<---this is Francesco!
The beaches in Sicily are sandier than those in Cinque Terre and I got to enjoy the water because there was actual sand before the ocean and because the depth of the water was only about three feet. Yay! How beautiful. The water was so clear and I searched around for some cool shells and rocks to bring back with me. I would go to a beach in Sicily any day of the year and for me to say that is odd because I don’t even take time out to go to the beach back home. Back to the bus and off to the hotel room in Siracusa.
Siracusa was absolutely a tropical paradise. It reminded me so much of Florida. I'd be walking in the humid air during the day and would see mini lizards scurrying up the tree trunks and sides of buildings. Than at night the air would cool and it would set the scene for some time at an outdoor lounge. As I sat outside of the San Rocco lounge, I stared up at the stars in the sky and thought about home and how I used to stand in my driveway, eyes gazing up into the night sky and being totally entrenched in each of the twinkling stars that some times would form constellations. It made me a bit homesick- not going to lie... Saturday was pretty intense and we woke early to our continental breakfast and headed out into the scorching Sicilian sun and learn some information about Siracusa. The first stop was an ancient Greek ampitheatre and the tour continued with ancient caves and then to the San Giovanni catacombs it was. 
The catacombs were underground tombs where people were buried and it was dark and eerie. It was quite creepy and though I definitely enjoyed seeing tombs of dead ancient people, I would've much rather have been in the fresh air. It was crazy to imagine though that I was walking on the same ground as people thousands of years treaded- and that goes with all of the ancient sites we visited. That's the one thing that always fascinates me about archeological history- being able to stand in the same place and explore almost the same things that your ancient counterpart once did. If only I could go back in time to see how life truly was in the ancient world.
The catacombs were underground tombs where people were buried and it was dark and eerie. It was quite creepy and though I definitely enjoyed seeing tombs of dead ancient people, I would've much rather have been in the fresh air. It was crazy to imagine though that I was walking on the same ground as people thousands of years treaded- and that goes with all of the ancient sites we visited. That's the one thing that always fascinates me about archeological history- being able to stand in the same place and explore almost the same things that your ancient counterpart once did. If only I could go back in time to see how life truly was in the ancient world. For lunch Francesco took us to his favorite "fast food" place where we were served aracini- this is a famous Sicilian dish consisting of a deep fried breaded rice ball with bits of chicken, seafood or vegetables inside. Very tasty! Not really what I would consider "fast food" but definitely was made fast and definitely was food. We loaded up on carbs to give us enough energy to get us around the city during our two hour walking tour. Let’s just say I saw a bit more of the city than I wanted to and I’m pretty sure we walked the whole city coast line. This Italian professor came along with us and he came up to me explaining that Francesco had told him that I spoke Italian. Well, this was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
This old Italian professor and I walked the streets of Siracusa together with the group and he explained everything to me in Italian. We would walk by historical sites and streets and important statues and he would explain everything to me in Italian and I would smile politely and shake my head and try to make heads or tails of what he was saying. Granted I did understand about 75% of the stuff he said, but definitely not all. It was as if he thought I didn’t speak any Enlgish at all because Francesco would be explaining things to the group in English and my private tour guide would tell me everything in Italian like I didn’t already understand what Francesco said- It was quite amusing and the group definitely found it funny…
By 4pm and after a seven hour walking tour and exploration of the city, it was time to go out to sea on our boat ride. All 20 something of us hoped on a boat that took us out to sea. We sailed our way to major cliffs on the coast and prepared ourselves for swimming and cliff jumping. I myself went along for the boat ride with preconceived notions that no way in hell would I be getting in the water. Others got in the boat with the preconceived notions that this was going to be the best cliff jump they’ve ever experienced- different, very different indeed.
So the water was quite pleasant and we rocked out to Lady Gaga’s Poker Face and Pitbull's 1-2-3-4 as we laughed and joked around on our way to the cliffs. I felt fine and held onto my camera for dear life while I took pictures off the side of the boat. When we reached our destination a few miles off shore, everyone stripped down to their bathing suits and dove into the water swimming toward the rocks. I, along with a few other fellow group mates (including Francesco and my private tour guide) stayed anchored in the boat to ride out the waves. The end result of cliff jumping was not too fabulous as everyone came back on board with bloody legs and arms that had gotten cut up on the corral. The sun started to burn through me and I could feel some sea sickness creeping up on me. Well, these feelings escalated and I felt like complete crap! I was suffering from heat stroke and sea sickness and hung my head over the side to find some sort of relief, but did not find any. I didn’t know how to take care of the pain. I was in tears by the time I realized that I needed to get off of the boat…that wasn’t in the plans though.
We continued on sailing through the waters and the sickness grew deeper and deeper and the waves grew bigger and bigger. The ride was insanely rocky and I was experiencing complete sea sickness and complete trauma. (lol)…I wanted off but we headed toward another set of cliffs and those who chose to got off to jump the cliffs while most of us stayed on board because of sea sickness or blood loss. It was about an hour after my sickness set in that we were heading back to shore. I have tested the sea twice here and both times did not work out for me- I don’t think I’m willing or ready to test it a third time. We finally returned to the hotel and ended the night with a visit to the center city area to visit an outdoor lounge and ready ourselves for the final day in Sicily.
Sunday was beautiful and we started our journeys early to allow for enough time to see the sites of Noto and Cyclops Island. We got to Noto where almonds are famous and checked out some almond wine as well as almond paste. The city was absolutely gorgeous and the sky could not have been a clearer blue. At one of the sites sat a stray dog and one of the group members pet it, so it decided to follow us around to the other sites it was both sad and cute at the same time. We were rushed out of Noto to make sure we had some time for the beach, but Francesco had another option for us- a classic Sicilian seafood lunch at one of the best seafood restaurants in Sicily. I opted for the lunch. The Sicilian sun would have to do without scorching me for today. This seafood lunch was one of the best I have ever eaten. It wasn’t just your classic shrimp, scallop, mussel choices either- plates of couscous and calamari, sea urchin pasta, fried blue fish balls, whole fish with eyes, etc etc. came out one by one and one after another filling our stomachs up in a good two hours time. The food was tasty and the wine was a sweet white wine. It was the perfect way to spend the last day in Sicily- doing exactly what I wanted to do: sample the Southern seafood dishes.
With our stomachs bulging we loaded on the bus and never quite made it to the beach. Instead we headed to see Cyclops Island and Catania where we would get our overnight train home. The train ride home was quite interesting. Because it was still light out, we got to the spot where the train car boarded the ferry and hopped out of the train to go on the deck to look out to see the coastline of Sicily and watch the beautiful sunset. We enjoyed views from the upper deck and within a matter of 30 minutes we were on land again and had to board our train car to make way up along the coast of Italy to get to Florence. During the train ride home I had a lot of time to write and chill out with some friends to reflect on the amazing weekend. I experienced another side to the Italian culture and that is the Sicilian lifestyle. I was so happy that I could travel to the tropical paradise that most people know as the ball that Italy is kicking. it is also the place where a part of my family comes from through my mother’s side and a place that is worth visiting.
The cost of the trip no longer fazes me because a price can’t be put on the experiences I had, the information that I learned, and the friends that I spent time with. Oh yea. 6:30 am arrival into Florence Monday morning with a 9am class to follow= not so great. But I did it and I survived. The start of a new school week was ahead of me but it won’t be long until it’s over…
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