Palermo and Rome (2x)

Back in Rome.

Our trek through a nature reserve in Palermo.

These past two weeks have been very busy, especially as the semester is starting to wind down. Next week I will finally receive my official permit to live for the semester in Italy (about 20 days before I fly home!), then the last week of classes, then final exams, then home! It seems impossible to be leaving so soon.

Palermo Cathedral.

On April Fool's day we had a trip to Palermo. From Syracuse it takes about four hours to get there by bus, so we didn't have long to explore when we finally made it over there.

Monreale!

We wandered around a beautiful nature reserve by the sea and then saw some highlights of the old city including a huge marble fountain and some churches. Our last stop was Monreale where we saw the stunning and quite well-known Normal cathedral.

The view.

Goofing off in the papyrus farm.

Michelle, my fellow Buckman scholar from Rhodes, came down from Rome to visit Syracuse that weekend. She had already seen much of Syracuse when her study abroad program toured Syracuse, so we had a chance to explore some of the lesser known spots. We visited a papyrus farm and a papyrus museum, seeing not only papyrus paper but also papyrus baskets, sandals, and boats! Then we explored St. Giovanni's catacombs, put our feet in the Mediterranean, and spent a bit of time shopping. The whole weekend was pretty low key and relaxing - a great break for both of us!



The following week was pretty hectic! I journeyed up to the Orsi Museum two days in a row, the first to get a very involved tour in preparation for this coming weekend, and the second time to work on some Latin epigraphy. Then I left early Thursday afternoon to catch a flight for my last visit to Rome.

A huuuge statue!

I really liked my hostel this time around because the neighborhood was much better than the last.










 

With the Capitoline wolf.

Friday morning I woke up and dashed to the Capitoline museum, toured the place.












I promptly decided I would spend the whole day there if I could, but there were more things to see!







After lunch, I hopped on the train to Ostia and wandered around the huge archaeological park until it closed at 7.

 Ostia was the ancient port of Rome and the whole ancient city is now preserved and open for people to explore.



 
There were fascinating mosaics, bits of frescoes, a street of tombs, and a few statues.























Friday seemed to be a good day to tour the place - there were very few people there.

Orvieto's Duomo.

Overall, I did not spend too much time during this visit in the actual city! The next day, after a quick visit to the Trevi fountain searching for a gelato place that was closed, I met up with Michelle again and a few of her friends from the Centro and we caught a train to Orvieto. Orvieto is a charming walled medieval town situated on a high cliff. We checked out the very famous Duomo, a few caves from the underground labyrinth, some confusing museums, and I tried some granita (Italian shaved ice) for the first time. Granita is supposed to be a Sicilian specialty, but I haven't found much so far here in Syracuse - perhaps it is not the right season for it!

Sunday morning I had time for one more museum, part of the National Museum of Rome.
















Then I caught my flight back to Syracuse, which took the rest of the day.

This week so far has been full of papers and projects (hence this post is so late - sorry!), but I am looking forward to the end of the week - Friday is our big field trip to Etna! I can't wait (see below for my account of the recent excitement surrounding "Mamma Etna"!)