A Sicilian Mountain

If I were to live in Italy, I think I would choose Sicily. I've said that about quite a few places (including Lucca, Bologna, Lugano, which is actually in Switzerland, so never mind, and Florence) but this time I really mean it. Sicily is incredible, with its food, its vegetation, its mild climate, its people, the dialect which Italians can't understand, the cats, and basically just about everything. The week that we were there it actually snowed. As Italians say, stressing never: "non nevica mai in Sicilia. Mai!" But even with the snow, even with the whipping winds at the temples, it was still warm and gorgeous.

We started off in Taormina, a city built on the very top of a mountain on the north east coast of Sicily. From the top you can see the toe of Italy in the distance across the Straight of Messena. Besides the ridiculously beautiful town itself, the two main attractions are a Greek theatre, and the castle built at the highest point of the city. We went to the Greek theatre first (after a cappuccino, of course) for some Latin presentations and to start filming for the Greek play/movie. Regarding that.... it was insane!! No one actually knew what half their lines meant, or in what order they should say all of them, but Ms Vicini was determined to make a movie out of it, so make a movie we did. It has yet to be put together, and since it was shot in three different locations it'll look a little patchy, but by gosh we did it. It was the Baccantes by Euripides, and I can only imagine that he's rolling in his grave at our Greek/Italian/English interpretation.

Upon our release from Greek play filming, we made a beeline for the castle. You know, there was a short way up to it. If only we had seen it... We walked half way around the mountain and up winding residential streets that seemed to lead us further and further away from the castle, only to double back and turn into nearly vertical stairs. When at last we reached the top, clutching our sides and gasping, it was to find.... a locked gate. Fiends! We took it upon ourselves to rattle the gates as ferociously as we could and bemoan our efforts a great deal, but at last we were forced to accept that the gate was not going to open any time soon. It was as we turned to go back down the mountain that Max saw the stairs. "I've got some good news and some bad news, guys," he said. "There's a short way down." Rather than going about half way around the side of the mountain, the stairs hairpinned straight down to the town and the theatre. Mocking us with their simplicity, damn them. I'm sure the people of Taormina have hidden video cameras near the top of those stairs, to look at the reaction of people who couldn't find them going up...

But it was some excellent exercise, and there were some spectacular views, not to mention Taormina had some incredible almond brittle to offer.