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Mamma Etna Gets the Last Laugh

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EPILOGUE Well, Mary did say she wanted to see Mamma Etna erupt.  Fortunately, Mamma did NOT erupt while we were standing in an old crater on the side of the volcano (Boris promised she wouldn't). Then she did little more than emit peaceful wisps of steam while we could still see her from a safe distance (Taormina and Catania).  Unfortunately, we missed out in seeing her BIG SHOW just over a week later! Guido sent us some posts on June 2nd, starting with this one: Link to the Times story Link to the Sun story These tourists don't seem to be in a big hurry. The view from Catania: Although we were just a BIT disappointed to have missed the excitement, we were thrilled to have been there just the previous week. Overall, our trip to Sicily was fabulous: we had an excellent tour guide, great local guides, too, friendly fellow travelers, beautiful sightseeing, exciting adventures, great shopping (OK, that one was for...
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Catania - last stop in Sicily

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We can’t believe that today is our last full day with the Rick Steves group!  May 27, Tuesday, we got up early, took our last close looks at Momma Etna, thanked our lucky stars that we were able to stay in such a beautiful place like Taormina and headed to our final city of Catania.   Catania was one of the first Greek settlements on Sicily, and came into its own, when it was likely the largest Roman city in Sicily. It had two large theaters and a smaller building for musical performances, as well a stadium almost as big as Circus Maximus in Rome. But time, natural disasters, invasion, and urbanization erased much of the ancient city, and now only scattered remnants can be found.  In 1669 Mt. Etna opened a new flank crater and lava surrounded city (Christine talked about these in her post about Mt Etna).  Most Greek and Roman structures were buried, but within the city walls, the city was spared, but with a very changed coastline.  Then in 1693, there was the te...
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