3/18/18

Today, we left Siracusa, and ventured out to Mount Etna, Aci Trezza, and the center of Catania. Mount Etna was certainly an experience… The temperature fell below 35 degrees Fahrenheit, much colder than the rest of the places we stayed in, and VERY windy. It was a very striking landscape, but I thought I might blow away. After Etna, we drove to Aci Trezza, a coastal part of Catania, where we overlooked a chain of large boulders in the water, pictured in this post. Classicists associate these rocks with the Odyssey, and the cyclops that Odysseus and his men trick. Then, we drove to our hotel in Catania — the Domus hotel, ate some really tasty street food, and then walked around a bit to the main piazzas and notable statues in the central area. For the rest of the day, we were left to explore on our own. We ended the day with a group dinner — the “Last Supper”, in which I ate a plate of pasta alle vongole, calamari fritti, and tiramisù. Certainly a happy note to end our trip on.

3/17/18

Today, we spent half the day with Boyd and Gavioli exploring the ancient sites and piazzas of Siracusa/island of Ortigia, but then had the rest of the day to ourselves. In terms of sites, we saw an ancient Roman amphitheater, which was being prepared for upcoming theatre performances, said as well as the “orecchio di Dionisio”, a quarry site said to house prisoners that Dionisio could eavesdrop on due to it echoey quality (pictured in this post). After the sites, we visited the main church in the central piazza of Ortigia, which was dedicated to their patron saint, Santa Lucia, known for her miracle of her statue crying. Next, we visited a small chapel with a famous painting done by Caravaggio depicting the death and burial of Santa Lucia, which somewhat demonstrated Caravaggio’s use of chiaroscuro. For the rest of the afternoon, we were free to explore Ortigia, so we grabbed some lunch and did a little shopping.

3/16/18

Today, we left Porto Empedocle for Piazza Armerina, then Ragusa and Noto, and finally, Siracusa for the night. At Piazza Armerina, we found an elaborate ancient Roman villa. My favorite parts of the villa were the mosaic floors in each room, which were for the most part intact, as well as the private bath rooms–both hot and cold pools. One of the mosaics that caught my eye was the one depicting a series of women in togas or bikini-like garments, pictured in this post, clearly doing various activities and exercises. After the village, we traveled to Ragusa, where the show about detective Montalbano was filmed. While the town appeared fairly quiet, it contained beautiful cobblestone streets and Baroque style churches. From Ragusa, we went to Noto, where we did a little “passeggiata” up and down the main strip, and stopped for aperitivi. Then, we departed for Siracusa, where we would stay the next couple nights.

3/15/18

Today, we visited the temples of Agrigento and the house of Luigi Pirandello in Caos in Agrigento. The temples of Agrigento, similar to those in Selinunte, were very impressive, and clearly exhibited the competitive arms race of the ancient Greeks. After the temples, we quickly stopped by the museum associated with the temples to find one of the “Telamon”, or one of the massive statues of men placed on the facade of the temple, which was an original from the Temple of Jupiter, I believe. After a bite to eat at a local cafe, we made our way to Caos in Agrigento, the town of Luigi Pirandello, to look at his tomb and childhood home. On Pirandello’s tomb, a small iron-clad slab with two opposing faces, pictured in this post, rested on the front of the abstractly shaped boulder on top of the final resting place of his ashes. These faces served to represent Pirandello’s recurring theme of people always carrying masks to conform to the constraints of society. When we walked through Pirandello’s house, we found many of the paintings done by his family, especially those of his son and sister, as many of his family members pursued the arts. After visiting Pirandello’s home, some of us decided to take a walk on the beach adjacent to our hotel, dipping our toes in the clear, but frigid Mediterranean. For dinner, we found a wonderful restaurant on Via Roma in Porto Empedocle, and I ate some dishes “del mare”–polpo arrosto (roasted octopus) e spaghetti al Nero di seppia (spaghetti with squid ink).

3/14/18

Today, we visited Selinunte, an ancient temple site, as we as Raculmuto, a province of Agrigento and the town where Leonardo Sciascia lived. At Selinunte, we visited several temples overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, one of which was considered to be the largest in the ancient world — larger dimensions than a typical “peripteral hexistile”. After scrambling around on the ruins constituting most of the temples, we stopped by at a “piccolo” cafe in Selinunte, where I ate a wonderful caprese salad with oregano, and olives and olive oil local to the region. Next, we made our way to Raculmuto, a good representation of an extremely small town in Sicily. We first visited Sciascia’s foundation, containing most of his letter exchanges, and his collection of famous writer’s portraits. After this quick tour, we walked into the main strip of the town, passing by the theatre Sciascia often frequented growing up, as well as a staircase, pictured in this post, where an annual festa takes place, in which locals ride horses carrying gifts up the stairs to bring to the altar of a church at the top of the steps. On the Main Street, we also found a life-size statue of Sciascia with no base, in order to express Sciascia’s connection to the local people of the town, as well as his desire to be viewed as an equal. To end the day, we drove to our hotel in Porto Empedocle, which was situated right on the water.