A huge tree that's wider than 3 cars. I found this guy online who I think visited the same tree. He called it a "Moreton bay fig" and noted Sicily is the same latitude as San Francisco.

How?! There is no soil there between the ground and wall!

And it used to have a neighbor?!

Our professor said that in Italy, lemons grow as big as American onions and vice versa.

They really like chickpeas

ALIEN PLANTS! Turns out they're agave, like from South America! They only bloom like this once in their life.

Banana leaf...

With BANANAS!! Wow!! This was in the courtyard of the Archeological Museum!!

Jacarandas!!! Like from Disney's Encanto! My favorite color is purple and I obviously love trees, so ever since that movie came out, I've wished I could see one. But I thought they were only in South America! They're invasive in Sicily, but beautiful anyway, and I can't believe I just so happened to get to go when they were in bloom! Honestly a highlight for me.

This is NOT a Sycamore; I'm not sure what it is, but we also saw many sycamores this big. They're native to Virginia where I'm from; they're even mentioned in Pocahontas' "Colors of the Wind." And they're evidently good urban trees in other parts of the world too.

Succulents that grow outside! Just hanging off a balcony!

Magnolia, another Virginia tree

See that pine in the middle of the background? I think I've figured out it's Araucaria heterophylla or Norfolk island pine. We passed so many on the train but this was the best picture I got. So strange, like a fern almost, with those Seuss-like fluffy branches and gaps between them. But of course Italy has to have pines, with all the pignoli cookies and pine cone souvenirs (see the Art album). Our professor also in Italy, ticks aren't a concern unless you go through a forest. We walked through a field of tall grasses that looked like an ad for What Not To Do in America, and it was so freeing.

Beautiful ivy, that actually compromises the engineering integrity of the structure if it's pushing through the mortar, but ok I'll shut up

CACTI!! Like, like Arizona?? I've also never seen a real cactus like this, and it was so unexpected from ITALY. But they are all over, and they cook with the hot pink fruits, "Fico di India" or Indian fig. Here's a link to a company with a store we walked through that sells products scented like it. Notice the packaging is Roger's bedroom decor!

This was at the entrance to the Christian catacombs, which we weren't allowed to take pictures inside because they all belong to the Vatican (eye roll). I'm a squeamish person, not the type to visit anything creepy, but there were no skeletons. Just arches carved out over where they'd put bodies and then seal over them. There was some interesting paintings people did to mark their loved ones' spaces. We learned it was more desirable to have the plot at the crossroads so more people would walk by and pray for you to get in to heaven. This was also at a time when Christians had to hide their monotheism in the still mainly pagan country.

There's a Sycamore. There were a ton at Palazzo dei Normanni outside the Cappella Palatina.

Succulent of some sort I think

My dad has one of these jade plants in his office and has to take so much care with it... Here's one just growing easy out in the open.

More wild succulents

JMU flowers!!

The strange thing about these flowers is they had 3 petals

A REALLY old olive tree in the Valley of the Temples. Like 800 years. It's one thing to see churches built in the 1200s, but I also can't believe I saw a LIVING thing that old.

Even has a little olive on it

Aww

Pistachio tree! Tour guide said it was female, like it needs another nearby to actually produce nuts. Evidently pistachios are so abundant in Sicily that they don't consider them nuts; we learned this when my classmate who's allergic asked for pasta without nuts and got it topped with them anyway. Pistachios and lemons, so central to Sicilian culture, were brought by the Arabs though! Just like the architectural influence

Meadow beneath the temple

Ok, this is what I thought Italy looked like

Love this pond

I don't have a clue. Like a tree made of pumpkin seeds!

It's fuzzy and it looks like it's gonna reach out and strangle you

Storybook bark!

Ok but THIS bark is weirder!! Here's a link, it's a Silk Floss Tree. They were planted along the sidewalk, like anyone running by could accidentally poke their eye out!

The bulbous base of the Silk Floss tree

Lean left guys

An orange tree casually growing above this path near the Roman Villa

A palm tree in the cloister in Cefalù!