Posted by evan on Wednesday, May 17, 2017 in 2017 Blog post.

Experience Blog 2

Last Sunday brought us all across the island, first heading to the interior to see Piazza Armerina and then to the southern coast to Agrigento. These sites would give us a look at how Romans played a role in Sicilian life while also show how they could preserve Greek temples.

At first, the home at Piazza Armerina looked simple enough. Intricate mosaics covered the bathhouse floors at the Roman villa but the size alone appeared underwhelming. As our group explored the villa though, I slowly began to realize the true size of the Roman villa. Massive corridors ran alongside the courtyards with each room having a unique purpose. While the size certainly impressed me, the details of the floor mosaics were even more amazing. As seen in the picture below, they were wonderfully artistic and I tried to imagine how painstakingly long it would have taken to put in each piece of stone into plaster.

Mosaic of Odysseus vs. Cyclops

After leaving the villa, we went to a spectacular pizza buffet villa. Pizza after pizza came out and I simply had to try them all. Even pizzas I thought I would never like (anchovies) came out in majestic form. While America can have occasionally good but mostly cheap pizzas, pizza in Sicily is truly an art form with so many different styles. I don’t think I’ll ever grow tired of Sicilian pizza.

After a short ride to the ruins of Agrigento, we were met with a rather eccentric tour guide. He kept us thoroughly engaged throughout the tour using unique techniques, such as drawing on the ground with rocks, jumping over walls to show us pieces of tiles, and hammering sandstone on rock to demonstrate his point of weak rock. Ultimately, the ruins of the Valley of the Temples (though they were definitely on hills) showcased the architecture of Greek temples. Interestingly enough, one temple was particularly well preserved due to its temporary conversion to a Christian church.

Tour Guide Drawing

One key difference between American and Sicilian culture is their art form. For the most part, I’ve seen paintings, oil canvases, and abstract sculptures across America. Here in Sicily, mosaics, frescoes and temples dot the landscape. This difference can certainly be attributed to the age difference between the two cultures but I still find it striking that art and architecture in Sicily is much more based on ancient times. I struggle to think of a place similar to old Sicilian temples in America. However, the presence of large homes outside of farms runs parallel to plantations during the 1800s. Both the villa and American plantations were quite lavish as slaves toiled outside to bring profit to their landowners. The system remained much the same between the two examples.

However, the most important conclusion is that Sicilian pizza is so much better than American pizza.

Easy E checking out