We're in a little village located at the base of Mount Etna called Zefferana. Yesterday is kind of a blur for me because we had to get up at 3:30 am to be to the airport at 5:10 for our flight. We flew in to Catania and then had to wait at the rental agency until a car became available. We got to our B&B around 12:30 but were so tired we had to take a nap. I honestly don't remember much after that--oh yes I do, we drove to a town called Taormina. It has an ancient Greek/Roman amphitheater. I had the best pizza in my whole life at a little pizzeria about a block from the amphitheater. Honest, better than any I've had in Naples which is supposed to be the world champion pizza place. I'm including a photo of part of the theater because it's also a rare capture of Robyn. I don't think there's another example of her smiling when she was forced to get out of bed that day at 3:30 am.
The theater opened for business in 341 AD. Columns are still standing--but that pales in comparison to what we saw today in Siracusa (Syracuse): A Greek temple to Apollo build in 587 BC! It's the oldest Doric temple on earth.
We planned on going up to Etna's crater today but it's been raining and they don't let people up there in inclement weather. Tomorrow's supposed to be worse weather with rain increasing each day until we return to Rome. Our B&B advertises a triple visual treat: the Ionian Sea, a vinyard, and Mount Etna. Here's what they looked like most of the day:
So, we drove to Siracusa (where Archimedes lived) and saw the ancient Greek temple and a cathedral that was built on the site of a temple to Athena. It's dedicated to Santa Lucia who was tortured because she was a Christian. According to legend, her eyes were put out before she was killed. So, many depictions of her have her holding a tray with two eyeballs on it. Hence, the name of today's post.
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