PALERMO

Palermo

Palermo

Just a quick note to say that we arrived in Palermo last night (Friday). We are a little behind on our blogging since some of the hotels claim to have wifi, but we have been unable to connect to the internet. At our hotel in Palermo, the wifi actually works, but we have been denied access to our blog. Apparently, the wifi service's firewall has determined that our blog possibly contains material that is inappropriate!! Imagine that!
We have had a very exciting day in Palermo. We hope to have some students blog about it and fill you in on the details. Of course, more photos to come. We leave Palermo tomorrow at 4:30 a.m. for an 8:00 flight to Rome. Italy switches to daylight savings time tonight, so you know what that means... one less hour of sleep!
Bounanotte~
Caryn

SEGESTA - spectacular Greek temple and theater - perfomances!!

Island of Motya

amiamo Leo!!

Hotel Admeto - Selinunte

SELINUNTE - MORE

SELINUNTE - more

POLAR BEARS IN SELINUNTE

SELINUNTE

Selinunte

Hey, Alex here!!

Today was lots of fun!! We visited lots of temples, and were able to climb on lots of the broken columns. It was quite an adventure. We finished the day with olive tasting and chocolate tasting! It was a great day!!! I will bring home some chocolates so I can show you how awesome they were!!

Thanks for letting me go on the trip Mom and Dad!!!! :) <3

-Alex :)

Empty Town

Today, while Meghan and I (Christie) were walking along the main road of Selinunte, we expected to see at least several Italian people. Instead, we saw none. The roads were completely empty, devoid of the usual cheer and business of usual Italian towns. We went to the end of a long path over the ocean and sat on a bench for a while, getting sprayed occasionally by the rowdy waves as we watched the ocean's tempermental waters and waves. After meeting up with some eighth grade girls, we walked for a long time up the road to find a mysterious gelato shop, which apparently was "amazing." Upon arriving at the store, Meghan and I were given a scoop not only of the two flavors we asked for, but smaller spoonfuls of all the flavors in the store! We came back to the hotel full and content.

Christie

AGRIGENTO - more Greek temples

Agrigento - Greek Temples

Wednesday, we went to the amazing classical Greek temples in Agrigento! We started at the temple to Hera, and moved to the temple to Concord, the Roman gods of peace and harmony. The temple of Concord is the second best preserved temple in the world! It was amazing, the whole temple was rebuilt. Barely any pieces were missing! We were able to climb through the ruins of the temple of Hercules, or Heracles in Greek, which was a lot of fun. Lastly, we walked through the ruined state of the temple of Zeus, which is the biggest temple to Zeus. Even in it's ruined state, it was an amazing site. The temple was held up by Telemon, huge statues of Atlas, the Titan who held up the sky.

Zach

Agrigento - Greek Temples

ARGRIGENTO - snow-covered Mount Etna, Roman Villa di Casale

SIRACUSA - again - Greek theater, performance by Zach

food

The food so far has been delicious! In particular, our favorites have been the straccitella gelato and arinchini which are fried rice balls with meat and cheese. Our favorite lunch consisted of some really good pasta, one that had a cream sauce with mushrooms and the other that was cooked with tomato and vegetable sauce. We also had caprese salad, which we all loved. The dinners have all been 3 courses, and we have enjoyed everything. The first course has been a type of risotto or pasta. The second course has typically been a meat dish of pork or chicken with fried potatoes. The third and final course has been fresh fruit, mainly oranges and/or a pastry. On some nights we go out for gelato and we all enjoy seeing Italy's nightlife. As a snack, we have gotten Kinder chocolate eggs, or a chocolate bar. We have all enjoyed spending time with one another however we also enjoy playing a game called Bananagrams. As well as playing banana-grams we usually all hang out in groups in the hallway, although roommates are typically two or three people. Today, after arriving in Selinunte and settling into our rooms, we explored the beach and most of us, regardless of the fact that it was 48 degrees, went into the Ionian Sea. It was so much fun however it was absolutely freezing! Tomorrow we are going to an archaeological site and seeing some Greek temples which would be very exciting!

Ciao for now!

Hannah and Ilana

Agrigento - la dolce vita at the spa

In Agrigento, several of the boys (Dan R., Peter, Bradley and JJ) decided to have a nice relaxing afternoon at the SPA. It was super coool. There were four different stations to go to at the spa. first was a small pool with different places where bubbles would be blown out and very comfy. after that, we went to the Turkish baths. It was pretty surprising when we first went in there because the ability to breath was greatly reduced. but after a minute of sitting it was very soothing. After the Turkish baths we were instructed to wash off. then we went to the sauna. For fifteen minutes we became progressively hotter and hotter. The fourth station was a great relief after the sauna; the arctic shower. it was short, but cooled us off and was very great.
Thanks you moms and dads for sending us here. We are having a great time.

SIRACUSA more - papyrus spring!! collecting sea glass at the beach!!

SIRACUSA

ARGRIGENTO -Roman Villa di Casale

Yesterday was absolutely amazing! The mosaics from the Roman Villa di Casale was spectacular as it featured a variety of images that depicted beautiful mythology. When we got back we relaxed for a couple o hours. There was also a hotel spa. The hotel was a great place to stay at. We really enjoyed the beautiful garden. At night, we took a moonlit stroll around the town, and went out to a local pastry shop. We were even able to view some of the ancient temples at night, when they were lit up.

Ciao,
Dana, Vince, and Brian

SIRACUSA - open air market, fish mongers

SIRACUSA - first night, hanging at the hotel, Italian students

TAORMINA

MESSINA - Ferry ride, bell tower, Odysseus sighting!

PIZZA AND GELATI IN REGGIO CALABRIA

Arrival - Reggio Calabria

Newark airport photos - day 1

Yay, I think I've got it.

Is it working???
Caryn

Agrigento... technical difficulties loading photos

All is well. Having a great time. Our hotel in Agrigento is 4 stars and has internet service. Blogging to come. A few technical difficulties linking photos. We are working on it and hope to have it up later tonight.
Ciao.
Caryn and Anne
p.s. feel free to comment or give advice on how to link our picasa web album to the blog. We would like to link a new photo album to the blog each day.

Siracusa - MONDAY

Today we went to Siracusa. We visited a 2nd century A.D. Roman amphitheater and a 5th century B.C. Greek theater. Some group members performed for us at the theater. We heard Zach's performance of The Princess Bride monologue said by the Sicilian, which fits in perfectly with our trip. Zara, Sophie, Hannah and I (Stephanie) performed the Periodic Table of Elements (our memorized song from science class - shout out to Mrs. Veraldi!). We also stopped along the way at an open market famous for its fish mongers. We were able to do some shopping for sunglasses and jewelry and experienced a true Sicilian market. There were also a lot of great fresh fruit and vegetables. Everything was fresh and delicious. We are having a very good time!
Ciao,
Stephanie, Zara, Hannah and Sophie

SIRACUSA - MONDAY

Today in Siracusa we went to an open market and bought some sunglasses and other stuff. Ian bought an ITALIA hat. Marina bought 1,2, 3, 4, 5, 6, ...9! rings. Tati bought sunglasses. We went to church. We felt a spiritual presence. We saw the confessionals, but we have no sins... or do we? JOKING! Marina ate aranchini. Ian ate beef. Tati ate salad. We collected sea glass at a beach. Zach performed at the Roman theater. It was good. We went into a cave in the stone quarries. It is called donkey's (really Dionysius's - a Greek tyrant) ear.


Tati, Marina and Ian

MESSINA-TAORMINA

Hey! Chelsea here. Today, after moving out of our old hotel and watching a really intricate bell tower chime, we arrived in Taormina. We took a bus up the mountainside and visited an ancient Greek/Roman theater where live concerts are still held to this day. It was a great photo opportunity and fun to listen to echoing shouts, despite the rain that started a little ways into our trip. Then in the little town we got some time to look around. The shops were great and diverse: clothing, jewelry, books, food and souvenirs. We ate lunch at one of a few cafes. One highlight of a menu was aranchini, a kind of fried rice ball with tomato sauce and cannoli, pastries with ricotta cheese and chocolate. Of course, there was also the ever-present pizza and getlato. After shopping and exploring the town for a few hours, we rode in Fabios bus to the Park Hotel in Siracusa, watching the smoke from a brief eruption from Mount Etna on the long bus ride. To our surprise, another school was staying at the same hotel as us. They were Italian high school students. After dinner, some of us hung out in the lobby and helped them practice English, our day ending with fun conversation.

MESSINA-TAORMINA

I think that the bell tower was my favorite of the day so far. It was really pretty, but I also liked when it started to play. I think the lion surprised me when it started, but I think the rooster was funny. It sounded so funny! But I liked the little people and angels when they started to move around. Messina is so pretty! I think Fabio was really smart to think of going to the bell tower. He is the most awesomest bus driver ever!!!!! I think even though the rooster sounded pretty weird, it comes in second place in my opinion. My first choice of favorites was when it started to play Ava Maria.

Shannon

MESSINA/TAORMINA

This is Michael, Dan and JJ checking in. On the way to our next destination, Fabio (our super awesome bus driver) wanted to give us a surprise that not even Dr. I, nor Mrs. Smith had ever seen. we stopped in the middle of a town (Messina) with a large church with a very intricate bell tower. We were all very surprised when a giant Kingish lion turned its head and roared at us. Down the whole bell tower other statutes were animated and doing cool things. (revert to photos, if there are any). after that, we had about a 30 minute bus ride through many tunnels which meant lots of held breaths, and arrived at a nice little town with a hefty (wimpy, wimpy, wimpy) amphitheater. After many "THIS IS SPARTAS" and "TONIGHT WE DINE IN HELLS", we left the amphitheater and had time to split into our groups of friends and explore the town. A few of us ate lunch at a restaurant with very good paninis and very good cannolis and VERY good gelati. JJ bought a boat (just saying) and we walked around until five. It was a long bus ride to the next hotel but we finally arrived in Siracusa, ate dinner and are now hanging out in the lobby BLOGGING.

Siracusa

just a quick note to let you know that we are all well and are enjoying our trip. our hotel in Siracusa does not have internet service, so we have not been able to post to the blog. We have been blogging though and we are saving it on Word. I am at an internet point right now and will try to post. hopefully our next hotel will have internet service and we can blog and post some photos. we have a lot of amazing photos.

Ciao.
Caryn

Shipley Gator "Waldo" goes along to on the MS Sicily Trip!

Day 1: Shipley Middle School departure to Newark, NJ airport.
overnight flight to Rome, then south to Reggio Calabria!
Shipley's Gator "Waldo" enjoyed the flight--he slept; then he had a front row seat in Fabio's purple bus; and he really enjoyed the pizza; and would have loved the Riace Bronzes but he was in a backpack...he's napping now. where will he be next?
see photos :) ciao for now, magistra!!!

P.S. We all arrived safely and our first hotel is lovely; all are good troopers who have already tasted "la dolce vita" (gelati, that is) and hearth-baked pizza, and fabulous art!

Museo Nazionale Di Reggio Calabria and Pizza and Gelato

Buon giourno! We just arrived at our hotel, which is magnificent. Most of our rooms are on the same floor, and after a long plane ride to Reggio Calabria, we were able to relax in our rooms before walking across the street to a pizza parlor. We had an amazing lunch, with delicious pizza: pizza margherita, pizza radicchio, zucchini blossom pizza, and french fries. The pizza was amazing, David said it was the best pizza he ever had! The interesting thing about Italy is the concept that you pay before you order: when ordering the pizza, we had to pay for what we were going to order, and then hand the receipt to the workers, who cut us slices from fresh baked pizza. Next we stopped for gelato as desert, with many different flavors combined. Last, we visited the National Museum of Reggio Calabria, home to the famous Riace Bronzes! We saw many different pottery, sculptures and bronze instruments of war and peace, dating back to as early as the Trojan War! We finally saw the amazing Riace Bronzes, warrior bronze sculptures found by the shoretime of Riace. After our trip to the museum, the tired Shipley travelers went back to their rooms for a rest and shower. Dinner is at 8:00!

Zach

Reggio Calabria, Saturday

Buon giourno, we have landed in Reggio Calabria. The plane ride was very long and tough to sleep on. I am very tired but still having fun! They showed Twilight on the plane ride over, and many people were excited. We are now on our way to visit a museum near the hotel, and we are all jumping with excitement. from the shipley school sicily trip,

Daniel and Billy

Test 2. Photo upload.

Test

This is a test of the 2009 Shipley Sicily Blog.

Ciao!