Rome: Sicily

After our class trip was over a group of four of us traveled down to Sicily for the weekend. We left Naples Friday night on a large ferry that took us down to Catania, Sicily. The ferry took 12 hrs but luckily we had a four person room to sleep in. In the morning we arrived in Catania where we explored for only a couple hours before getting on a train to our final destination, Siracuse.

Mt. Etna. Europe's most active large volcano. (once we got on the island you could see smoke rising from the peak)

This is a video taken from the ferry panning across the entire view from the deck. There were two decks of semi trucks at the bottom of the ship which you get a glimpse of in the middle of the video... 3 of those trucks were Ferrari shipments... we came up with some plans to boost the cars while we were waiting for the ship to dock haha.

The train ride took us south down the coast for about an hour. It was the most beautiful train ride I had ever been on (I haven't been on many but I can imagine this one would rank up there quite a ways). After being in the city for a month seeing open countryside was quite amazing. Although, this countryside was much different... instead of corn and soybeans it was rolling hills of citrus trees as far as the eye could see (with the exception of the east side which was citrus trees and then the beach).

Shot from the train window

Poseidon fountain at the train station

We only spent about 36 hours in Siracuse but we managed to see quite a lot. As usual I will let the pictures show...

Rocky Beach

Crazy tree with branches that grow down into roots

Trees trimmed into one long block (yes thats my finger in the upper left haha)

This is pretty comical depending on your age

Mom - I found AFLAC! (I asked him to make the sound for me but he wouldn't do it)

This is a clip of a very strange sport we witnessed being played... we don't know what its called but it looks like a cross between kayaking and water polo.

Santuario della Madonna delle Lacrime

Huge ceiling from the inside

Video of the ceiling

One of the very dark but cool paintings in one of the sanctuaries
(if you look close you can see the angel embracing the figure)

Ruins in Siracusa

Greek ampitheatre outside of town
(yes I said Greek even though this was in Italy)
Many of the best kept Greek ruins are actually in Italy because most of what the Greeks built in present day Greece are badly vandalized or even destroyed.