Sicilia

This past weekend I went to Sicily, which is an island off the southern coast of Italy. The first day we walked around Palermo and found a beautiful botanical garden that was part of a university in Palermo. Afterwards we walked along the beach and came upon what literally was a “hole in the wall” food place swarming with locals. We were a little skeptical at first so we slowly walked up to look at what people were eating. After the owner saw us debating over whether or not we were going to eat there, he quickly grabbed what is called a “Crocché,” which is a fried potato and gave one to all three of us to try. After we ate the delicious crocché and making the obvious decision to eat there we were given free fried zucchini to munch on while we were waiting for our sandwiches. I ordered a “panella” which is a fried potato sandwich with fresh squeezed lemon.

The next day we went to the city called Agrigento, which has the famous ruins of Sicily. Agrigento was founded around 580 BC. The city was first called Akragas by the Greek people. The Romans ruled during the period 262 BC and Carthaginians in the period 255 BC. Agrigento was prosperous during the Roman rule. After the death of Julius Caesar in 44 BC, the people there were granted Roman citizenship.

We were able to see multiple ancient temples and giant bronze statues. I recently learned all of the architectural orders of temples for my Ancient Roman Civilization midterm and it was entertaining to be able to distinguish architectural orders of the temples we saw. Although I knew the temples were Grecian from the information given at the sites, it was nice to see temples that we had talked about in class and the differences between Roman and Greek temples. Almost all of the temples in Agrigento were in the Doric order, which is a Grecian architectural type. Greek temples have three large steps along the entire perimeter of the temple surrounding the center of the temple which what is called the “cella.” Etruscan temples on the other hand have one stairway leading into the entrance with the cella located in the far back of the temple. Greek temples have columns surrounding the entire temple whereas Etruscan temples have all of the columns located in the front of the temple. Just a little Ancient Civilization history for you.

Even though the ancient architecture and cities were fun to experience, I have to talk about my favorite topic, pastries(as you all probably have noticed). Sicily had by far the best canollis I have eaten in Italy. There was conveniently a pastry shop a block away from the hostel we were staying at, and traveling with people who enjoy food just as much as I do, we obviously had to go back a few times. The first time we went there we all ate an amazing chocolate muffin. Although, I’m not sure if you can describe this wonderful slice of heaven as a muffin. It tasted more like a rich piece of chocolate cake and had nutella in the center with an extra dabble on top. The night before we left we also made a trip to our wonderful pastry shop and bought canollis. The filling they put in the middle of this canolli was different from what I have previously tasted. It was creamier and had mini chocolate chips folded into the cream. The cream wasn’t too overwhelming, but not too settle either. Simply perfect.

Its back to Rome for me though. Due dates for all my essays are starting to approach unfortunately and the next few nights might be late ones, but how can I complain about a little work in exchange for experiences like these? Europe has been nothing but wonderful to me. Its taught me to live a little, not stress so much about the little things in life, how the smallest things in life can bring the most joy (for me it has been the pastries), and most importantly as the Italians say enjoy: “il dolce far niente” the sweetness of doing nothing.