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Our 40th in Taormina, Sicily
Volcanic Mount Etna & Sicily’s Legendary Resort
Villa Romana del Casale and the Island of Ortygia
On Friday, we were on our way to the island of Ortygia which is the historical center of Siracusa, Sicily. We also decided to make a side-trip to Piazza Armerina. The world’s most comprehensive set of Roman mosaics is found in the outskirts of this town. The archaeological site is known as Villa Romana del Casale which is somewhat difficult to find due to lack of signage and a confused GPS. Apparently, the specifics of the villa’s history are largely lost to history, but experts have dated its origin to around the 4th century AD. It’s believed to have been either the hunting lodge for the Roman aristocracy or the home of a single politician. Apparently, there aren’t enough clues to indicate the real owner(s).
We walked along on high platforms above the rooms and were able to see a number of rooms laid out with these incredible mosaic floors. We thought that the “Corridor of the Hunt” was the most impressive floor. As you can see in the picture below, soldiers battle with tigers, then lead them onto ships bound for Rome where they fight against gladiators in Roman colosseums. Other parts of the “Hunt” depict a group of soldiers trying to pull a hippopotamus out of the water, and a wounded lion jumping onto a soldier. It is difficult to gain an appreciation of these fabulous mosaics unless one actually sees them in person. No doubt, it took many years to create all these incredible masterpieces.
Our favorite and probably the most popular mosaic was the so-called “Bikini Girls”. In a fairly small, square room, ten wonderfully preserved and scantily clad Roman beauties are engaging in various athletics such as discus-throwing, running and playing with a ball. The girl in the center, apparently the winner, is presented with a golden crown. We were shocked to see women in bikinis depicted in a mosaic back “in the day”.
The Villa Romana (a UNESCO site) was recently renovated and is one of the most popular sites in Italy. In order to view each mosaic floor, one has to almost stand in a slow line. Luckily, the crowds today were manageable. The place must be unbearable during the summer with undoubtedly lengthy lines with many hours standing in a line to view these beautiful mosaic floors.
When we booked out hotel, we had no idea that the hotel was actually a B&B. We booked it because it had almost a “10” rating (10 is tops) on Trip Advisor. This B&B was not your typical B&B because it was not in someone’s home. It was actually in a small renovated building and lived up to it’s high rating. We had a very upscale, modern suite with a sitting room and large bedroom.
The Valley of the Temples
Hilltop Views & A Farmland Temple
We then decided to visit the Greek ruins of Segesta. The Romans and the Arabs eventually took possession of Segesta and it was completely abandoned sometime during the middle ages. This desertion allowed the ruins to survive relatively untouched. It was fascinating to see the remains of three distinct time periods laid bare.
The primary attraction here is a large Doric Greek temple sitting on a hillside in the farm lands. It is one of the most well-preserved Greek temples in the entire world. One could be easily be fooled into thinking that the temple was built one hundred years ago instead of twenty-six hundred! It is interesting that the non-fluted columns were a series of 3-4 ft high cut stones set on top of each other versus the one piece Roman columns seen elsewhere. It may have been because of the type of stone, cutting or moving technology that may have differed between the periods. There was never a roof on this temple. It is noteworthy that this exceptional Greek temple was built in this predominately non-Greek town. We read an interesting summary about Segesta. It seems that the city had been looking to Athens for assistance in its struggle against Selinute (another area of ruins, we did not visit). To insure the Greeks would be visibly impressed with Segesta’s size and importance, a Greek temple was quickly constructed. Once the alliance was secured, the town people never bothered to complete the temple.
Gibellina: The 1968 Quake & A “Dream in Progress”
We were off to visit Erice and Segesta in Sicily on Wednesday, when Lesley stumbled upon information about two fascinating cities that we just had to include in today’s itinerary. The towns are not really “tourist sites” and it was quite difficult to find the old town of Gibellina. There wasn’t too much information about the old or new city that we could find on the internet. The story behind these sister towns is so interesting, we decided to do a separate blog about our experience.
The “Dream in Progress” is the name of the project given to the “new” village of Gibellina Nuova which was built about 11 miles away from the old Gibellina town. The old Gibellina was destroyed by the 1968 earthquake. The new town clearly seems to be ONLY a Dream. It is an architectural vanguard in which many architects were involved in the designing of the buildings. The result? A very abstract place, almost metaphysical. We initially visited Gibellina Nuova. There was clearly a sadness hanging over this cement city and we left quite dispirited. The city seems to be without an identity due to its deserted school, wide empty streets and many homes that appeared to be abandoned and in major disrepair. We hardly saw a sole and there were no shops or restaurants open. This ghost city is an open-air museum with crazy pieces of modern sculptures that were gifted from artists and adorn every piazza and road junction. The wild looking church in the center of town was surrounded by weeds and appeared to be closed down.
When the January 1968 earthquake struck, it affected 10 townships but the old Gibellina was right in the epicenter of the quake and experienced total destruction. Old Gibellina is where the largest loss of life occurred. The citizens of old Gibellina were crowded in prefabricated buildings for over 10 years at the foot of their destroyed town while they waited for their new city to be built. Prestigious architects, city planners and well-known artists were called in to contribute to the “Dream of Progress”. From what we have read, the newer modern city (with running water, unlike most of old Gibellina) was an alien place to the old Gibellina citizens. The new Gibellina was supposedly built as a showcase for a “modern” city.
The old Gibellina was very challenging to find due to lack of signage and lack of available GPS coordinates. It was rather a scary drive due to many holes and big dips on the side of the road with weeds overflowing onto the narrow lane. It felt like we were going to drive off the side of the road around every curve. Needless to say, around every curve Lesley wanted to turn around and David loved the wild adventure. The road was spooky and very eerie. Upon arrival, we were flabbergasted at what we saw; as, we initially laid eyes on the valley of old Gibellina.
The artist Alberto Burri visited Gibellina at the invitation of a fellow artist. This visit culminated in the most incredible “artpiece”, so to speak. The “cretto”, which is a vast labyrinth cement work of art, spreads over 29 acres and traces the streets covering the ruins of old Gibellina. The devastation was turned into one of the largest “sculptures” in the world! It was the most bizarre thing we have ever seen. It was getting dark and Lesley continued to be ‘spooked” by this adventure; so, we remained in the car. You could actually “walk the streets” of old Gibellina within this ugly concrete and white structure. After our visit, we googled what this mass of concrete represented. We couldn’t believe that this anonymous concrete edifice was used to commemorate the deceased kin.
This visit to both townships was a spellbinding experience and one we will not forget.
Brothels, Engagement & Snow
Mt. Vesuvius is still active and some experts predict that it will erupt again within 10 years. There is a very steep and winding road up to the path to Mt. Vesuvius where we passed volcanic ash and lava flows. Mt. Vesuvius is probably the best vantage point to admire the Bay of Naples There were many clouds and low visibility today, but we still decided to take the hike up to the top of the mountain. Steam pours out of the rocks and, at times, you can smell the sulfur. As we climbed higher, the clouds rose and, although it was not sunny, we could see Naples, Sorrento and the bay below us. The views were amazing. After the short but steep climb of 45 minutes, the winds picked up and it became increasingly colder. We scurried up the mountain before anyone in our group; so, we were the first to arrive back to the bus when snow started falling. The tour operator freaked out and hustled everyone back in so that we wouldn’t “get stuck” on the mountain. Obviously that was overkill – a mile down the road it was all rain.
The other highlight was “the engagement”. On the top of Vesuvius, David saw a young Canadian couple from our tour kissing and she was fiddling with her left ring finger. We walked over & offered our congratulations and took pictures for them moments after he had proposed. She hadn’t expected the proposal and now they have pictures of “almost” the moment!
Amazing Amalfi
On Saturday, we paid a visit to the charming town of Amalfi to do some trekking. It just had started sprinkling when we caught the Sita bus to Amalfi right in front our hotel – very convenient! We thought about renting a car while we were here; but, we were so glad we listened to all the recommendations not to drive the Amalfi Coast. When we arrived here, it didn’t seem to be a harrowing drive from Sorrento (which is almost the start of the Amalfi Coast) to Praiano. The bus ride from Praiano to Amalfi was a totally different experience. The road was particularly narrow, scary, exhilarating and extremely curvy with phenomenal views. The bus was always only inches from the cliffs on one side and cars just inches from the bus on the other side. It was an entertaining ride.
Captivating Capri!