This summer, 10 Students and two faculty members are traveling to Italy to examine the Etruscan, Greek, Roman, medieval, renaissance and modern footprints on the Italian peninsula and in Sicily. Please enjoy this blog post below from Chelsea ’27 where she shares highlights from a memorable day that included a challenging island hike, refreshing swims, pistachio and pesca treats, and a joyful birthday celebration for Charlie.
I woke up at 7:37 am for an early 8:00 am departure to Panarea island to see the archeological site. Today is Charlie’s birthday, so we all wished her a happy birthday in the morning. We got on the boat around 8:45 and the minute we landed on Panarea island, we started to make our way to the archeological site. Little did we know, the site was a combined 2 hour hike that spanned the entire island. My phone recorded a total of 42 flights climbed over that hike alone. However, the view from the top of the island is stunning as the water in the sea was so clear that we could see the rocks and fishes. The site itself contained a few layers of rocks that were once the walls of the Panarea people who lived on that island. We learned that they were attacked by the people who lived on other coasts, which contributed to the scarcity of remains.
Following the site visit, Sophia ’26 and Charlie ’26 took a quick dip in the sea while Skylar ’27, Emily ’28, Suditi ’27, and I bought some drinks. Skylar and I ordered thé pesca, which is a peach tea that quickly became popular among our group. We took the boat back to Salina Island, where we met up with the people who didn’t go to the archeological site. Once the entire group was reunited, Torge ’27 and Jonathan ’28 showed us the interesting pea they found somewhere along the island. They reported feeling a slight numbness after eating the “peas.”
For lunch, I ordered clam pasta, and we all had granite (a type of slush) after our main meal. At this point of the trip, I’ve basically tried the pistachio flavor in every situation imaginable, (pizza, croissant, gelato, cream, cheese…) and the pistachio granite at that restaurant is too much. Ms. Delwiche agreed with me, saying that the almond and pistachio granite was like mixing crushed nuts with ice. However, the pesca granite was immaculate.
After lunch, we waited for the bus back to our hotel for approximately 50 minutes. During that wait, some members of our group tried to have a dance competition to entertain themselves, which turned out to be unsuccessful. Thankfully, the bus arrived just before we were about to walk 45 minutes to our hotel. We had a free afternoon, so Joshua ’26, Sophia, Charlie, Skylar, and I all jumped into the pool when we returned to our hotel, which felt amazing after climbing all over an island and being in the heat. After the pool, Skylar and I went to one of the beaches of Salina, which sadly had no sand but the water was crystal clear.
Following the beach, we went shopping around the streets of Salina, where vibrant houses, homemade ceramics, and cats filled the streets. This ceramic store caught my eye because the owners make every ceramic piece they sell and their products could be seen all over the island. Skylar and I probably spotted at least 20 cats on that street alone, but we had to proceed with urgency as Skylar wanted to put distance between her and the cats.
We rested and cleaned up at our hotel, which had bright yellow walls and lemon trees all over the property, giving it a quaint and homey feel. At 7:25, we left for dinner. It was a delicious fish restaurant with a view of the ocean. Once again, cats freely roamed the island, which included the restaurant. Unfortunately, that made some of our members uneasy at dinner, but that fear was forgotten when the food arrived. By the time dinner was coming to an end, it was already 9:10. We got ready to leave the restaurant, which everyone except Charlie knew was a ploy to hide the incoming chocolate cake for Charlie’s birthday. In Italy, you have to snap the candles in half or your wish wouldn’t come true, so Charlie snapped her candles in half.
After a long but joyous dinner, we tried to have 10 seconds of silence as a group since that was a challenge at dinner, which was a success. After our routine debrief, we promptly went to bed for an early departure. Sadly, our time in Sicily ends today but we look forward to being in mainland Italy tomorrow!
