Travels and Thoughts
Taormina
Before we left for Taormina, 16 of our group opted for a special dinner with music. The musicians played and joked around before every course.
Lots of wine was consumed, and soon everyone was singing along.
The photos below are from three of the courses; I forgot to take photos of some of the courses before I ate them!
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By the time of this course, I was taking photos sideways! You can still hear the music, though!
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After our evening of revelry and wine, we took our bus to the ancient theatre of Taormina. It was built during the Greek occupation and later, during the Roman period, refurbished. The evidence for this is the use of bricks. The Greeks didn't use bricks, but the Romans did. It is still a venue for performances. The theatre seats 3000, and when I was there, they were getting ready for a concert that night.
"Teatro antico di Taormina" is an ancient Greek theatre in Taormina, Sicily, built in the third century BC.With a diameter of 390 feet (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.
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Right: On this stage in 1973, Bob Dylan was giving a concert in the evening when Mt. Etna in the background decided to spew lava and ash. It was quite a sight to see, and Dylan spent the concert facing the volcano eruption as he sang.
In this photo, you can see the smoke coming from Mt. Etna in the distance.
Above: panaromic view of theater (Google photo).
Left: one of the entryways to the theater and the seating.
Below: a view of the stage as the set-up crew prepared for the performance scheduled for that evening. Performances run steadily through the season.
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Every place we visited in Sicily was picturesque! Sicily has so much to offer the traveler. Collette, the company I used to plan the trip, is really a fine outfit. We were cared for so well, and the attention to detail was impressive. They offer a tour of just Sicily which I would love to go on someday in the future. Next year, I am going to tour the Greek islands with Collette, and I look forward to that.
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Taormina is a beautiful city at the eastern edge of Sicily. Top left: Taormino and Mt. Etna. Top right: View of Mt. Etna with smoke and ash being discharged. Mid Left: Town square statue, but I forgot who it is. Perhaps it is Icarus? Mid Right: typical street view. Bot left: another street view. Bot right: A flight of steps leads to the Palazzo Ciampoli. Though bombed during the second world war and almost completely destroyed, it did not loose its characteristic late medieval façade pictured here.