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Published: October 2nd 2014
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Friday (9/26) Sigh. Having to wake up at 3:30 am is no fun. But alas Angelina, Jessica, and I (Sean went on the Cusano Mutri study trip) must catch our early flight to Sicily at 7:15 am, as it was the cheapest option. We arrived at gate right as they were starting to board. Just perfect timing. What was strange was as we went through the gate, we were led down to a bus. This then took us to the plane on the tarmac. I guess that's how Italian airports board smaller jet planes, because the same bus method was used once we got to Palermo (only a 45 minute in air flight). Once we got to downtown Palermo, we went directly to the bed and breakfast to meet our host for the weekend. It was not exactly as I was expecting as it was just a family sized apartment with many beds for people to stay, but he did say it was dorm style so I guess that's what it is. He provided us with a map as well as pointed out a lot of interesting things for us to see. So it now being 10:30 am, we began
our venture of the capitol of Sicily. Our first stop of course was to get some gelato, as we were starving. Alessandro, our host, recommended the Briocia gelateria. For only 2.50 euros, we got chocolate brioches cut in half and filled with gelato. It was a very filling and delicious first experience in Sicily. We meandered through the famous markets of Palermo. There were many fruit and fish stands, with a lot displaying the heads of sword fish. And many fruits and vegetables were completely foreign to me, like the cucuzza, a 3-foot-long green summer squash. Then we journeyed down the main roads and wandered past the cathedral. There was some construction on the outside, and they used the scaffolding as ad space, which was rather ugly. The inside was nothing spectacular other than an altar that was full of silver objects. We continued south to catch a bus to the mountain village of Monreale. This was a quaint little village with a great view over Palermo. We first tried to see the view from nearby the church but later realized that there was a better view closer to the north side of town. But this weekend they were setting
up for a medieval festival that was to start later in the evening, but we were able to peruse through some jewelry vendors while they played medieval-time music. The inside of the cathedral was amazing. There were mosaics all over the walls, each composed of small stones of marble and gold. The whole cathedral holds 2,200 kgs (1,000 lbs) of gold in its magnificent mosaics. I paid the 2 euro to go to the top of the cathedral, which gave an amazing site of the mountains and the city of Palermo. We then had to wait around an hour for the bus back down to Palermo, so we admired the scenery of the sea whilst listening to Pirates of the Caribbean music, further solidifying my desire to become a Sicilian pirate.
Once we made it back to the center of Palermo, our quest for dinner began. I seeked out a well known restaurant that was recommended on a couch surfer's profile. It was an antique restaurant that had a nice atmosphere. None of their meals had the tasty Sicilian food I wanted to try though, so I compiled a 10 euro meal from their "street food" menu, consisting of arancine
(fried rice ball) with ham and mozzarella, pane e papelle (fried chick pea fritters on a bun), crochette (fried mashed potato sticks), cassinata (rum cake with ricotta cheese), and a Sicilian fruit juice, which seemed to just be orange juice. As I had been snacking all day, I was not all that hungry when I ate, but I wanted to try all this food. The fact that it was mostly all fried didn't help me consume it any easier. I struggled to finish the last few bites, requiring the help of the two girls to eat everything. It was all so delicious, sweet, and filling. But I did return the favor a half hour later when the two girls ate their dinner of pizza and french fries, eating three slices for them. And of course, then we had to get gelato. We went to another place recommended by teh couch surfer, one he claimed had the best gelato in the city. The prices of gelato were super cheap, as we got medium sizes for only 1.40 euro, when in Rome a small costs 2 euro. Angelina was a huge fan of their cheesecake flavor, so of course she had some
gelato even though she normally doesn't get any. We then walked near the boardwalk by the harbor and let all the fantastic food digest for a while before heading back to our bed and breakfast for the night.
Saturday (9/27) We got a late start, waking up around 10:30. We had the complimentary breakfast of fruit tarts and cereal, and I even had some hot tea, which the ginger and orange kind was surprisingly delicious. We then left for to get some pizza for lunch before heading to the beach for the day. We happened to find a very cheap pizzeria just down the street. Everything in Palermo seemed to be much cheaper than back in Rome. We waited around for the bus and then rode it for a half hour to the west to go to Mondello for the beach. The scenery was great, beach the large mountain was just next to the inlet near Mondello so it was greatly viewable. I first noticed that there was something strange about the sand. It didn't seem to be made from the same stuff as sand is usually made from. It was more like finely ground seashells,
but with a texture that reminded us very much of kitty litter. So I decided to go for a swim, but the girls did not as it was just a bit chilly that day at the beach. Sadly, the water was very dirty. It was just full of seaweed and sticks. Once I went out far enough that it began to clear up a little, the water become very deep suddenly. And there was no sand bar further out, like the nice waters of Sperlonga. The waves were huge though, but it was hard to enjoy them when I had to tread the entire time. Unfortunately I had a mouthful of saltwater a few times, which was much, much saltier than the other two beaches of Italy we had been to. It really made me thirsty, and I could hardly stand swimming in that water for longer than ten minutes before I came back to shore. This beach was not looking too pleasant. I thought I'd stroll along the shore though and collect some seashells. Sadly there were very few and the ones I did find were small. It really made me appreciate the wonderful beach of Sperlonga even more.
What I did find along the shore was some weird, soft, white rocks. These broke open easily to reveal a yellowish brown inside. I could only imagine that it was animal feces that was coated in sanded, rolled in the waves, and somehow calcified. And these were all along the shoreline. Just wonderful. After soaking in some sun for a couple of hours, we decided to wander into town a bit to get a better view of the shoreline, and to catch the bus back to Palermo.
Once back in Palermo, we walked across town to get some cheesecake gelato again. I had two helpings of the medium size, because the gelato was just that cheap and delicious. We then went back to the bed and breakfast for dinner with Alessandro. He had us help him prepare a wonderful Sicilian meal of proscutto, sun dried tomatos, egg plant slices, and eggplant dish called caponata, and the best bruscetta ever. He rubbed garlic on the bread before frying it in a pan and it was simply amazing. I also tried some Birre Morri, which was actually drinkable, unlike all other beer I've tried. For dessert we had a weird fruit called
greengage that tasted like a mixture of a grape and a pear, but belonged to the plum family. And as I did not help prepare the dishes, I had to wash the dishes after. We then went to bed as we had an early flight back to Rome in the morning. By the time we got back to campus the next day, I was starving. Which just made the cafeteria food taste so good.
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