Canolis, Volcanoes, and the Mafia

Man, where the heck do I begin? Sicily. Sicily is an island of the coast of the boot of Italy forever away from Florence. So forever away in fact, that one must ride an overnight train to get there, which means that one's first day in Sicily is spent rather smelly and unshowered and minus some bits of necessary sleep, but these things are far overrun by the fact that one is in Sicily and closer to Africa than one has ever been (unless you're Kendra Jo Crabtree that is), and therefore one does not care about being smelly and tired and one eats a delicious canoli and an arancini for lunch and then it's all okay. I'll start there.

So, this past weekend I went to Sicily. We met Thursday night at the Campo di Marte train station in Florence where we got on overnight trains with beds and sinks in your cabin/carraige/room. The train ride was in the least...interesting. I slept on the top bunk of a moving thing that rocked back and forth and occasionally made quick stops that made things tople over (including me). It wasn't so bad though, and I mean now I can say I slept on a train...twice in fact. When I woke up the next morning I washed me face in this awkward sink behind the ladder and then went into the hall to find out that I was just in time for the train to board the ferry. No joke. The train boarded the ferry at the tip of the boot of Italy and took us across to Sicily. Once the train was securely on the ferry we could actually get off and go up. Then, when we got to the other side they put the train back together and we went on our way. I want to meet the person who woke up one day and said, "why don't we just put trains of ferries and take then across the sea."

So, then we made it finally and hopped on our bus and began to see the island. The first day we visited Taormina and then this beach which I believe they said was in Catania. In Taormina we had real Sicilian Canolis! Fantastic! First thing I'm doing when I get home is making Canolis for people (well, after showering and a good night's sleep). I love canolis, which is why I'm so glad we learned how to make them in cooking class. I also ate this fried rice contraption thing called Arancini for lunch. The canoli was better, but when in Sicily you must eat Sicilian things, and I efficiently played by this rule.

The beach we went to was fantastic as well. I walked out on this getty of rocks and sat and watched the sun begin to set behing the shore. Oh my word, I am speechless.

The next day we spent the whole day walking around Siracusa. We began with Greek ruins, went through the Roman invasion, and then discovered the early Christian's hideout underground. Somewhere in all that history lesson we visited the market in Siracusa where I ate cactus fruit. (I should make a list of all the crazy things I've eaten since I've been in Italy.) Hmmm, oh and then I ate another canoli and some delicious pasta (not in that order). Then we toured the natural harbor of Siracusa, and then had hot chocolate, and I bought Crema di Fragola and some post cards.

I promise, it was much more exciting than I just made it sound. Cactus fruit is something pretty exciting all by itself, and if you'd seen the sun glistening on the water off that natural harbor you wouldn't have listened to the whole of the history lesson either (I listened to most of it, but I had to take some fotos too.)


Almost done... forse.

The last day I woke up kind of sick, which was rather unfortunate as I haven't been sick for real in so long. But, I dealt, and we went to Noto where we saw lots of men out wandering the streets looking rather mafia like wearing their traditional Sicilian hats. (There were not many woman out though, and according to our guide there is a lot of Arab influence in deep Sicily where Noto is located and therefore all the women were inside keeping house.) Then (and I just decided I hate the word then as a transition - it's so overdone). Following Noto, we adventured to another beach where I laid down in the sand in an attempt to not feel sick anymore. It only kind of worked. We tried to eat lunch down the street from the beach, but that was a disaster I don't want to relive, but luckily our bus didn't leave us, and we did get to go see the Castle near where the supposed Cyclops lived. There are even these two rocks out in the sea named after Ulysseus. We saw the sunset from here as well - positively gorgeous. Again, no words.

So, you'd think the real adventure stops here, but no. We got back onto another night train and were heading back to another giant ferry that carries trains (seriously - incredible) when our chain-smoking guide, Francesco Sommariva comes by and tells us if we look out the window we can see Mt. Etna erupting. Mt. Etna erupting. I saw a live volcano. Really all you could see was pink streaks in the sky, which was molten lava flowing down the mountain, but it was so amazing. I attempted to take a picture and it only kind of worked because we were on a moving train, and it was pitch black outside other than streets lights and the pink streaks in the sky, but anywho.


Eventually we made it back to Florence, and after I slept for many many hours last night, I don't feel sick anymore and have to register in an hour.

And, that was my adventure to Sicily.

I also went Olive Picking last Thursday which I don't feel like writing about right now, but I will give more substantial time to at a later date - perhaps after I go to the olive press which may happen this Sunday.

List of things I did this weekend I'd never done before looks like this:
1. went olive picking
2. ate cactus fruit
3. rode a night train
4. rode a train on ferry
5. got really really close to Africa
6. stood in the Mediterranean Sea
7. ate take-away mussels (not a good idea, ever)
8. saw an active volcano