Since I spent most of my time in cities this week, I did not see too many animals this week, but while in Rome, I did meet Nina, a police dog-in-training that a friend was working with.
This week, I did a tour of Italy's olive orchards. I got the chance to meet with an olive oil producer and to see how olives are grown and pressed to make oil. This process of making olive oil is so central to the culture in certain parts of Italy that whole towns are virtually made up of farming families. Olive orchards cover huge areas of land, essentially taking over whole hillsides in some parts of the countryside. Fresh olive oil is different here; it is almost completely opaque and green because it is less processed than the typical olive oil we find in the U.S.A. And although olive oil which is colored this distinctively may not look great to American eyes, it tastes absolutely delicious!
Right beside Sicily's capital city Palermo is the famous beach of Mondello. Even though it was not very warm on the day I visited this beach, I loved being able to escape to nature by taking a short 30 minute bus ride from the hustle and bustle of the city. The best part of this was that I arrived right at sunset!
