{"id":8776,"date":"2015-11-23T09:04:08","date_gmt":"2015-11-23T14:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/goglobal\/?p=8776"},"modified":"2015-11-23T09:04:08","modified_gmt":"2015-11-23T14:04:08","slug":"3-places-you-must-go-in-sicily","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/goglobal\/?p=8776","title":{"rendered":"3 Places You Must Go in Sicily"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ciao! What a busy two months I have had\u2026 Since I last posted, I have been to 10 cities in five different countries. Each weekend I slept\u00a0in a different place and saw and did so many incredible things! This past weekend in particular was one of my favorites of the semester.<\/p>\n

Last Thursday night I flew to Sicily. My aunt and I arranged this trip about three months ago. This has been the longest I have gone without seeing someone in my family so to spend time with a familiar face was comforting.<\/p>\n

During our four-day trip we visited three cities, and I would say they are definitely places you must go if you ever find yourself in Sicily.<\/p>\n

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  1. Palermo: This is the largest city on the island, with a total metropolitan population just under a million people. We stayed at a hotel in the old part of town, and were very close to many of the historical sites. On Friday morning we took a tour of the city. This is when we learned about the town’s history, from the fragile beginning to the violent mafia era that ruled the area until recently. We also saw some of the city’s most popular sites, such as Via della Liberta, the main shopping street; Teatro Massimo, a large theater built to entertain 3,000 or more people; and the Palermo Cathedral, a unique church that looks unlike any cathedral I have ever seen because of its unique exterior. After our tour we ate pizza while catching up. We wandered around for the rest of the day, eventually finding some gelato. Saturday night we went to Teatro Massimo to see the Martha Graham Dance Company. It was the first time this semester I had been inside a theater and Teatro Massimo did not disappoint. It was beautiful and so was the show.
    \nShops, restaurants and churches line each street, especially Via Roma and Via Vittorio Emanuele. Palermo has many street markets overflowing with fresh fruits, vegetables and seafood. One of the most popular markets is called Il Capo and it is located directly behind the Teatro Massimo. I have been to a few markets while in Europe, but this one was by far my favorite. When I say the produce was fresh, I mean it was fresh<\/em>. The fish had been caught that morning and the clams were still alive and spitting water out of the bucket. Many varieties of fruits and vegetables line the stands. There were some things we had never seen before, such as the Italian broccoli, which does not look like broccoli at all, as well some items we have at home but look very different thousands of miles away. We found out that Sicilian eggplants are round instead of elongated and the average pear is\u00a0about the size of two regular pears at home.
    \nWhile we walked through the market we noticed a church. On a whim we decided to go in and were completely blown away. The entire interior was made exclusively of marble and completely decorated in small designs. It was the Church of the Immaculate Conception, and even the altars depicted famous scenes all in marble. Many of the churches in the city have the same style. Arab influences mixed with the time period of when the specific church was built created very beautiful facades. They are all worth seeing! There are so many churches in the city that\u00a0you can’t go wrong with visiting any of them.
    \nFriday night was also the night of the Paris terrorist attack. I will admit that this shook me up because I was in Paris just two weeks before. What was comforting, however; was how the world responded to\u00a0the attacks. The amount of love and support people all over the world gave to the beautiful city of light was very heartwarming. Palermo was one of these supporters. Saturday night when we arrived at Teatro Massimo it was lit up with the colors of the French flag and people had arranged candles and flowers in the piazza. It was a very moving sight.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n