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.

3/13/18

Today, we journeyed to three small towns: Monreale (Royal Mountain), Segesta, and Erice. In Monreale, we visited a Cappella Palatina 2.0, as well as a monastery courtyard. The mosaic church was enormous! It exhibited parallel mosaics to those depicted at Palatina, as well as demonstrated the royal wealth of William II hundreds of years ago that lives on to today. The monastery courtyard contained dozens of marble pillars surrounding green hedges and palm trees. Each pillar held a unique style and ornate design. In Segesta, we visited an ancient citadel and temple inhabited by local Sicilians aligned with Athens thousands of years ago. We first hiked up to a temple that the locals built to impress Athenians, which according to Boyd, was a “fake” temple, as it was never truly finished. Surrounding the high temple was a beautiful green valley, with various farm land and pastures. After seeing the temple, we took a lunch break, where I happily ate my two brioche with mortadella that I packed, and made some friends, or the two cats pictured in this post. Next, we took an even longer hike up the mountain to see an ancient, preserved theatre, where Greek tragedies were performed. An incredible view stretched out beyond the theatre, capturing both the pasture, and eventually, “il mare”. After Segesta, we took the bus to Erice, a very small mountain town engulfed in fog. Gavioli and Boyd surprised us with a cooking class and visit to a cooking school down the street run by an ex-nun named Maria. Here we learned to make traditional Sicilian “dolci”, and after baking, we ate an incredible spread of Sicilian “assaggini”, but we were all so stuffed by the end of it. After the dinner, we returned to Hotel Elimo, and passed out.