Sicily--Part 1

I have been meaning to finish up our trip blog for quite some time now, but life has been SO busy since our return. I have been working pretty steadily since our arrival back home at finishing up my Ancient Civilizations course. I had to complete all of the assignments for the second half of the course and write a term paper. Now I am working on preparing for the final, which is administered in the same way as the mid-term, but is twice as hard, because it has twice as many questions. Half are on the second half of the book and half are comprehensive. So, I will have two essays to write instead of one. I will be taking it this week sometime. Yikes!

Well, our time in Palermo was beautiful. Partially because of the beauty of Sicily itself and partly because of the wonderful companionship. What a blessing it was to spend our time there with our dear friend, Giovanni, and his wonderful mother, Rosalie. Scott first came to know them on his mission almost 30 years ago and they have kept in contact through letters, phone calls and visits through the years. Giovanni has spent time with us on two different occasions through the years, but this was their first time to be reunited in Italy. What a joyous reunion it was! Giovanni and his mother hosted us in their lovely home and spoiled us with wonderful food, kind and generous gifts and informative tours of the area. What a blessing those days were to us. We will cherish the memories forever.

We flew from Rome to Palermo and were greeted at the airport by Giovanni and Rosalie...a warm welcome. We spent the rest of that day touring the area up above Trapani before returning to their home in Palermo. It was a little piece of heaven. The Sicilian countryside was gorgeous and full of rich history. We saw so many things, it will be hard to write of all of them, but I will mention a few of the highlights.

Our first stop was at Segesta, an abandoned ancient city with a magnificent Doric temple, which ranks as one of the best-preserved Greek architectural sites to be found anyplace. It sits on a hill-top surrounded by rolling green hills--such beauty! It was built by the Elmyian people, with the help of the Greeks and was never finished. A fascinating structure. Segesta's other main monument is a rock hewn amphitheatre that stands on the slopes of Monte Barbaro. Scholars differ as to when the it was built. Some archeologists believe it was built around the same time as the temple, or maybe some decades earlier, circa 450 BC. Such peace and beauty!

Ahhhhhh! Sicily! Thanks for the beautiful memories, Giovanni! More on Sicily later.

Photo 1: Giovanni, Scott and Rosalie in front of the theater at Segesta
Photo 2: Giovanni's mom with the Sicilian countryside and the Temple at Segesta
Photos 3 and 4: The Temple at Segesta