Update (or Catacaombs and Jeff Magnum)

Well. I’ve been without steady internet for a little over a week. In that time, I’ve traveled to and from the Aeolian Islands off the northern coast of Sicily, around to the east coast city of Catania, west inland to Caltanisetta, Enna (the highest point on the whole island), and Piazza Armerina. Now I’m back in Catania. I realized that I’ve written some of my weird musings and observations, but haven’t actually mentioned where I’ve been or what I’ve been up to. So, here you go:

Palermo

I arrived in Palermo and spent a few days exploring the city and adjusting to my new identity as “solo girl-traveler extraordinaire.” I dutifully attempted to hit the major sights, and took a million pictures. Here are a few:

Piazza Della Vergogna  (Nicknamed  “The Fountain of Shame," cuz they're all naked.)

At the Port

 
                      Ubiquitous Palm trees

 So one day in Palermo I set out to find the Orto Botanico. I discovered a pretty spare park with dirt paths, sparse citrus trees, and cacti here and there. It was nice, yet not very impressive for a so-called Botanical Garden. I was beginning to understand that many things in Sicily are not entirely well-kept; I assumed that this was another such place. Nonetheless, I took a bunch of pictures, and sat for a while to write and watch the passers-by. I soon assessed that this was a place where locals come to jog, old people read on benches, and above all, teenagers come to make out. After about an hour of trying to avoid noticing the fifteen year olds across the path groping each other, I set off to leave. 

         Immediately outside the gates, I noticed a huge sign with an arrow. It turned out that the true Orto Botanico was in fact next door; I had been in some local park. So, it being five thirty and still sunny, I paid the five euro to enter this place that turned out to be much better than the make-out spot I had whiled away in. Of course, since I had been taking pictures all day, I was only able to snap about four more until my camera battery ran out. You’ll have to take my word when I say that this place was really gorgeous. 

          There were greenhouses scattered among groupings of trees and shrubs from all over the world. One whole section was devoted to cacti, another to herbs, another to aquatic plants. My favorite was an enormous ficus tree, its ancient branches swinging down, snake-like, into the soil below. It was positively prehistoric. Later, I spotted a cat curled up & sleeping in a flower pot. Below is a greenhouse I encountered before my battery died. I don’t know about you, but the first thing that came to my mind was Big-Top Pee-Wee. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, then you need to put it in your Netflix cue, pronto. 

Here’s an idea of the markets. This was early on in my travels, so I was a little timid about the weird fish options. In the first days, I stuck with swordfish and tuna. Since then, I’ve ventured into sardine and squid territory. It’s all insanely delicious. But the food discussion deserves at least its own post, if not an entire new blog unto itself.








 

On my last day in Palermo, I made the trek to the outskirts of the city to the Capuchin Catacombs. It was hot and I was a little hung over (but that’s another story in itself). I was sweating by the time I found the place, which was swarming with tourists. Not wanting the cacophony of chittering languages to disturb my  macabre experience, I set my iPod to Neutral Milk Hotel and descended the stairs to the awaiting mummified cadavers. You weren’t supposed to take pictures, but I saw some other people doing it, and, since I don’t believe in hell (or rules, apparently), I snapped some too. Surveying the two-hundred year old bodies of people who loved and lived, I had all the obligatory thoughts about life and death and human existence. Then I left and had a panini and a coke. Nothing like dusty corpses to stir up an appetite.