The last weekend in March, I went on my first solo adventure EVER.  Before I came to Florence, I set my heart on going down to Sicily, so when I asked around and couldn't find anyone who could come with me, I decided to just do it on my own!  Part of my family stems from Palermo, so it was very important for me to be able to go and see a glimpse of one of the places my family originates from.  The night before my departure I was VERY nervous- I had to get up very early and was afraid I would sleep through my alarm, and I had never gone anywhere for an extended period of time by myself.  However, when my 3:30 alarm rang, I got up, got ready, met my cab, and started my adventure.

I made sure I booked the earliest flight into Palermo because I only had two days to spend in Sicily, and I wanted to make sure I had a full day to explore Palermo.  The airport is about an hour outside of Sicily, but from research I did before my departure, I knew exactly which bus to take into the city.  With a little help from the EXTREMELY friendly Sicilians around the train station, I found my hostel and checked in around 10 am.  I stayed in a hostel called Quattro Canti Hostel, and it was wonderful.  It's very small and very homey, and the owners are extremely nice.  When I got the hostel, he made me a cup of espresso, then sat me down, gave me a map, and circled absolutely everything I should see and do during my time there.


After we spent a good 30 minutes going over everything there is to do in Palermo, I headed off on my own.  I first decided to go to the nearby market and check out the church that we can see from our terrace, the Chiesa de Gesu.  It was beautiful inside, and although pictures were not allowed, I (naturally) took one sneakily anyways.  The church was right around the corner from the Ballaro market, so I headed there next.  In all of my time abroad, I have never felt like I really got to experience the true personality of a city or country, because everywhere I have been has either been guided by the school or was a place that greatly caters to tourists.  For the first time this entire semester, this market gave me a glimpse into a place's true culture.  The market was alive with people bargaining with stand owners, everyone shouting in a local dialect, music was playing, and there was so much DELICIOUS and CHEAP food.  Everything that I had in my mind about what Sicily was like was brought to life here.  I strolled all through the market, and on my way out, and decided to buy a carton of strawberries, which cost me less than 1 Euro.  Unfortunately, when I threw away the carton and the wrapper, I accidentally threw away my map as well.  So, it was back to the hostel for me.


As I approached the door, there were two girls trying to figure out if they were in the right place, and if so, how exactly to get up to the hostel (it was on a top floor of a building under construction, so it was difficult to find).  The owner, after laughing at me for losing my map after 30 minutes of being out on my own, sat me down with the two girls and walked me through another map with them.  We then decided that the three of us would go out and explore together.  We started with heading down to the water to get arancine for lunch.  An arancina is, basically, a deep fried ball of rice, meat, and veggies; it was a heart attack in a ball, but it was delicious and only cost 1 Euro and 30 cents.  We headed down to the water and sat, talked, and ate for a while, taking in the beautiful view.


With the help of the hostel owner, we knew exactly what sites we wanted to see that day, so we started our self-guided tour of Palermo.  First, we headed around the harbor, and over to see the Politeama.  On our way to the Teatro Massimo, we passed the street he recommended we go to to try Sicilian desserts.  I decided to get a cannoli, and it was one of the most delicious things I have ever had.  We then went to see the Teatro Massimo, the second largest theater in Europe (you can fit elephants on the stage!), and the location for the final scenes of the Godfather trilogy.  We then walked by the actual Quattro Canti, went to see the Cathedral (an interesting mix of architectural and artistic forms), and headed over to see the infamous Catacombs.


The Catacombs are some of the most famous in the world.  It was such an interesting and creepy place to be, and I would have been COMPLETELY freaked out to be there if I was by myself.  They have countless corpses hanging on the walls, with the same facial expressions they died with, some even still with their skin.  There were some bodies, which were kept in glass cases, that were so well preserved that the people inside look like they're still alive, but sleeping.  It was incredible.

After the Catacombs, we headed up to Monreale, a small village up on a hill surrounding Palermo.  Unfortunately, the cathedral there, which contains a very large and very famous mosaic of Jesus, had already closed, but we were able to explore the village for a while and see an incredible view of the city.


On our way back down to our hostel, we stopped at a very famous bakery, which is known for being the inventor of a dessert known as Sette Veli.  Sette Veli is a small piece of cake, with seven layers of chocolatey goodness.  The hostel owner talked it up a lot, and it was every I had hoped for and more.


When we got back to the hostel, we were so tired that we didn't want to go back out for dinner, so we ordered sandwiches in.  We then called it an early night, because we were all so tired and had early mornings.

The next day, the two girls and I went out separate ways.  I went to the market to pick up some sunscreen and fruit to snack on, and went to get breakfast.  I had been told I HAD to get gelato con brioche for breakfast one morning, so that's exactly what I did.  Gelato con brioche is, essentially, gelato in a sweet roll- not your typical breakfast, but it was SOOO GOOD.  After I finished my wonderfully unhealthy breakfast, I headed to a town called Mondello.  It is a beach front town, situated between two mountains.  The water is warm, clear, and blue, the sand is white and soft, and the view was spectacular.  I got there a little before noon and sat there for the entire day, just soaking up the sun and snacking on strawberries and the most delicious blood oranges I have ever had in my life.  If you put me on a beach, I am a happy girl, so this was such a wonderful day.  Eventually, the sun had sunk to the point where I was cold, so I headed to a seafood shack for some delicious fried calamari.  As I was leaving the beach, I saw a sand sculptor making a merman!  It was awesome.  I then headed over to the shack, ordered my food, sat, ate, and took in the view until it was time to catch the bus back to Palermo.


When I got back to the hostel, I showered, discovered just how terribly burnt I had gotten (despite using SPF 30 sunscreen four times during the day), then headed to the harbor for dinner.  The hostel owner recommended a place for me to go that gives his guests a discount, so I decided to go there.  For 15 Euro, I got a HUGE plate of an assortment of fresh fish and a liter of wine.  A day at the beach followed by a wonderful seafood dinner made for an incredible day.

An early flight on Sunday morning concluded my solo adventure to Sicily.  Even though I was unbelievably nervous about traveling on my own, it was exactly what I needed.  I was able to do what I wanted, when I wanted, and at my own pace.  I had gotten so stressed over the past few weeks, and I was able to get away from all the drama and just relax by myself.  For the first time all semester, I truly experienced the personality of the place I visited, even though I was only there for two days.  I ate delicious food, barely spent any money, met some great people, and enjoyed myself 100%.  I say this about every place I've been so far, but Sicily is a place I will definitely be returning to.  I was only there for two days, and only got to see a small fraction of what the beautiful island has to offer, and I want to explore the other towns, the ruins, and the beaches and natural reserves some day soon (I also know I will be CRAVING those cannolis soon!).  I am also very confident that I will be off on my own solo adventure again sometime soon!


Abbracci e baci!  xoxo

The day before I ventured out into the Tuscan countryside to explore Siena and San Gimignano, I trekked up North to Liguria, home to five of the most beautiful cliff side towns that make up the area fondly known as Cinque Terre.  These five villages are Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso al Mare.  They are very secluded and you can only reach them by walking paths, boat, or train.  Each towns have picturesque cottages of many different colors that spot the hillside and are all surrounded by vineyards and gardens, hills, dramatic cliffs, and the most beautifully clear blue water.  There are walking paths of all distances and elevations that bring you along the coastline from one town to the next.  Unfortunately, torrential rains in October caused massive landslides and flooding, which took out almost all of the paths, and nearly completely destroyed Monterosso and Vernazza.

I took this day trip with one of my friends who was staying for the entire weekend.  Her hostel was in the town of Riomaggiore, so we started our hike there with the Via Dell'Amore path.  This path is completely along the water and connects Riomaggiore to Manarola.  I had never seen water so perfectly blue and clear in my life- you could see straight to the bottom, as well as the schools of fish, sea urchins, and all sorts of marine life.  We walked down this path, admired the art along the walkway, explored the cliffs you were allowed to go onto, and then headd to Manarola.  There, we walked around the village, visited the church, wandered the paths on the surrounding hills, and had a snack on the rocks by the harbor.


Prior to coming here, some friends told us that they had gone the previous weekend and were able to sneak into some of the trails that were shut down.  We tried our absolute hardest to find these trails, but everything was unfortunately gated and locked.  Eventually, we did find walkable paths, but they were all uphill and several kilometers long.  We decided, however, that we came to Cinque Terre to walk along the paths and did not want to town hop via the train, so we went for it.  The hike, for me, was comparable to climbing Mount Doom- it was one of the most physically exhausting things I have ever done and was SO happy that I wore sneakers, a tank top, shorts, and brought along water and my inhaler.  By the end of the hike, I was out of breath and my legs were shaking underneath me, but I also got to see some of the most spectacular views of the cliffs and of Manarola and Corniglia that we never would have seen had we taken the train.  We walked through little villages that were spotted along the hillsides and saw flowers and other plants that I have never seen before.  As much as I struggled both up and down that path, it was so worth it.


We got to Corniglia and had no other choice but to take the train to the last town of Monterosso, where we wanted to go swimming and get dinner.  Unfortunately, by the time we got to Monterosso, the sun had gone down too much and it had gotten too cold to swim.  Instead, we walked around the limited parts of the town that we could, then found a restaurant on the water for dinner.  Whenever I go to a place anywhere near the water, I always have to get seafood since it's not a popular dinner to make in Florence.  So, like usual, I ordered pasta and clams.  One of the specialties that Cinque Terre is known for is their pesto (which I LOVE), so my friend and I decided to split an order of pesto bruschetta; it smelled and tasted just like a garden.  It was one of the most delicious things I had ever had in my life, and, if I had had enough money on me, I would have happily ordered a second plate.  After dinner, we went down to walk on the beach.  Being the beach bum, ocean lover that I am, I refuse to wear shoes while walking on sand and must ALWAYS go wading in the ocean, even if its just up to my ankles.  The water was FREEZING, even in comparison to New England standards.  With dusk settling and the lights of the town coming on, the reflections in the water and the shadows of the surrounding hills made for an incredibly beautiful landscape.

The couple of weeks after Spring Break were really low key- I made sure I only did day trips after so much traveling!  As soon as we got back from break, it really started warming up.  The sun was always out, and temperatures were averaging in the 70s.  It was the perfect weather for going on Tuscan adventures!  (:

The week after my Spring Break, the Kaisers came to visit during Laura's Spring Break.  On that Thursday, they invited me to go down to Pisa with them!  Even though I've been in Italy for about three months, I amazingly hadn't been to Pisa yet!  I was so excited to spend the day with my second family!  We got there, got gelato (naturally), then headed to the tower.  Its amazing that something that heavy can stay standing when its tilting so much!  We climbed the tower and, of course, took some touristy pictures.  I was able to go into the Cathedral (without paying) by going into the entrance meant for those who want to pray.  It was very beautiful, but unfortunately no pictures at all were allowed.  It was a very nice afternoon, and I was so UNBELIEVABLY happy to see the Kaisers!  As much as I love it here and don't want to have to go home so soon (just a few weeks now!), I am really starting to miss everyone back in the states!


The next weekend I took two day trips...one day I went to Cinqueterre (which I will be blogging about separately) and the second, I went with the school to Siena and San Gimignano.  We started the day off at Siena.  We had some time when we first got there to explore, so we wandered the streets around Piazza del Campo for a little while.  Then group then, as a whole, headed over the the cathedral and the museum for tours.  It was BEAUTIFUL.  The cathedral was very ornate and busy, but in a way that was so beautiful it took your breath away.  After the cathedral, we headed to the Palazzo Pubblico for a small lecture on some of the art there.  We then had some free time before we left, so we went to get lunch at a small restaurant.  I have never had bad service since coming to Europe, but the owners of this restaurant were SO rude, I was absolutely appalled.  Luckily, the food was so good that it easily made up for it.  I got a pasta dish with wild boar- it was mouthwatering.  We then got gelato (of course) and hung out in the sun in the Piazza del Campo until it was time to leave.


San Gimignano is a lesser known city in Tuscany, but one of the more beautiful ones.  It is very picturesque and many of its buildings are originals from the medieval times.  We only had a short time there, but we got to explore the church and the famous frescoes inside, and wander around for a bit.  Walking the streets, it really felt like you were in the Middle Ages because everything looks so new, despite the city's age.  We eventually stumbled upon a little piazza that overlooked the surrounding Tuscan countryside (San Gimignano is set upon a hill) and the roofs of the buildings lower down in the city.  As it was time to leave, we got gelato (again) at Italy's #1 gelateria- it was SO GOOD, but I have to say, I preferred Badiani, my gelateria of choice in Florence.


After so much traveling during Spring Break and the weekends leading up to it, it was really nice to just stay local and explore some of the nearby town in Tuscany.  I love the countryside here, and every town you stumble upon is a beautiful little gem.

Abbracci e baci!  xoxo