All posts by Sydney De Lora

Fun In The Beating Sun

Agrigento, Italy, Mt. Etna, Sicily, , ,

Hello everyone,

Man has it been busy these past few days! I have probably had the best time on this trip so far. You have probably heard my dad’s point of view of the past few days so here is my view:

We wake up early in Taormina to get onto a little while of a drive to Mount Etna. Yes you heard me right, the volcano. I have to admit I was a little nervous when we got there I mean your about to go close to the top of an active volcano. Pretty nerve racking if you ask me. First we took a (ski) lift to about 7,000 feet I think and then took a bus up to about 10,000 feet . We were very high up and with that came with an amazing view! I absolutely enjoyed the volcano hike! I got to put my hand into the little hot pockets and find volcanic rock to bring home! I even found iron, this was by far the best adventure I have had on any vacation I have ever been on. I mean the sense of adventure and the thrill of being somewhere way more dangerous than you have ever been before is just, the most amazing feeling ever. Anyway, after we hiked up a steep hill in the volcano and I got tons of rocks. We decided to head back to the buses to drive us down. Once at the bottom our guide took us to a friend of his place to have lunch. Almost everything was made there. There were different jams, cheeses and wines (as if I would know how it tasted), it was amazing and delicious. After we got to visit his old winery which was surprisingly very deep underground. Then started the 3 hour drive to Agragento.

Now we come to the present day. Sadly Mom was not feeling so well so only me and my dad went to the ruins. Let me give you a brief history lesson. Gods on greek side: Zeus, Hera, Hercules, Apollo etc. etc. Gods on Roman side: Juno, Jupiter, Neptune, Mars etc. etc. Ok, done. We visited 7 temples of the gods a lot of them were for Jupiter ( Zeus) but others were for Juno and Hercules. After the tour we relaxed by the pool and went into town where we ate dinner by a mini fair that reminded me of the one in Paris. That leads me to where sadly I must stop for today and look forward to another wonderful day!

 

Impressions of Malta

Island of Malta, Malta, Valletta

Hello Everyone!,

Today will be my first post for the blog.

Thanks to getting to Valetta early we were able to go the War rooms after checking in. On the way there we took an accidental tour due to bad directions. After a lot of stairs, we made it to the War rooms. I personally think that the rooms so far were the most interesting part of the trip, as my dad would put it we have continued our adventure of World War II stories from different views around the world. Seeing the defense of Malta room and the place for planning the invasion of Sicily was intriguing. After the museum we got ice cream and sat at the famous pub where sadly the famous actor Oliver Reed died after multiple drinks. We met some nice people who had boats from Greece and sailed all the way here from there! I got to check upstairs to their”well decorated” bathroom had many signatures on the wall. We walk back to the room for a quick rest then out to dinner. Did i mention that MTV Malta was going on while we were there? There were many people playing like Omi, Echo smith, Tori Kelly, Jason Derulo and Martin Garrix. Dinner was great and i got a couple of hours of listening to the concert.

Today we had a nice walk into town and visited 2 churches, the first was gigantic with many other mini chapels to honor those who have helped the church. Along with that there was a museum with 23 tapestries. The second chapel i actually thought was better than the first it was a simple chapel for sailers and fishing people. There were candles and to remember Uncle Gene I lit one to let him know wherever he is, that we will always miss him and remember the good times we all had. It had been super hot so we got a quick snack and went to the room to relax. We then headed to dinner where i FINALLY got my octopus that i waited for this whole trip! The dinner was delicious and after that this led to me where i am right now typing this entry for you guys!

I hope you guys enjoyed this little update from my side! I look forward to writing more! posts!

— Syd