Theatre of the Greeks and Romans

A rainy tour of the theatre at Taormina but a beautiful setting overlooking the sea.  The following is the description from Wikipedia. 


"But by far the most remarkable monument remaining at Taormina is the Ancient theatre, which is one of the most celebrated ruins in Sicily, on account both of its remarkable preservation and of the surpassing beauty of its situation. It is built for the most part of brick, and is therefore probably of Roman date, though the plan and arrangement are in accordance with those of Greek, rather than Roman, theatres; whence it is supposed that the present structure was rebuilt upon the foundations of an older theatre of the Greek period. With a diameter of 109 metres (after an expansion in the 2nd century), this theatre is the second largest of its kind in Sicily (after that of Syracuse); it is frequently used for operatic and theatrical performances and for concerts. The greater part of the original seats have disappeared, but the wall which surrounded the whole cavea is preserved, and the proscenium with the back wall of the scena and its appendages, of which only traces remain in most ancient theatres, are here preserved in singular integrity, and contribute much to the picturesque effect, as well as to the interest, of the ruin. "

Catania and the Fish Market

The diet in Sicily is heavily fished based.  While in Catania we visited the fish market.   Primarily fish but also other fresh items.  

My Favorite Place In Sicily

On Sunday we visited the Valley of the Temples.

The following is from Wikipedia:

"The Valle dei Templi (English: Valley of the Temples, Sicilian: Vaddi di li Tempri) is an archaeological site in Agrigento (ancient GreekAkragas), Sicily, southern Italy. It is one of the most outstanding examples of Greater Greece art and architecture, and is one of the main attractions of Sicily as well as a national monument of Italy. The area was included in the UNESCO Heritage Site list in 1997. Much of the excavation and restoration of the temples was due to the efforts of archaeologist Domenico Antonio Lo Faso Pietrasanta (1783-1863), who was the Duke of Serradifalco from 1809 through 1812.

The term "valley" is a misnomer, the site being located on a ridge outside the town of Agrigento."

What I found most interesting what the fact that they are currently showing some of the works of the Polish sculpture Igor Mitoraj of figures from Greek mythology.  I loved the combination of the old with the new.  

Western Shore of SIcily

Erice is a town on the western shore of Sicily that we visited.  Erice is a mediaeval town located on top of Mount Erice, about 750m above sea level, overlooking the city of Trapani.  Trapani is where one of my grandfathers was born and the parents of one of my grandmothers.  

Here are some pictures of the main church of that town along with the Norman castle and other town views.

Palermo Surroundings

Day 1 in Sicily was a tour of the area around Palermo.  Here are a couple of the pictures from the seaside.

A Sicilian Adventure

Just got home from our tour of Sicily - a day later than planned.  Took a tour that was titled "Sicilian Adventure".  We had more adventure than was on the itinerary.

One of the highlights of the trip was our visit to Mt. Etna.  It is the tallest active volcano in Europe at 3,329 meters or 10,922 feet.  It is one of the most active volcanoes in the world.   This was the view of Mt Etna from the balcony of our hotel.

On Monday 05/09, we were on the mountain at the highest point that you can take a bus.  It is above the tree line and it was great fun walking around on the pumice.  I have always been fascinated with volcanoes.  Here is one of the pictures from on the mountain.  

On Thursday 05/12 we left early (4:30am) for the airport in Catania for our flight to Rome.  We were rewarding with a spectacular view of significant volcanic activity on the mountain.  Here is one of the pictures I was able to capture.   See the attached link for video from the BBC web site.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13381243

We all thought we were lucky to have an opportunity to see this spectacular site.  The payment was that they ended up closing the airport for 24 hours.  There was considerable ash in the street and that began our adventure.

Since there is only one flight per day to Rome from that airport - the group decided to rent a bus to take us to Palermo and catch one of their flights.  That got us to Rome in the early evening.   Our attempt to get to the hotel that we had rented a block of rooms did not work... some spent the night sleeping on the floor of the airport.  Others of us spent a ridiculous amount for a night at the Rome Hilton at the airport.  We were able to get on the flight from Rome the next day and flew stand-by from JFK to Detroit.   Even thought it was a painful way home - we heard that those that stayed in Catania were not booked on flights until Sunday.

Definitely a memorable end to a good vacation!

Its Official

I am retiring from the bank.  It was announced at work on Wednesday.  My last day is June 30.  I have thought it over the last year and determined it is time.  I have been there 34 years which is a very long time.  It hasn't felt like it has been that long until recently.

So what is next?  I started a program at the College of Creative Studies on Web Development.  What is different from that program than others is that is is very art based.  Learning how to use many of the programs in the Adobe Suite such as Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator and DreamWeaver.  May not do anything with it other that use in for personal use.

Want to spend more time with my weaving and plan to look into the Jacquard Weaving program at Eastern Michigan.

Target is to take a year for myself - this decide if I want to go back to work part time or due some consulting.

But for now - its time to take care of myself and some of the projects around the house.

(The picture is of the wild turkey that lives near work.  It is pretty fearless.)