Worlds collide in Erice - palermo, cefalu, taormina

It has been a few days since I posted and there is so much to update!

I fell sick after being very dehydrated a few days ago after going up to Erice to meet with my friend who was at a conference on the Evolution of Morality. What a fantastic and picturesque hill top town to have a conference in! Amazing.

The next day we travelled to Palermo and spent the day walking about, looking at the old cathedrals and theatres. We stayed at 'Your Hostel' and the owners were very friendly and recommended us some amazing retaurants. That night, we found a bottle of wine to drink of the rooftop terrace.

At the moment, Sicily is not very busy. This is nice because we often book 6 bed dorm rooms and they end up being private. The downside is there are fewer tourists to meet along the way.

This afternoon we went to Cefalu, a seaside resort town, to spend a few hours on the beach soaking up the sun and reading. After getting a nice burn, we continued to Taormina.

Taormina was the first place we had any trouble booking a hostel, as there is a film festival on right now, so we ended up in a neighbouring town called Giardini Naxos, at The Gianni House. It is a big place, and again the 6 person dorm is empty.

Taormina is a hilltop town, but Giardini Naxos is right by the shore. It is beautiful here, and we will stay a few days. Tonight we found a nice pizzaria on the boardwalk and watched the Spain vs. France Eurocup game. I could eat pizza and Caprese salads all day.... and I do!

On the way back to the hostel, we passed by a Discotequa that is like an original Jersey Shore type of club. Girls all dressed up in stilletos and men who are dress very... shiney. We contemplated stopping in, just for fun, and a few Americans at the hostel wanted to go, however there was a large line and not knowing the culture or being dressed up, I was intimidated.

I remember going to clubs in Tel Aviv a few years ago and having my friend who was living in Israel take care of leading me through the protocols for smoothly entering and getting 'chosen' to enter the clubs. Like in Tel Aviv, the club here did not have a line, but a mob out front. Maybe they would have been sympathetic to tourists, but we decided to just take it easy instead.

I plan to dive tomorrow morning, so stoked!

Bonjourno Sicilia

Having slept until a decent hour of 10am, I went with the Danish girl from my hostel to breakfast down the road. Fresh fruit, a croissant and a cafe latte. Somehow, all three were better than what I normally consume in Montreal.

My biggest accomplishments today were getting: a functional micro sim for my iPhone and a nice sun burn.

I went to a shop called TIM, the first phone store I stumbled upon. After talking to the man in his broken English, supplemented by my terrible Italian, I ended up paying 19 Euros for the micro sim, 500mb of internet (which may or may not work abroad as well...), and an SMS that informed me I have 14 Euro credit for talking. I feel like this is a great deal, but I will not know until it suddenly runs out either before or after anticipated. Unfortunatly, people are already texting me on this number wondering where the person who had this number before me is; if I could write in Italian I would try and clear up the misunderstanding.

I spent the rest of the day burning on the beach with two Finnish girls from the hostel.

I had a lovely view! To catch more photos, follow me on Instagram @nancella

The town of Trapani is quite small, and there were suprisingly few tourists (at least non-Italian speaking ones who stood out).

In the evening, it was recommended to go to the point to watch sunset, however it was the most unspectacular thing I have seen, as last minute the clouds rolled in.

Off to Erice in the morning!

Arrival in Trapani

I safely arrived in Trapani, Sicily 3 hours ago via Ryanair from Frankfurt-Hanh airport. The flight was terrible, the Ryanair clientel made me lose faith in Europe and reminded me of why I love North America. With no reserved seats, people were pushy and rude, jumping in line and disrespecting the flight crew.

Anyways, back to Italy...a friend who was here just a few days ago suggested I print a map to the AlterEgo hostel I am staying at as it is tricky to find.

Taking the shuttle bus from the airport, I had a 15 minute walk to the hostel through the narrow walkways of the city. Since it was already 10pm, I was unsure if I should be afraid walking alone down the quiet streets. I survived the walk, passsing by a cat, a dog, a man in only his underwear, and a cafe full of people watching soccer.

The street my hostel was on was small, and the hostel sign was made with black marker on plywood. I rang the bell a few times before I am buzzed in and a woman greets me and leads me inside. There is one other person here tonight, a female from Denmark on her way out. So tonight, I am alone in a dimly lit hostel in Sicily on a small bunkbed in an empty room. What a contrast to my time in Germany! (will update that eventually).

It is already evident my German is much better than my Italian, so for the rest of the evening I will learn a few phrases and go explore Trapani tomorrow.

The excuse (as if one is needed...)

Every story has multiple beginnings. To not start at my birth, I start back in 2009. In 2009 I did a year abroad in Paris, my first time living and traveling alone. (You can read about that year at http://nanceinfrance.blogspot.com). To sum it up, it was the BEST year I could have asked for (minus some drama that I did not blog about). I made good friends and got to experience Europe. I left in the summer of 2009 and returned to Vancouver. As soon as I left Europe, I knew I would have to go back and see everyone I had met, and revisit the places I had seen, and of course, I wanted to see more.

Over the next two years, I did small trips, but getting to Europe is expensive and I had no good excuses to go. Last summer I managed a trip to Thailand and Laos. This September I moved to Montreal to begin grad school at Concordia University, where the year runs all year round, but I knew that this summer I had to make it back to Europe.

The excuse:  London 2012 and a wedding.

During Vancouver 2010 I worked with NBC Olympics, doing the exciting job of logging video. Ok, the job was not that fun, but the environment was amazing and the city lit up and was more vibrant than anything I had experienced. It was great. Adding to the travel bug, I got the Olympic bug. Before deciding on Montreal, I eyed schools in London, just to give me an excuse to work at the games again. Over the past year, I applied to positions at NBC Olympics again, looked for jobs in London and day dreamed about it all. This past winter, I spotted on the Canadian Olympic Committee website opportunities to volunteer for the games, so I applied, and it was through this that I got a position in communications for London. So exciting!

At about the same time as my application, I learned my godmother was wedding in Frankfurt in June, so this was the perfect excuse to actually get over to Europe and spend my entire summer there! While I should be working on my research proposal now for grad school, I could not give up this opportunity to jet back to Europe. I will write about my research through this blog as well, as I flesh it out (exciting!)

So with two great excuses, and plenty of family and friends to visit in Europe, I am here for the summer. The wedding happened this past week and I have plenty to write about Frankfurt, Bad Homburg and all the spargel I ate while there.

I am off to Sicily now, to catch up with a friend at a conference on the Evolution of Morality. People find the location of this conference to be amusing, I will find out in the next few days if the stereotypes are true, and learn the history to contextualize the area.

For now, I hope this RyanAir flight goes smoothly!

1st post.

Hello!
My 66 day Europe adventure has already begun. Join me as explore!
Can't wait to get this going, already so much to share!