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.
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| 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.
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| crazy mariscos |
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| the fish scene was pretty wild! |
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| also lots of nuts, spices, etc |
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| baby laundry |
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| the cathedral of Palermo is quite beautiful |
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| here was a cute & strange shop selling odd items |
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| like this! |
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| porta nuova |
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| this was interesting. a large group of sicilian men crowding around 2 guys playing some type of game. must have been the championship! |
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| 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. |
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| this was a crazy detailed wooden ceiling! |
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| in a back room of a church, another important pastime! |
Oh, you know, just some more churches. Really ornate baroque decor!
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| fancy! |
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| 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! |
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| arabic domes |
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| typical sicilian tiles |
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| these teens were doing a really amazing dance routine |
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| down on the shoreline |
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| took a bus to Mondello beach to tan "greek body" ha ha ha! |
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| 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
