sicily.
sicily was so insanely fun. after the rude awakening that the car we had rented turned out to be a stick shift, we thought we were out of luck. no one drives automatic in italy (or europe in general). keep this in mind if you come visit. however, we were able to find one with the help of a new friend and plenty of euros, and we hit the road. we travelled along the western coast to the southern town Agrigento. here we visited the most incredible collection of greek ruins. we were told that it is the best place to find greek architecture outside of greece, and i can definitely believe it.
we drove through the countryside, stopping at fruit stands and to take pictures along the way. sicily has the best fruit in the world, by the way. our drive was full of winding roads through the mountainside and shouts of "i can't believe we are here!". We stayed in Palermo the next two nights and our days were filled with wandering the streets and visiting churches, catacombs, markets, and gelati shops.
after Palermo, we headed back to Trapani on the west coast for our flight the next day. along the way, we decided we couldn't miss the chance to go to a sicilian beach. we literally stumbled upon one, and spent the afternoon trying to get tan and jumping around. *apparently jumping pictures are huge everywhere...*
one of the best things about sicily was the sicilian people. they were the most helpful and generous people i have ever come across. we received free food and plenty of help with directions everyday - it was incredible to see how different a population can be, simply because of where they are from. the hardest part about the trip to sicily was having to get on the plane! however, i had to get home and prepare myself because...
visitors!
this last week my sisters terese and anne, terese's boyfriend aaron, and my boyfriend kurt all came to malta to see this little country i now call home. it was so much fun having them here. i brought them to all my local haunts, and i think they finally understand what i mean when i say malta is the most bizarre place in the entire world.
unfortunately, i was having so much fun with everyone, that my camera barely made it out of the bag. which is really sad because before they left, we spent a weekend in paris!
paris.
paris was everything i have ever imagined it to be. i've loved every place i have had the chance to travel to, but they are always pretty different from what my imagination has created about them. paris looked exactly how i thought it would; paris tasted just how i thought it would; paris smelled like what you imagine paris to smell like. we packed a lot into the short time we were there: notre dame, sainte-chapelle, hotel de ville, the Rodin museum, the d'orsay, the louvre, the touleries, the petit palais, sacre-coeur, the pompidou centre, pere lachaise cemetary, ahh. i could go on...
everywhere i went, i kept falling in love with paris. walking around in that city simply feels different. paris was rainy and cold, it was expensive, and it was hard not knowing french - and i still loved every second of it. it was hard coming back -- both because of paris, and because it is where i bid adieu to my sisters and kurt. ho hum. but it was such an amazing trip. i'm so glad you guys came!
oh, and look what kurt and i stumbled upon! the picture! no one had told me it was on a theater building...it is so creepy....(for those of you who don't know the back story, sophie found this painting in paris. the quality in this isn't the best, but if you look closely from left to right, you will see sophie block, brigid o'rourke, kurt schmidt, bob galligan, mark mccloughan, and claire hill...weird, huh?)
and now i am officially back in malta for a week. i have so much to do before i leave on spring break! egypt in 5 days! i'll be there for five days, and then i fly to athens for some greek culture and history before heading to the islands to hop around on beaches and experience greek orthodox easter in santorini. hooray!*my saddest realization: they do not stamp passports anymore! i haven't gotten a single stamp since i arrived in malta. i am actually really devastated about this. no one is going to believe i did this without documented proof...you guys, i swear this is real.
i miss you all so much. i'm officially half done here. unbelievable.
xoxoxox, claire
