanish, the Greeks never made it this far on Sicily. So after that I turned around and took a couple of panos and then we hopped back on this bus and went off to our next stop. We went to a national park, Lo Zingaro. It is a large piece of protected coastline with a small rock beach in the middle which is where we spent the afternoon. The first picture was picture of a mountain just before we got to Lo Zingaro and then the final picture is a small pano I did on the beach. 

The rest of the story will come with more pics in the next post!

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Knock Knock

Who's there?

ME! IM BAAAACK

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Okay this post is solely food. The first pic is the holy grail of cheeses. Baked Ricotta. Nuff Said. Second are the two lasagnas me and my roommate made. And the third is the sandwich I had for lunch today, which I dare you to top. Freshly baked ricotta, chicken, a fresh Pomodoro tomato all on freshly baked ciabatta bread. I double dare you. Go on, try. I'll be waiting.

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So the day after the wedding, we actually went into the duomo for a field trip. This duomo has a fascinating history, which starts with the old greccos. So first, this was a Greek temple to Athena, as you can see from the first picture. The original, let me say that again, original, Greek columns are still intact, around the outside of the duomo. After the Greeks, the temple became a Roman temple. Then a Byzantine church. Then an Islamic mosque. Then a Norman church, Spanish church, French Church, Bourbon Church and finally the Duomo. It is one of the rare cases where a civilization  would not knock down the old "pagan", "unholy" building, but instead transform it into their own building. Truly amazing. The picture of the painted ceiling is actually a pano (I know, I impressed myself with that one). Then you also have a shot of the main hall, as well as a comparison between some of the Greek columns and my fellow classmates. And you can't really tell in that picture. But the lower section of the column is slightly, slightly askew from the section on top of it, which was a result of the 1698 earthquake that destroyed most of Southern Sicily. That earthquake also led to the construction of the duomo's Baroque facade, as with most of the Baroque architecture here in the South, because it totally collapsed during the earthquake. 

And finally, you have a picture of St. Lucia (St. Lucy). She is the patron saint of Siracusa and has a very interesting story. Besides being martyred at age 13, she was said to have been tortured, the old remove the eyes routine, but because she had pledged her life to god, he miraculously healed her eyes, which meant she could carry around her original eyes on a plate. 

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Okeydokey, so one cool thing from last week was that me and some other classmates wandered into a wedding that was happening at the big duomo on the island. To compound my touristiness (I was wearing a t-shirt and ball shorts when the bride arrived) I decided to take a selfie with the bride and her "guarded" entrance. She was marrying a policeman (I think), so that's why she got the man with fluffy feather dusters on their hats to stand outside. And funny enough, later in the evening, I went to the beach with a few of my classmates to watch the sun set, which was obstructed by the clouds as you can see, but who should we bump into? Of course, the bride and groom, coming to take pictures on the tiny beach at sunset. And yes, I know the picture is blurry. At that point I felt they didn't need another camera sticking in their face, so I tried to snap the pic in a covert way.

Oh and I forgot to mention the top pano. I took that from the balcony of one of the other apartments, slowly realizing that we have the worst view of all the apartments. (Our view is another building in case you were wondering.)

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So here are a few highlights from my past week. There's a shot from one of the other apartment's roof, looking down on the "main strip" on Ortigia. Next there is a pic of my humble attempt to make Minestrone. The base came from a can, but I added fresh veggies and sausage, so it tasted pretty good. The pic next to that one is a shot of one part of the outer rim of the island. I just really liked the uniform lights and how they looked in the water. Next there is a pic from the night me and my fellow student made pasta (Lolli) and the day-to-day manager of the school made a wonderful ragu!! You can see the extra piece of sausage I asked for....

The rest of the photos were from our trip this past friday, which was to a vineyard where we had a grappa tasting. The tree in that picture is an olive tree, supposedly (and this was apparently found by scientists I believe) that the tree dates back to 1100 AD. Yeah, let that sink in for a sec. Beneath that are some peppers, which the owner causually pointed out to be the 3rd hottest in the world. They were called something like scorpion peppers. He said when he first got the plant, he put one in a sauce and cried for TEN minutes. Shnikes those are some hot peppers! And then below that is what the grappa tasting looked like. We found out that our host was the president of the local Grappa tasters quality control board group ensemble (GTQCBGE for short). He has made award winning grappa, and taught us everything we needed to know about making and judging grappa. He said the most important thing was that the taste of the grappa confirms what you smelled before you drank it. Who knew? I took a picture of the one I preferred, I think it came from the north of Italy, and it was aged extra long in a barrel, which gave it that golden hue. The other picture was of a grappa that had been infused with a local herb, so it was green, and had a bit more of a strong taste. 

Oh yeah, and I took a selfie with the big vats of grappa. Or was it Moscato? I forget... Clearly I had already blacked out from the grappa at that point

Just kidding mom! I blacked out after the selfie...

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Okay world, I'm back. I know I haven't been posting at my usual rate, but cut me some slack, I do have to go to that thing called "class" every once in a while....

And as a special present for you to celebrate my return, I shall show you pictures of the beautiful beach here on the island, and make you all jealous!