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:: Full Circle
August 20, 2000
Full Circle
Rome and Sicily, Italy
Waiting for the start of my "Grand Tour of Italy and Sicily" I indulged in a much-needed rest. Six hours after breakfast I lay with my feet extended over the end of my elfin hotel bed in Rome, channel surfing between CNN and Eurosport, when the phone rang.
"We're here!" chimed the female voice on the other end.
At the hotel's rooftop bar I reunited with two of my world cruise buddies, Gail and Mary Lou. Not only had they helped me weather a nasty bout of seasickness at the start of our ill-fated cruise, they also invited me to spend the late summer in Italy and Ireland before returning to the United States.
We compared notes on our respective summers, reminisced about the cruise and anticipated our next three weeks in Europe - the continent where I began and would conclude my world tour.
Before taking off for Sicily, the largest of both the Mediterranean and Italian islands and a patch of earth whose people consider themselves culturally distinct from those of the mainland, we spent two days blasting through Rome's highlights.
Contrary to popular belief, the Romans did not stage the infamous Christians-to-lions feedings at the Coliseum, a first-century locale for gladiator events and wild beast shows, but at the 300,000 capacity Circus Maximus, the venue for chariot races and public hangings. The 50,000-spectator Coliseum could not accommodate the popularity of the lion feedings.
Just outside Rome, we toured a section of the Catacombs, the eleven-mile, four-level tunnels where early Christians worshipped and entombed during three centuries of Roman persecution.
In Vatican City, a separate city from Rome with 5,000 residents, we saw the window of the Pope's headquarters from which he gives his daily blessing. And at St. Peter's Basilica, we stood twenty-people deep in front of bulletproof glass to take a peek at "Pieta," the sculpture of Mary and Jesus that Michelangelo created at the tender age of twenty-five. It is the only sculpture he ever signed - on the sash across the breast of the Madonna.
Up next was the Sistine Chapel, the private papal chapel built in 1484, used for papal functions and the conclave - the body of cardinals who elect the Pope - and the structure that houses two of the most famous paintings in the world: Michelangelo's "Creation" and "Last Judgment." Painted in panel format on the barreled vault of the chapel, "The Creation" retells Genesis and its most famous section is the near-touching fingertips of Adam and God.
No trip to Rome is complete without a visit to the Trevi Fountain, featured in the film, "Roman Holiday." Tradition says to stand with your back to the fountain and without looking, toss a coin over your left shoulder with your right hand. If the coin lands in the Trevi, you will come back to Rome. According to my tour guide, in modern times, the tradition has been updated: two coins mean you wish to fall in love; three coins, you desire to marry; and four coins, you're angling for a divorce.
Before reaching the marina at Naples to catch the ferry to Palermo, Sicily's capital, we visited Pompeii, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of three Roman cities that he volcanic activity of Mt. Vesuvius destroyed in 79 A.D. Twenty feet of volcanic ash buried Pompeii, which was forgotten for seventeen centuries. But lava never reached it. Three thousand of its 20,000 residents suffocated by poisonous gas. As we walked through the houses, shops and public baths of the lost city, we also saw plaster casts of the victims, frozen in position with their hands covering their noses, mouths and eyes.
Disembarking from the overnight ferry from Naples to Palermo, we drove to the beautiful, 25,000-resident mountain village of Monreale, rising on the slopes of Mt. Caputo. I soaked up the local culture, strolling past sparkling fountains and ochre-washed buildings with green, teal and russet shutters.
On an overnight stop in Agrigento, I chose a pre-dinner breather by the pool, conserving my energy for the next day's visit to Villa Romana del Casale. This third-century villa contains 3,500 square meters of floor mosaics so well-preserved that the tiles looked like they were laid yesterday.
For me, Sicily's highlight was the East Coast town of Taormina. This renowned holiday resort sits on the sides of Mt. Tauro, overlooking the Bay of Naxos, which was named by the Greeks who arrived there in 754 B.C. Taormina's popularity rose quickly. The German writer, Goethe visited the sun-drenched hilltop village in the 17th century and his published travel diary catalyzed an influx of German tourism. The British followed, intrigued by tales of the town's beauty and its "anything goes" culture. Later, Taormina captured the imagination of the celebrity jet set including Greta Garbo, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand and Tom Cruise and inspired writers like Tennessee Williams who, during his visits, penned parts of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and "A Streetcar Named Desire."
Taormina looks westward to Mt. Etna where volcanic activity has been known since antiquity. Unlike Vesuvius, Etna bubbles consistently, which releases pressure and minimizes the threat of major eruptions. It's been quiet ever since its last blow during the 1940's.
For me, Taormina called for nothing more than a quiet stroll through its cobblestone streets lined with Gelaterias, bright flower boxes, beautiful people and mysterious alleyways.
From Naxos we drove to Messina, the northeastern tip of Sicily, where we ferried twenty minutes to Reggio Callabria, to begin our tour of what the Sicilians call "Il Continente."
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