SICILY

 April 25, 2023

Partly cloudy, Hi 68 deg F


We would love to spend a week or so here in Sicily.   It is a beautiful Island with rugged mountainous terrain and beautiful beaches.   Villages dot both the hillsides and the beach areas.   The eastern side of Sicily is dominated by Mount Etna, an active volcano whose ash has made the countryside fertile for growing oranges, olives, lemons, grapes, olives, pistachios and more.   


Our ship docked in Messina in the northeast corner of the island.   Just across the strait approximately 1.9 miles is the mainland of Italy.   Messina is the city where the Allies drove the German and Italian troops off the island in 1943.   In fact, today, April 23 is a holiday here for celebrating the liberation of Sicily from the Fascist regimes.   The movie Patton dramatizes the campaign where the Allies landed on the southern tip of Sicily and General Patton led his troops Northwest across Sicily and then East while Field Marshal Montgomery led the British troops North along the coast.   It was a race to Messina.   Patton and the Americans won by about 8 hours.   It is also the setting for the Godfather films. 


We took a tour south toward Catania on the coast and then into the foothills of Mount Etna, where we stopped at a place that collects and sells honey which we sampled.  The fertile hillsides are all terraced to accommodate citrus and olives trees, grape vines, pistachios, etc.  We visited one of the oldest wineries in the region which is located below the volcanic activity.  Our guide at the winery told us that this region is similar to the Oregon wine country, although the volcanic ash gives the wine distinctive properties.   The region is also known for its champagne.   Mount Etna almost always spews stuff from the magma core, but the locals feel safe because pressure is continuously bleeding off reducing the possibility of a big bang like Vesuvius.  We were able to walk on one of the more recent side eruption areas. 


                            Entrance to Harbor at Messina

                                 Downtown Messina from the ship

                   Another view of downtown Messina

            First view in the morning of Mount Etna


                 Afternoon at Mount Etna--more active with sulfurous cloud spewing out.

                      Another view of Mount Etna with vineyard in the foreground

   1992 eruption: lava flowed close to a village.   House wasn't damaged but it was close.

                 Lava Man

         Vineyard at Murgo Winery


                More vineyard

                    Village at base of mountain along coastal highway

                 Lemon trees at Murgo Winery

Massive cruise ship parked in front of us.  Holds 6,000 passengers; 1,200 crew...a floating city.  You can't see it but there is a spiral slide that drops 11 stories in the middle between the two sections. 


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