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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingViajero

    Dan Brown was here

    15 de diciembre de 2018, Italia ⋅ ☀️ 7 °C

    This is the real Priory of the Knights of Malta, at the intersection of via di S. Sabina and via di Porta Lavernale on the Aventine hill.
    Although the property has been in their hands for centuries, the site was originally a fortified palace belonging to Alberico II, the ruler of Rome from 932-954. Next it became a benedictine monastery before passing first into the hands of the Knights Templar in the 1100s, then finally to their brothers in arms, the Knights of Malta in the 1400s. As it holds extraterritorial status, it is not technically “Italy” within the walls.
    Peeping through the keyhole of the door is obligatory. Nobody knows whether it was by design or accident, but what the butler saw is unique in the world: two nation-states and one country.
    For centred in the image at the end of a straight garden path is the dome of St Peter's cathedral in the Vatican City.
    Unfortunately everything was closed so I could only have a sticky beak.    Leer más

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingViajero

    Bath: Royal Crescent or Diocletian?

    15 de diciembre de 2018, Italia ⋅ 🌙 6 °C

    The Piazza della Repubblica impressed me for what is not there any more. It was formerly known as the Piazza dell'Esedra because it was laid down on the remains of an exedra (a semi-circular open room with seating) from the Diocletian era.
    Commissioned by the Emperor Diocletian in 298 AD, the baths were completed in 306 with a capacity of over 3,000 people. The whole complex took up 120,000 square meters and included a gymnasium, a library, and cold, hot and tepid public baths. Big.
    The Roman public baths remained open until 537, when the Goths cut off the aqueducts in an attempt to conquer Rome, whereupon they were taken over by bandits and courtesans until the Renaissance, when the grounds were bought by the French cardinal Jean du Bellay, who commissioned the construction of a beautiful villa and its gardens.
    So this large piazza occupies the space of the waiting room for the baths! On one side are the ruins of the baths, and the entrance to a church. On the other is a copy of the Royal Crescent in Bath, with the inevitable view of the Wedding cake in the distance.
    In the centre stands the majestic Fontana delle Naiadi, constructed between 1870 and 1888 and decorated with four lion sculptures. In 1901 the lions were replaced by the statues of four nude Naiads (water nymphs). Such blatant nudity shocked the citizens - for a while anyway.    Leer más

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingViajero

    A church I liked!

    16 de diciembre de 2018, Italia ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C

    Behind the scruffy facade on the North side of the Pazza della Republica, behind the scruffy ruined walls, lies the church that Michelangelo built by order of Pope Pius IV on top of part of the cold water baths of Diocletian in honour to all the Christian slaves who died building them.
    Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri was designed by Michelangelo in 1661 and is the only Renaissance style church in Rome.
    The interior of the church is huge but perfectly proportioned as one would expect from Michelangelo and does not give the feeling of a central railway station as one might anticipate from the bare façade. It is decorated with vast frescoes on its walls and enormous multi-coloured marble columns, but not to excess.    Leer más

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingViajero
    1

    Just in time

    16 de diciembre de 2018, Italia ⋅ 🌧 9 °C

    In the 18th century a meridian sun dial had been built in a Spanish church that, while Christian, was not in Rome. To rectify this disparity of grandeur Pope Innocence XII had the meridian line clock built here. Among other practical reasons, the location was chosen because it was the site of Diocletians baths and therefore was seen as a fitting symbol of the victory of the infallible Gregorian calendar over Roman / pagan ones.
    It is a double meridian made up of 2 gnomons, one oriented to the South and the other North. The former tells the precise time of the sun's zenith the date and the inclination of the sun's rays on that date while the latter traces the polar star's movements.
    The way the austral gnomon or solar meridian works:
    + the sun's rays shine through the small hole in the south wall onto the floor of the basilica,
    + striking a long strip of copper plated brass which runs from the transept to the presbytery precisely at 12 noon.
    Bianchini’s meridian tells when noon was throughout the year, the arrival of the solstices and equinox, as well as a being a calendar.
    + for some unexplained reason there is a large pendulum beside the sun dial. On the ball there is a map of the world and you can just see Australia.    Leer más

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingViajero

    Amalfi

    30 de diciembre de 2018, Italia ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    Heading South to my next job, I followed the coast road South from Rome, avoiding the hills where one is obliged to carry snow chains after Nov 11th, and expecting a beautiful and picturesque drive.
    The sea washes virtually to the feet of the snow covered mountains running parallel to the coast, with cheap concrete houses cascading down their sides like a boulder slope to the road and railway line. Thin beaches, often volcanic black, abut the train escarpment, with shattered bamboo scattered over over them in an unattractive mosaic. The odd stray dog can be found chewing on discarded plastic bottles.
    Once the Normans ran the place and their castles can be seen (but not visited in Winter,) incorporated into the towns. Many (closed) pizza restaurants and abandoned beach cafes.
    Once Amalfi was famous for it's paper exports. Now they let the waves carry their paper away to the rest of Europe.
    What can I say? In Winter; wet, cloudy, cold and closed. In Summer the narrow roads are impassable, the beaches covered in greasy bodies with a thin film of Ambre Solaire or Coppertone scumming the water dampening down the waves.    Leer más

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingViajero
    Just before the erruption
    Main road into town!

    Calabria

    2 de enero de 2019, Italia ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    Still going South I hurry through bandit country. Well, that's what everybody told me but I had no problems with the Calabrese who were friendly, hospitable and waiting to join their relos in Melbourne. As a young guy and his sister told me, there is nothing for them in this part of Italy.
    Perhaps it is Stromboli always lurking on the horizon that casts a shadow: what's the point of doing anything if we are just going to be blown up? In fact, it is dormant, unlike Vesuvious which could go at any minute.
    But it is impossible to escape the incredible filth. Check out the dead cat.
    People blame the 'Ndràngheta, one of the largest criminal organisations in the world, for the corruption and incompetent politicians. Undoubtedly they have had a detrimental effect, skimming public contracts and buying politicians, not to mention "owning" the container port ( see all the cranes.)
    But it seems to me that the people themselves are also to blame: they could start by putting their waste in a bag instead of chucking it out of their car window.
    They also blame the Arbëreshë, an Albanian ethnolinguistic group scattered in the mountains. They descend from Tosk Albanian refugees, who fled from Albania between the fourteenth and eighteenth centuries in consequence of the Ottoman invasion of the Balkans. But they have always been too isolated to cause a problem. I'll have to find them on my way to Bari in the Spring!
    I took a shot of Reggio Calabria from Sicily, and this is as close as one would want to go.    Leer más

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingViajero
    1

    Another ferry

    2 de enero de 2019, Italia ⋅ 🌧 13 °C

    After an interesting couple of hours in the ports commercial parking area, where a steady stream of cars with single people inside cruised past inquisitively but only one wound down her window to offer me take-aways or something, (my Italian is not too fluent,) I found a pleasant spot in a quiet lane beside the hospital to spend the night before catching a ferry from Villa San Giovanni Caronte to Messina. 60 Euros for an half hour crossing makes it nearly 4 times more expensive than crossing the channel!
    Crossing the terrain would be like sitting on a merry-go-round horse were it not for the many viaducts built everywhere.
    My hopes for warm temperatures were raised by the latitude, about the same as Andalucia, and by the smouldering Mount Etna which had been farting for a few days (and still is). Alas, no sooner did I arrive at my destination, Caltagirone, than it snowed heavily. Watching the cars in town sliding around in nearly 50 cm of white stuff was mildly amusing but luckily it all melted within 24 hrs.
    Incidentally, Stromboli has just erupted unexpectedly but since it is not linked to Etna, that doesn't signify much to me, though I suppose the people evacuated from their homes were not too happy.    Leer más

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingViajero

    Caltagirone, Sicily

    17 de enero de 2019, Italia ⋅ 🌧 9 °C

    Caltagirone, a UNESCO world heritage site, is one of the eight towns of south-eastern Sicily known as the baroque towns of the Val di Noto, which were almost entirely destroyed and rebuilt after the earthquake of 1693 in which about 100 thousand people died.
    Its main claim to fame is for ceramic production; a millenium old tradition making the town one of the most important ceramic production centers of Sicily, renowned in the entire Mediterranean so they say.
    Nobody wants to live in the old part of town and it is gradually spilling down into the new developments. Can't say I blame them. Access to most buildings is by foot or donkey; no damp proof courses; small, dark rooms; and UNESCO inspired legislation which makes any alteration to the fabric of the houses difficult if not impossible.    Leer más

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingViajero

    Caltagirone views

    17 de enero de 2019, Italia ⋅ 🌧 9 °C

    Another taste of town
    + The Taking of the Bell of Altavilla to Caltagirone, (Polychrome maiolica mosaic in the square of Santa Maria del Monte.)
    + The bank and the church, not quite joined at the hip
    + Ceramics everywhere
    + Little piazza with no name
    + Horse. "Good government and liberty. 1283" Haven't found the explanation yet!
    + Unexpected interior of the former Theater Garibaldi, today known as Sturzo Gallery    Leer más

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingViajero

    A subtle warning to all husbands!

    17 de enero de 2019, Italia ⋅ 🌧 9 °C

    The Moors dominated Sicily around the year 1100.
    At that time, there lived in the Kalsa district of Palermo 'a beautiful girl with pink skin comparable to peach blossoms at the height of flowering and a nice pair of eyes that seemed to reflect the beautiful Gulf of Palermo '. The young girl was almost always at home.
    One day a young Moor passing by saw the gorgeous damsel taking care of the plants on her balcony. In an instant he was smitten and, filled with desire, he knew he must have her at any cost. Without a second's delay he entered the girl's house and immediately declared his love. The girl, struck by the passion with which he declared his ardour, returned his love in full; and they lived together as happy as happy can be.
    Alas, some time later, the Moor came to tell her that he must leave Sicily and return home to the East, where a wife with two sons awaited him.
    Surprised, hurt and above all furious as only a betrayed Sicilian can be, she plotted to make him stay with her.
    That night, she cooked him a nice dinner and later as soon as he fell asleep she struck off his head and made it into a flower pot. The she planted some basil in it and stuck the vase on the balcony for all to see. Thus the Moor would never be able to leave and would remain with her - forever.
    Meanwhile, the basil grew lush and aroused the envy of all the inhabitants of the neighbourhood, who, not to be outdone, made imitations of the Moor's head in terracotta.
    And to this day on Sicilian balconies you can admire the "Heads of Moro", sometimes called "Turk's heads", although now they exist in different versions, representing three of the subsequent empires which ruled over Sicily, the Byzantines, the Arabs and Normans.    Leer más

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingViajero

    Logos or mythos?

    17 de enero de 2019, Italia ⋅ 🌧 10 °C

    The Triseklion is the symbol of the Isle of Man as we all know, but Sicily has its own logo, a female version called the Trinacria.

    Apparently, 3 nymphs danced around the world gathering the best fruit, stones and soil, which they then threw into the sea to create Sicily. That is why the island has three corners.

    Alternatively, it represents a head of a Gorgon, whose hair is entwined serpents with ears of wheat, and from which three bent legs branch off with its feet pointing in the same direction. There were three sisters: Medusa (the most important one and guardian of the underworld), and the two daughters of the sea gods Forco and Ceto, Euryale and Steno. They represented perversion in its three forms: Medusa was the intellectual, Euryale the sexual and Steno the moral perversion.
    The ears of wheat, introduced by the Romans, symbolize the land abundance and fertility and the rank of “breadbasket” of the Roman Empire.
    The position of the three legs, feet pointing in the same direction, suggests a rotational motion. Hence it has been suggested that the Triscele represented the sun (or the weather god Baal) or the moon with scythes instead of legs. In Sicily, this symbol represents the three promontories of the island: Capo Peloro (Punta del Faro, Messina: North-East), Capo Passero (Siracusa: South), Capo Lilibeo (or Capo Boeo, Marsala: West). This particular reference is found in the greek word triskeles and connects to the geographic meaning: treis (three) and akra (promontory). In Latin too, triquetra (three vertices).

    Or, there was a boy who could swim underwater for long periods of time and was put to the test by King Frederick II. Eventually, the boy discovered that Sicily was held up by three columns and one was about to break. The boy, Colapesce, then decided to hold the broken column on his own. Every time there is an earthquake, it is attributed to the boy being so tired from holding up the island.

    Obviously it really came from a Manxman in the employ of the Normans but who am I to spoil a good story or three.

    The flag of the Region of Sicily has incorporated the Triscele at it's centre since April 3, 1282 during the time of the Sicilian Vespers. It symbolises the unity of Sicily in expelling the Angevins / Charles I. The colour red is the color of the Municipality of Palermo and yellow the one of Corleone, at that time, the largest agricultural capital of Sicily.

    PS The Spartan warriors used to carve a white bent leg in their shields as a symbol of strength!    Leer más

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingViajero

    Flight of fancy

    17 de enero de 2019, Italia ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    What raises the blood pressure of the Caltagirone people is this big staircase, the Scalinata di Santa Maria del Monte, which rises from Piazza Municipio to the Chiesa di Santa Maria del Monte, at the top of the town.
    Originally there were several flights of steps separated by small squares built in 1606 to connect the old town on top of the with newer developments on the flatter base.
    These tiers were eventually unified in the 1880s to create the 142-step flight that stands today.

    The Erei mountains, on which Caltagirone perches, separate the plains of Gela and Catania and are fractured by many cracks filled with a very fine clay. Since the paleolithic era, local potters have been capitalising on this abundance aided by a plentiful nearby wood supply for firing their pots. The local ceramic technique was influenced and perfected by the Cretans, who introduced the wheel during the Greek colonization of Sicily in the 8th century BC, then by the Arabs, who introduced the glazing technique, which rendered the ceramic objects impermeable to water, in the 9th century. Under the Arab rule the town took the name of Qal ‘at al Gharùn or qal’at-al-ghiran meaning “Castle (or fortress) of vases” with reference to the processing of clay.

    So in 1956, hand-painted majolica tiles were added to the riser of the steps to celebrate the town's ceramic heritage. The motives alternate between a row of tiles with a floral or organic pattern, a row of geometric patterns and a row of figurative decorative patterns..
    In case you can't wait to see them, the best times are:
    * in May, when it becomes “flowered” in honor of the Madonna, (the Scala Infiorata in honor of the Madonna di Conadomini;
    * at the the end of July when it is illuminated by 4000 coloured oil lamps (coppi) on the occasion of the feast of the Holy Patron, Saint Giacomo;
    * during the mid-August nights when it is lit up again;
    * at Christmas the stairs are decorated with cyclamen and Christmas stars.    Leer más

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingViajero

    Noto bene

    20 de enero de 2019, Italia ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    This hillside town was called Neas, founded by the Sicans.
    Conquered by the Syracuseans, it absorbed Hellenic customs and rites, before falling to the Romans when it became a federated city. Later its status was elevated to Latin municipium, which brought many priviledges including the right to govern itself with its own laws.
    Next the Arabs took over a renamed it Noto, (which it remains to this day,) and managed to cling on until 1090.
    In 1693, it was destroyed by the earthquake that struck the whole of south-western Sicily and rebuilt in the baroque style as we see today. (At least, we see the parts that are open at lunchtime when I passed through.)
    + The main entrance to the city is through the Arco di Trionfo. At the top you can see the sculpture of a dog, symbolising loyalty and a pelican for sacrifice. Like the rest of the town it is built using a golden yellow limestone. The stone is unique apparently for its flexibility but maybe they meant versatility (my Italian is not that good!)
    + The corso Vittorio Emanuele is the main axis through the town.
    + The Cathedral, which stands on top of a monumental staircase, was begun a few months after the earthquake but was only completed in 1770. It took more than 10 years, using both modern engineering techniques together with those of the 1700’s to craft original materials into yet another UNESCO world heritage site.
    + Every side road leads to yet another church.
    + Through the gates of the Vittorio Emanuele III theatre, across piazza XVI Maggio is the Church of San Domenico    Leer más

  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingViajero

    Something fishy

    20 de enero de 2019, Italia ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Marzamemi started and continues as a tuna fishing village. No Greek roots here! It was settled first by by the Arabs and originally called Marsa' al Hamen (which translates as "harbour of the turtle doves"). Why I have no idea.

    + Looking into the central plaza
    + The cathedral on one side of the plaza
    + Fishermans' houses on another side of the plaza, looking more Moroccan or Arab than Italian
    + The old dock area
    + Flower arranging (by Mr Gumby?)
    + Every lane leads to the sea    Leer más

  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingViajero

    The end of Sicily

    20 de enero de 2019, Italia ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    + Castello Tafuri a palace built in 1933 by marquis Bruno di Belmonte. The walls were built with the stone extracted from the cave of the Isola delle Correnti. It was never inhabited by the family of the marquis and was restored in 2015 as a luxury hotel. Rooms start at $140 per night: not quoted in Euros I notice.
    + The ruins are of an old Tonnara or fish processing factory.
    + The islet is called Capo Passero (sparrow) for its tapered shape, which imaginatively resembles the head of a sparrow.
    + Capo Passero is mistakenly considered the most Southern tip of Sicily, but really it is the third foot of the “Trinacria”, the female emblem representing Sicily.
    + Less fishing now, more play. Looking back to Marzamemi.
    + A patio heater on the end of the breakwater? Must be warming the cockles ...    Leer más

  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingViajero

    Dead space

    26 de enero de 2019, Italia ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C

    In the second half of the 1800s the town council of Caltagirone built in a Gothic-Sicilian style his monumental cemetery, which was recognised as a national monument in 1931.
    The plan is square with a Greek cross made ​​up of 170 arches that form its four main avenues. The architect, Giovan Battista Nicastro, used white stone from the Ragusa area, lava stone from the Etna and the local terracotta and ceramic.
    Over time the grounds have become stuffed with individual tombs, sepulchae and ordinary graves - even the walls external and internal are full of full length interrals.
    Many plots are lined with terracotta tiles depicting angels and demon: these ones frame the ossary where old bones are dumped to recover burial space.
    I thought at first it was something from the Raj but in fact many chapels, designed by the architect Xavier Fragapane, are in Liberty (Art Nouveau) style.
    Unfortunately, the town council has no money to maintain the place and quite a few buildings have been forsaken and robbed. Although some places are leased by families, others have been bought outright and remain in the family even after abandonment. So the Council couldn't do anything even if it wanted to.
    Sic transit gloria mundi.    Leer más

  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingViajero

    My hosts

    27 de enero de 2019, Italia ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    Pinella and Luca have incorporated me into their families during my stay and have made me feel very welcome.
    Luca is a criminal lawyer, (who has heard the old joke which is the same in Italian as in English,) and Pinella runs a farmstay with courses on local cuisine / archaeology etc.Leer más

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingViajero

    Pinella's house

    27 de enero de 2019, Italia ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    Getting ready to leave this workaway in the Sicilian countryside.
    The house was an old winery, converted by the present owners into a very attractive house.
    Guess the name?
    Prickly pears are regarded almost as a Sicilian dish. Unfortunately, this year they are a bit dry and tasteless.

    PS

    The name is Monte Leone.    Leer más

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingViajero
    1

    Pile of dirt

    27 de enero de 2019, Italia ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    My first Hugel.
    This is a technique for growing veggies that was developed by central Europeans and now forms part of the permaculture bible. The bed is prepared like a compost heap, but starting with trunks of old wood covered with branches. Over this lies the manure and compost, the whole covered by earth. Finally the pundits recommend protecting the mound with inverted sods of grass.
    The way it works I gather, is that the wood breaks down releasing nutrients but also 'tilling' the soil as it crumbles. The bugs and fungi also help condition the earth. So no work on the bed is required: just stick your plant in and wait. They say Hugel raised tomatoes are particularly tasty, but I alas will not be here to sample any crop.
    It was so much fun I built a second one.
    When that was finished I made a stone path. Do you like my stone pig in the background?    Leer más

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingViajero

    Stalag

    29 de enero de 2019, Italia ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    The Germans were here during WWII and left their camps behind. This one is a medium security prison, not more than 500m from the house. It is easy to see into the yard from the road outside the house, right into the multi-level accommodation block, and on Sundays it is not unknown to pass a family or two equipped with binoculars waving at the inmates.
    You may have missed the small, concrete building on the left but I can assure you that you would not miss it if you were here. At least not on Saturdays when the prison authorities release the captive sewage odours on parole.    Leer más

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingViajero

    A Treasure

    2 de febrero de 2019, Italia ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    This site as been occupied since the Bronze Age, but the ruins look as though they are not more than 100 years old. The important part however, is the part you don't see. For buried underneath this rubble - somewhere unspecified - there lies a fortune in treasure waiting to reveal itself to the right candidate. The lucky man will be the first Moor who rides a white horse 5 or 6 kilometres from the little church of San Giuseppe in the middle of Caltagirone to San Mauro. Unfortunately for him, he has to canter without spilling a drop of water from a brimming glass held in his hand. Of course, he is allowed to choose in which hand, left or right, to grasp it.
    Nobody could tell me when the last Arab had attempted the feat, from which I deduce not too many have tried. Alas, I am not black enough.    Leer más

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  • Roland RoutierRenault RoamingViajero

    Catania

    4 de febrero de 2019, Italia ⋅ 🌙 5 °C

    Festival of Santa Agata,the patron saint of Catania, the town founded by the Greeks in 729 BCE.
    This is the third largest display of public hysteria after those in Santiago and Sevilla. Similarly, they carry iconographic statues around from parish church to cathedral and back. Some 60,000 people throng the streets so I'm told and the centre gets completely choked by nightfall. This is the start of 5 days of festivities so the streets are fairly empty: ie I can move.
    At night I am locked out of the Piazza deal Duomo as the tiny roads gradually choke themselves to a standstill - even though arriving 2.5 hours before the firework show. I took a photo of the via Etnea as it plays an important role later in the pageant. As I leave there is a 2km roadblock of people trying to drive into the centre.

    The next 2 days were going to be rainy and I could not face the prospect of fighting for survival in the mob. How right I was.

    The culmination of the processions is a long march carrying a large icon of Santa Agata up the via Etnea to the cloistered convent at the top of the road pointing to Etna. The nuns are allowed this one time during the year to be seen in public and to sing in honour of the Saint, which they do, even though there are only a dozen left and not too strong in voice. Now here's the rub: the road has a perceptible steepness so the float, (weighing as much as a car,) is not only carried by about 20 men but also pulled by two long ropes with many people. When it starts to move there is no stopping it and apparently the carriers have to run to keep the momentum under some sort of control. Obviously a tricky and dangerous feat.

    I heard on the radio that this year the road was damp and too many people had hunkered down on the road to watch. Unacceptably dangerous. However, when the church and civic authorities asked people to leave the road so there was room, the spectators refused, falling to their knees and invoking the intercession of Santa Agata. Others started rioting.I don't know how they sorted it in the end, but it was all very unpleasant and I am glad to have missed it.    Leer más

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