Sicilia

Hey everybody! So I'm back and I'm here to tell
you all about my great time in Sicily. It was an Educational Field Trip with Pepperdine, so they paid for everything. They even gave us money so that we could pay for our lunches. I didn't spend it all, so I made money on the trip. It was sweet. :) So here it goes. On Tuesday morning, the 16th, we got up at 4 am and headed to the airport. It's about 20 minutes away so we took a big bus over there. We waited in the airport for a couple hours and then took a plane to Palermo. Palermo is in the norther part of Sicily and it was near the sea. I'm not sure what sea it was. We were all so exhausted and worn out from waking up early and having to lug our bags everywhere, that we were not in the mood to go on tours and see things, but we had to. We went to a few churches that day, but because there was major traffic we didn't get to see everything. The churches were pretty cool. The entire ceiling of one, Monreal, was amazing. There were golden Mosaics everywhere and the building was really fascinating. After that we went to another church that was not as cool, and it seemed to have copied the same mosaics from Monreal, but didn't succeed very well. Then they let us get lunch. We were so exhausted we went and got some delicious McDonald's. Yum! We tried to take naps in the play area, but they kicked us out. :) Then we found a little bakery and I bought a loaf of bread for 75 cents. It was delicious! After that we just sat around and talked on a bench for an hour. The city of Palermo wasn't very nice, so we didn't actually go around the city much. At one point we were walking through the slums because we had to find the church by foot. The traffic was horrible so we jumped out and walked. It was a little bit scary, but what's life without a little adventure. After that we went and saw a palace. It was pretty cool, but all of us were ready to get to the hotel. After the palace they took us to our hotel, I don't remember the name, and I took a nap. I was rooming with my friend Martin, so we just passed out in the room and I had to set my alarm so that we would wake up for dinner. I'm glad I did because dinner was really good. We ate dinner from 8 until 10:30 or so. It was so good. There were about 5 course. There was pasta, meat, fruit, cake (only because it was Alanna's birthday), and a lot of other good food that I'm forgetting right now. After that I went back to the room with the intent of going to sleep, but I actually stayed up talking to Paige and Alanna for a few hours. The next day we got up around 7am to have breakfast and head out to another town. It was a couple hour bus ride, but we wound up in a sea town called Cefalu. We saw one church and an old bath area, then they set us loose. It was awesome. We went swimming in the Mediterranean Sea and then got some delicious pizza. After that we tried to climb the huge mountain, but they wanted us to pay 3 euro to climb up to the top. We are pretty cheap, so we declined. We were a little bummed, but then I saw a rope blocking a path then meant: do not cross. We crossed it. It led to this rocky overhang that had an amazing view of the city. I finished my pizza up there because I was eating it on the way up the mountain and we just relaxed and enjoyed the view. There was huge drop, but I decided that I would brave the drop and climb down some rocks. It might not have been the brightest idea, but it worked out for me. I found a really cool cave that led into the mountains. Chase and I went into it and took some sweet photos. It was an adventure. After that we went down to meet the group to leave for our next stop. On the way there I found a store that had some canes. I found one that was tall enough for me and it looked really cool, so I bought it with my lunch money that Pepperdine gave me. :) Then we went and got on the bus. The bus took us to a castle. It was pretty cool, but it wasn't that exciting. Then we headed out to our next hotel. The drive was a little over four hours, so we just slept and listened to music on the bus. We arrived at our hotel, Hotel Kaos, around 8 and went straight to dinner. It was another delicious dinner that lasted another two hours. After that we went into the pool. There was no spa and this pool was the coldest pool I have ever been in. I lost my breath almost instantly and I couldn't stay in for long. Most of the group stayed in awhile, but I was finding it hard to breathe so I went back and took a hot shower. I realized that jumping into freezing water with a full stomach was not a good idea. I didn't feel too good for awhile, but I just went back and laid in my warm bed for an hour or so. I read and listened to music until everyone got back. Then we all crammed into one room and talked and played games until 1 am or so. It was a really fun night. The next day we went to The Valley of the Temples. We were staying in Agragento and that was where the Valley was, so we didn't have to drive that far. I was really excited about this place because I knew that it would be an amazing opportunity for infrared photography. I was right. My shots came out really well. I actually wasn't supposed to have a tripod the whole time I was there, but no one noticed I had it until the end so I got to sneak some shots in before they caught me. I even was able to take the group shot for the program. It worked out well. This place was so cool. It had ruins of temples and walls. They were so cool. They have ruins for the largest temple in the world. It was a temple to Zeus. It was cool, but there wasn't much left. The temple to Hera had a lot more. The pillars were still standing. It was cool day. Then we left and took the bus to a town called Taomirna. This is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been in. Our hotel was in a little cove and we stayed in little bungalows on the beach. I roomed with Martin and my friend Kyle. Our room was pretty much the party room. :) The first night we had dinner, which wasn't very good and then we had a bonfire on the beach. I took some photos and we all just hung out and talked. Then we decided to go swimming and so we all got in. Then we decided it would be fun to go skinny dipping, so we did. :) It was fun. Then we explored a cave in this little island. I was pretty tired around 1 am so I went to bed. Kyle, Martin, and my friend Jon were in the room. They were talking and I just passed out on my bed as they talked around me. The next day we got up and had a guided tour of the city. It was cool and we got to see and sit in an old Greek amphitheater. It was really cool. The acoustics of it were amazing. Some people sang on the stage and we sat up top, but we could hear them perfectly because of how the sound travels. After that we went and got lunch. I shared an entire pizza with my friend Jeff for only 3 euros and then we went back to lounge on the beach. We were out there for not even five minutes when it started to rain. We went inside and it started to pour. Then we decided that it would be fun to go swimming in the rain. So we all jumped in and swam to some rocks to jump off them. They were quite sharp and everyone was getting cut so we didn't stay out there too long. Then we went back and took some warm showers. After we had finished everyone came over to our room and we played some fun games. I definitely fell asleep with about 5 other people on the beds that were pushed together. We had around 20 people in our room. It was fun. Then we had dinner and spent the night playing signs. It was a really fun game where everyone has a sign and they have to pass it around the circle. We played for a good four hours and then went to bed. The next day we got to sleep in because it was still raining and so I slept until 9:30 am. It was so nice. We got breakfast and then packed our stuff and got on the bus. We got lunch in town. I had an amazing panino with bell peppers and salami. Yummy! :) Then we went Mt. Etna. Mt. Etna is an active volcano that we had to drive up to and then take a gondola up to. It is about 9000 meters high and it was not anything like what I had expected. It was not hot and there was no lava. It was absolutely freezing and there was definitely a blizzard. We walked up the mountain in clothes that were not suitable for this weather and almost froze to death. It was fun though. Us guys took our shirts off and we posed for a pick. We aslo had a snowball fight. It was really fun. Then we left and headed to the airport. I had some bad airport pizza and then we boarded and got home in an hour or so. It was really fun and our whole group bonded a lot. It was some of the most fun that I have had in a while.