Palermo, Sicilia!

Ciao! 

So far I'm having a real nice time in Sicily!  I'm in Palermo for the day & am taking a moment to blog out!  So... this has been my adventure so far!

I told you a bit about the overnight ferry...  here are some shots, it really was an interesting experience.  Huge "ferries" leave for Sardegna, Sicily & other Euro ports from Civitavecchia.  You can bring your car too!  There were lots of Italians & also a fair amount of tourists, primarily German.

all hands on deck to watch the sunset

 I woke up for sunrise to see the coast of Sicilia on the horizon, it was really pretty!

It was really early when I got in, I took the opportunity to walk around a local market!  Lots of fresh seafood & crazy things like fresh lambs!  Whoa, I couldn't bring myself to photograph it. 

crazy mariscos

the fish scene was pretty wild!

also lots of nuts, spices, etc

baby laundry

the cathedral of Palermo is quite beautiful

here was a cute & strange shop selling odd items

like this!

porta nuova

this was interesting.  a large group of sicilian men crowding around 2 guys playing some type of game.  must have been the championship!

here is the famous Capella Palatina, full of beautiful mosaics!  Palermo is interesting, it is a big melting pot of Italian, Norman & also Arabic culture.  So, you see a lot of different styles of art & architechture. 

this was a crazy detailed wooden ceiling!

in a back room of a church, another important pastime!

 Oh, you know, just some more churches.  Really ornate baroque decor!

fancy!

famous opera house, Teatro Massimo featured in the godfather 3.  Interestingly, the town of Corleone is very near to where I am staying on the farm!

arabic domes

typical sicilian tiles

these teens were doing a really amazing dance routine

down on the shoreline

took a bus to Mondello beach to tan "greek body" ha ha ha!



these sicilians wear nylons & heels at the beach.  a place to see & be seen!!

 I had a nice easter with the family of my farm host.  He doesn't speak english too well so we have a good old time communicating.  It is actually really good practice for me!  Anyway, he has 4 children from 15-25 & we went to a daughter's house.  It turns out that about 25 other relatives came too, including grandparents, cousins, aunts, etc.  It was overwhelming & fun!  It is tradition here to have agnello (baby lamb!) on Easter.  Many were curious about my vegetarianism.  We ended playing some trivia game, everyone was super impressed that I could answer some questions considering we were playing in Ital.  I was getting all the science questions right, like what is the integument or litmus paper.  It pays to be a nerd sometimes!  The farm work has really been a lot more chill than I would have imagined.  I expected to be working my tail off but really, I am spending a lot of time hanging out.  I am finally getting around to reading Angels & Demons by Dan Brown (the guy who wrote the da vinci code)... it is awesome!  It is set in Rome & all about art history & such.  I am almost done with it.  Also, after about a month of working on it I finally finished the Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie.  It had won the booker prize & I am always a sucker for those books.  However, it was a real trial to get through, I didn't even start enjoying it or following the plot until about page 100.  I was proud of my dedication.

I hope you are all well!!!  That's it for now my friends, I'm off to visit a gallery.
xx