Under Etna's Shadow

We spent the last few days of our long summer on the Mediterranean's biggest island, Sicily. Driving further south than Africa's northernmost point, we reached the historic city of Syracuse.

We arrived at night and wandered the same streets that once witnessed a naked and joyful Archimedes running around shouting "Eureka".

Syracuse by day.

The people of Sicily just love the new bike share program. We never saw a single bike in the stands.

Noto by night.  We still aren't quite sure why there are so many grand buildings in an otherwise unremarkable town, but I guess that's just Noto.

The Greek Theatre at Taormina. What once was a beautifully placed, peaceful town, visited by Goethe, Nietzsche and Wilde, it is today a place for hordes of cruise-ship-day-trippers to empty their wallets.

We then stayed in a splendid little town with lots of local character and 0 cruise-ship-day-trippers, Castiglione di Sicilia. Perched upon the foot of Mt. Etna, we were told by locals that actually the town has more Castiglionians living in Sydney than in Sicily.

So the next day we climbed the tallest active volcano in Europe.

It felt as though we were on another planet, Mercury perhaps. Or possibly a dwarf planet, like Ceres or Pluto.

Mt Etna is Itlay's largest ash tray.

Sicily was awesome and we wish we could have spent a bit more time there, but alas, we only have a year to see Europe.

ENTRIVS LXXXVIII

Our 88th blog entry is a mix of three unique and titillating (sorry, running low on adjectives) places; Tivoli, Napoli and Pompeii.

The town of Tivoli is over three thousand years old. We were there to visit two villas, starting with that of Roman Emperor Hadrian.

Hadrian's Villa is huge, covering an area of over 1 square kilometre, with over 30 buildings. The ruins were so impressive, that this busy little turtle took some time to take a look.

Nearby, the Villa d'Este was built in the 16th century for Cardinal Ippolito II d'Este.

While the villa's many rooms, loggias, frescoes, staircases, statues and balconies are modestly suitable for a cardinal, the Italian Renaissance Garden is a bit much. 

Naples, is a chaotic, energetic and exciting city.

The drive through the city on Sunday evening was one of the greatest adrenaline rushes of the trip. Somehow we survived the experience. Here are a few that didn't.

Known for Neapolitan Ice Cream and the song Funiculì, Funiculà, Naples is also the home of pizza. It was unbelievably good. One place, sold only two types of pizza, but had a one hour wait for a table.

The market place near central station. Josh was politely asked by these "official" merchants not to take another photo.

A trip to Naples is not complete without a quick prayer at the Chapel of Maradona. The footballing legend played 188 games for Napoli, scoring 81 goals.

Pompeii was a busy, cosmopolitan port city which flourished under the Roman Empire. Unfortunately, it was also flourishing under Mt. Vesuvius.

In 79 AD, the volcano erupted leaving the city, and its 20,000 inhabitants buried under ash for nearly 1700 years.

It is a city frozen in time. The paintings on some houses are still in mint condition.

The forum.

The aptly decorated brothel.

A plaster cast of a Pompous victim. The cast was made from human-spaced gaps in the hardened ash where the body had since decomposed. 

We can't say too much, but this photo may have been taken in the Villa of the Mysteries.

When in Rome...

Many have said that "Rome wasn't built in a day". But as you know, on this blog we like to be more specific than this, and can now reveal that Rome was built in 1,009,225 days. Amazingly, it is still being built.

We began our visit to the city of seven hills on Aventine Hill. The hill is full of churches, many of which are closed to the public. However, at the Knights of Malta Temple, you can get a pretty unique view by peeking through their keyhole.

We were overwhelmed from the very first moment in Rome by the amount of old things just lying around. So to convey this feeling, we have decided to overwhelm you with pictures, names and dates.

The river Tiber, with the Pons Aemilius on the left (2nd Century BC), Tiber Island in the centre and the  Great Synagogue of Rome (1904 AD) visible on the right.

Ruins of the Theatre of Marcellus (13 BC)

The Pantheon (126 AD), originally a temple to all Roman Gods, converted into a christian church in 609 AD).

Some of the many fountains of Rome.

The Spanish Steps (1725 AD), the widest steps in Europe.

The view from the middle of said steps.

Trajan's Market (110 AD), possibly the world's oldest shopping mall.

Campo de' Fiori, built between the 15th and 21st centuries AD. Possibly one of the world's most current shopping areas.

Piazza Navona, built in the 1st century AD as a stadium, remodelled in Baroque style in the 17th century AD.

Rome is scattered with columns of columns and 11 Egyptian obelisks. Left to right: Column of the Immaculate Conception (1857 AD), Obelisk of Rameses II (Very Old BC) in Piazza del Popolo, Trajan's Column (113 AD), the Pulcino della Minerva  (1667 AD / Very Old BC) designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

Piazza de Popolo (1822 AD)

The Cloister of Michelangelo (16th Century AD) built within the Baths of Diocletian (306 AD).

Temple of Aesculapius (19th Century AD) within the Villa Borghese Gardens.

The gigantic Baths of Caracalla, completed in 217 AD. Incompleted over the following centuries.

The National Monument to Victor Emmanuel II, first king of unified Italy, built in 1935.

Castel Sant'Angelo, originally the Mausoleum of Hadrian (139 AD), rebuilt as a fortress in the 14th century AD.

The most beautiful cities, towns and villages across Europe have been those where all the buildings conform to one style, colour or theme. The city of Rome completely defies this idea, triumphantly melding thousands of years of building and ruin, to sustain awe and beauty.

While all of the places mentioned above would surely be a highlight anywhere else in the world, in Rome they are eclipsed by the vastness of the ruins on Palatine Hill.

Beneath the hill, are the ruins of the Roman Forum, a place of public gathering, commerce, politics and worship

And of course, the Colosseum.

Known in antiquity as the Flavian Amphitheatre, construction began under Emperor Vespasian in 72 AD. He began the work with funds received from the looting of the Jewish Temple of Jerusalem two years earlier.

Holding up to 50,000 people it was used for hunting spectacles in the morning and gladiatorial battles in the afternoon.

 As seen from Palatine Hill.

We hope you feel completely Romed out, as we did after four days. But in fact, we saw only a fraction of what Rome has to offer.