Sicily

Bit behind on this one, but need to catch up before these next couple of days get away from me. This post will probably be short and to the point as I'm trying to cram as much as possible into my Greek experience. The internet connection is shit as well, so no pictures to accompany this post.

Sitting enjoying the lovely Sicilian views

Ended up in Sicily after that night with Daniele in Rome, with Daniel (Pardo) picking me up from the airport a little after my flight got in at 9 a.m. Went back to the Navy Base (Daniel is a corpsmen stationed here) so I could drop off my stuff and headed out to explore Catania. Walked a little bit around elephant square and grabbed some much needed gelato which was positively glorious. After gelato we headed back to base to pick up tickets for the Iron Man 3 premiere that night (Daniel is a comic nerd, so...naturally). To kill a few hours before the show, we headed back into Catania for a scenic drive along the coast which was also gorgeous, opting to stop for a chat by the sea.

That night was pretty standard, went to the Iron Man premiere (very impressed, way to go Robert Downey Jr) and killed the idea of going out on the town since both of us had gotten less than 6 hours of sleep the night before. So like old people, we headed to bed early.

The next morning we woke up and, with the luck of good weather, decided to go to the beach. After all, any trip to the Mediterranean has to include a quick dip.  It was there that I was able to go skinny dipping for the first time in a secluded cove a bit of a hike away from the regular beach. Although the water was freezing, it was also pretty refreshing to swim in the gorgeously clear water. Another great memory to add to the memory bank.

Afterwards we headed out for a bit of culture to Agrigento to look at the Valley of the Temples. Basically on the other side of the island, it took us nearly 3 hours to get there at which point the gods decided to curse us by making it rain. Middle fingers raised to the sky, we pressed forward and the clouds soon passed revealing more beautiful Sicilian sunshine. Walked around the old ruins, enjoyed the amazing views of the neighboring cities, and made the laborious 3 hour trip back to base. Back in Catania we indulged in some delectable bruschetta and pizza before turning in for another early evening after so much exhausting travel.

The wine bar out in Catania

Daniel worked a 24 hour shift at the hospital the next day, so I was mainly left to my own devices. Slept in, cleaned up a bit (as a woman staying in a man's place, this tends to always end up happening), and finished the first season of my latest addiction: House of Cards. That night I hooked up with 3 of Daniel's friends and we went into Catania for another orgasmic Italian experience at a local wine bar, gorging ourselves on a meat and cheese platter, pasta, wine, and steak. Good conversation, good company--all around a good evening. I can be pretty shy and socially awkward, but get some sicilian wine in me and the tables have flipped. Plus--how can any girl complain and sit alone in the corner when she is out for a classy meal in Italy with 3 lovely navy men? It just cannot be done.

Daniel and I at the ancient Greek amphitheatre

My last day in Italy I made Daniel take me to Siracusa so we could see the old greek amphitheatre and walk around the city. Catania is ok, but it's also pretty ghetto and dirty--so I wanted to see a more of a stereo-typically romantic italian city.The theatre was cool, if not a little underwhelming as they are reconstructing some stuff for the upcoming play season so it looked a little modern. Not to mention that all of the children in Sicily seemed to be on a field trip that day, following us loudly around from point to point. Driving away from the theatre towards Ortigia we went to see the Fonte Aretusa, an old fountain rooted in an old legend of two lovers who were eventually turned into bodies of water running into each other to be together forever. We also walked through a cool fish market, with lots of interesting and delicious smelling food. I wish so much that we had this type of local market culture in the US, as it reallly makes shopping for food so much fun. With hours left to spare we headed back to Catania so I could finish my laundry, pack, and get one last supper.

Things got a little crazy after, as Daniel had to pick up his friend from the airport an hour and a half before I needed to be there. We had planned to all eat together before my flight, so he dropped me off at the place we were going to eat at to pre-order so our early dinner could move faster. Because Italians are dumb and never on time, her flight was delayed meaning that I sat by myself at that table waiting over an hour for them to show up. By the time they did, we had to rush back to base and pack my stuff before literally speeding to the airport and running through to get me to my flight on time. It was a very stressful last couple of hours, but I arrived safe and on time to my flight back to Rome for the evening.

Late night walks around the Vatican

When I arrived in Rome, I took a bus and the metro to my hostel for the evening in Vatican City. I had around 7 hours in Rome before my next flight, which I decided to spend wandering the city. At around midnight me and this girl I met at the hostel (a fellow american) decided to walk around the corner to see the Vatican by night, the only monument I knew I would see in Rome at this hour. I was shocked at how safe the streets were at night, since I had heard pretty sketch things about Rome. We walked undisturbed for about an hour, before finally showing up at this 24 hour bakery around the corner from our hostel where I finally got to have my cannoli (my one missed culinary indulgence in Sicily . After a bit of internet time, I finally headed to bed with an hour and a half left to sleep before I had to get up and catch my bus to the airport for Crete.

It was a stressful trip all around. Lots of almost-missed connections, ill-timed rain, and hard life lessons but overall it was worth it. The food alone made up for all of the negative, and I really don't know if I'll ever be able to eat at Olive Garden ever again. Also having someone to experience Sicily with was a must, as most of the island is pretty spread out as far as things to do/see so I wouldn't have been able to do much on my own without a car.

As Daniel said to me on the drive back from Agrigento, sun shining through the window and wind blowing our hair back as we sped through the Sicilian countryside "Sydney, these are the memories you're going to look back on as some of the greatest moments of your life."

And I will. I will.