Sicily- More Taormina

Mt. Etna

Amphitheater

March 21, 2014

Tale of Destruction

Our wake-up call never came but David was up already. I was in such a sound sleep he had to shake me. I really didn't "come to" until two hours into our walking tour. That aside, our guide, Chiara, was knowledgeable & pleasant. I don't know how she traipsed the streets, steps, cobblestones, & hills in her stack-heel shoes, but that's an Italian woman for you.

Sun shone as we strolled to the Corvaja Palace where she began our orientation with a brief history of Sicily, a land the size of Vermont.  What used to be a densely forested land with three verdant mountain ranges was reduced to barren mountain sides, eroded terrain, & altered climate threatening farmers, industries, & human well-being. Here's how it happened.

The story begins with our walk to the Roman baths. Briefly, Greeks settled here, more Greeks came who didn't get along with those who were here. There was a great show of ostentation to prove to the folks at home that those who left to seek their fortune actually found it. Romans heard of this great place & forced the Greeks out building on their foundations. Romans managed to maintain a united front & hung on.

Our first stop was the Roman baths. Now, we've seen these structures many times before in other lands, but Chiara was good at painting a picture of a culture using minutia & trivia that brought things to life. As we gazed at the bricks that formed the baths, she pointed to a nearby wall of large square stones. The contrast was to teach us that if it's big, stacked, blocks it's Greek. If it's red brick, it's Roman.

Before we slam the Romans we have to credit them with creativity. They were clean. They bathed at least every other day (ok that might have been part of the problem).  They used thin sponges as disposable toilet paper (whoops, another part of the problem)  & their slaves did laundry by recycling urine mixed with ash & stomping on the mess a la wine making.  But alas, Roman baths needed to be heated, bronze had to be smelted, temples had to be built, bricks had to be made in kilns. This all took fire. Forests disappeared. Reforestation wasn't thought of. Seasons shifted & voila! Sicily came into the 21st century minus its fertile land & the proud keeper of oil refineries. Enter increased cancer rates.

Play It Again

We passed the Odeon (mainly for musical entertainment) & went up to the Greek theater. There is little to identify it as Greek but Chiara explained the contrast. Greeks built with views in mind so the rear wall had been low to take advantage of the backdrop of the Bay of Naxos & Mt. Etna. Most Greeks saw two performances a year. Each performance consisted of three tragedies & one comedy. These day long events started with animal sacrifice & a bar-b-cue big enough to feed all attendees (10,000 in this theater). Greek plays taught morals & consequences of not following the law. Subjects ranged from pitfalls of marrying your mother to penalties for killing your children. Homicide was considered such a horrible offense the act was never shown on stage. Instead it was reported by the chorus in gory detail to further discourage that heinous act.

Roman theater was primarily entertainment & comedic. Actors were of a lower class & naked prostitutes were used to lure the crowds. Performances were free as a diversion from the problems of the citizenry. When interest waned in acting, action was amped up in gladiatorial games & public executions. So many lions were used in both that the lion population of N. Africa was almost depleted.

Ancient history behind us, we were brought up to date on the gay community here. The son of a wealthy German came to establish his own identity. He took up photography & became the early 20th century Maplethorpe of Taormina. His photos of naked men are still shown in galleries.

We'd asked about local Jewish history & it's pretty typical. Before Jerusalem was destroyed, Jews migrated to Taormina. They got along with the Romans until Romans became Christians. When Arabs came on the scene things went swimmingly for Jews while the Arabs fought each other. The Inquisition brought a halt to all that & Arabs helped ferry Jews to safety in Istanbul where there's still a viable Jewish community today. What's left here is one sign marking the Ghetto, extraneous Jewish stars in two buildings, & St. Michael's Church at the edge of the ghetto built to guard the Christians from the Jewish "scourge."

Lunch was at Malvasia, recommended by Chiara. They started out by serving complementary cazzilli (mini potato croquets) to win us over. We followed that with very good pizza & were introduced to caponata, a Sicilian grilled vegetable dish in tomato sauce.

Complicating the Simple

Giardini Naxos was on the agenda for the afternoon. It was to be a simple funicular ride down to the beach area, but the tram was closed so we opted for a bus. We'd gotten what we thought was conflicting advice on which bus to take, but I think we mixed up directions to different places.  We sorted it out after the ticket seller thought we were challenging his knowledge (I guess I sounded pretty sure of what bus to take) & refused to sell us tickets. We let some time elapse & eventually he relented & sold them to us. We had no idea how far it was & the circuitous ride down the winding road we'd driven up yesterday was that much more exciting in a huge city bus. We had not a clue which way to go when we arrived at the bottom so sought help from a friend. Conrad Hilton provided our refuge & the nice folks at that hotel called to be sure the site was open.

The site turned out to be an easy (read level ground) stroll away & we were happy to learn we were eligible for the senior rate. Free. The ruins of Naxos, the first Greek settlement in the area (mid-750's), was now hidden in an orange grove. Being Floridians & having my parents & Judi's in the citrus business, we immediately noted oranges & lemons growing on the same trees. No surprise to us. They used lemon roots (stronger) & grafted the oranges onto them. We walked down mown paths & dirt lanes smelling newly cut grass to see what passed for a few rock walls (some only two feet high) marking foundations & lots of conjecture about what was where. David entertained us by guessing along with the archaeologists & came darned close. Judi copped an orange & we paid dearly for her transgression. It was the most sour fruit I've ever tasted. We both spit it out but my mouth burned. We found the museum in time to turn back to the bus stop. No loss there. We missed that bus but found a gelateria. What bliss!

When the bus arrived I didn't want to deal with our uphill bus ride in the dark so went to sleep. When I awoke the Bay of Naxos lay below circled by the lights of the town. Stunning. We trekked uphill (did I mention that everything is uphill?) to our hotel to ask about a restaurant. We lurched over to look at that menu & decided it was too pricey. Exhausted, we stumbled across the road & entered Ristorante Pizzeria Taormina. Not a distinctive name, but the best pizza so far. Judi had  marvelous pasta & we called it a night.

Then David decided to take a look at Mt. Etna in the dark. Wow! It has been erupting since January of this year. Not to worry. The lava is very thick & moves so slowly it hardens before it can get near civilization. Tonight the show on top was brilliant. We could clearly see red rivers meandering down the side with occasional bolts of brightness illuminating new explosions. Then we really called it a night.

Tomorrow we'll drive ourselves up to Castelmola & Savoca, towns overlooking Taormina.

Toby