Hi Everyone!
Here are some pictures of my recent travels to Sicily. This trip was part of the Franklin curriculum. Each semester students can choose from about 15 locations where a professor accompanies a group of students while conducting a "class" of sorts. Some of the choices from this last semester included Egypt, Croatia, Germany, London, Ireland, Chile, Greece, Japan, and more.
I really enjoyed myself for the ten days we spent traversing the entire Island. We visited all of the major cities like Palermo, Catania and Syracuse as well as a few others. We visited a few museums, but mostly monuments and ruins (which were my favorite).
I took about 700 photos, so here are the best of the bunch.
I'm standing on the balcony of our hotel the first night we arrived in Taormina, along the eastern coast of Sicily. I roomed with 2 other girls, the only triple accommodation ans we got the entire 4th floor of the hotel to ourselves! We stayed at Hotel Isola Bella or "Beautiful Island."
"I'd like that cat to go along with my t-shirt, per favore." Near the Greek Theatre in Syracuse there were tons of stray cats. One managed to find a cozy spot amongst the tourist items...
The Roman Ampitheatre in Syracuse.
The magnificent Greek Theatre in Syracuse. It was a beautiful (hot rather) day, not a single cloud in the sky. Drastic contrast to the foggy, chilly weather in Lugano.
Jagged rock at Mount Etna. Freezing temperatures at the summit in comparisson with the hot weather at sea level. This area was only 30 years earlier the site of an eruption. Glad we weren't there on a day the volcano was acting up.
Entire group at Mount Etna. (I'm in the middle with the gray marshmallow jacket.)
The Greek Theatre in Taormina. It's still used today for plays and events. Taken at about 4pm.
Taormina. A cozy town nestled into the jagged terrain.
Mosaic floor at the Roman Villa. Every single floor was made from mosaics.
Ongoing excavation and restoration at the Villas. Mosaic floor!
Me in front of the nortern Palermo beach. Our hotel is the white building at the tip of the penninsula!
Inside a Norman church (one of many we visited), built circa 1100. Again, all mosaic tile even though they appear to be paintings. Gold is the only material they used to create the yellow color. In the Monreale Cathedral alone, over 6,000 kilos of gold were used!
Agrigento: Temple of the Concords. The ONLY temple that has not been resored. This is exactly how it stands from over 2,400 years ago!
The temple of Juno in Selunite. Restoration was required for the columbs to stand like this again. A massive earthquake destroyed most of these temples over 1000 years ago. Taken around 4pm.
Temple in Segesta. The only day in which I noticed the moon was still out. Taken around 11am.If anyone considers going to Sicily, I have plenty of guide books, maps, and recomendations of places to go. It's a must see place.
Lydia
4 comments:
Academic Travel? Were you tested on this new information or did you have to write a paper, essay or something?
David
I have a True/False quiz next week. It should be no sweat. I'm thankful my professor isn't expecting much from us. Other Profs weren't so kind....
Lydia
Lydia,
did your tour of Sicily focus primarily on classical sights and history? It appears that it did. But since your major is environmental studies, did you get some overview of environmental problems/situations on Sicily?
Jan of many questions.
Hi Jan.
The academic travel doesn't have to reflect one's major, but it always helps. I joined the Sicily program based on availability of locations and out of pure interest in visiting the Mediterranean. The focus was general history of Sicily, nothing fancy.
Lydia
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