Taormina

The highlight of each year for the students (and faculty) is the 12-day trip to some part of the world known as "Magna Grecia." The program here focuses on the classics and so the trip is designed each year to see places that the students have studies. This year, the trip took us all to Sicily and Tunisia, both of which were certainly extensions of Athens during its height of power in the 5th century BC and subsequently the Roman Empire. Some of the best preserved Greek monuments are found in Sicily and North Africa. First stop, Taormina, a town on the northeastern corner of Sicily, right around where the toe of Italy "kicks" the island of Sicily. Taormina is a resort/tourist town, but it has one of the most beautifully sited Greek theaters in the world.

The flag of Sicily

The remains of the Greek theater in Taormina. Note it is high on a spit of land with water below. On a clear day, one can see Mount Etna as a backdrop. Unfortunately, we visited on a overcast/rainy Pacific Northwest kind of day.

Some seats are the original stone blocks, but modern seats have also been installed as artistic events are staged here.

You all are going to be seeing a LOT of Greek columns in the next few postings, be warned.

In my Augustus pose....

The town of Taormina is a beautiful Italian village. Here is the town public garden. One can climb to the top of the mountain behind the tree, but I/we didn't have the time to do so.

The rains washed sediment into the clear waters. This view is what one sees when one is at the top of the theater looking backwards.

The sun was trying to peek through to reveal Mount Etna.

And here is Mount Etna, still seismically active and rising 10,900 feet above sea level. If you look on a map, Etna, a classic cone volcano, DOMINATES the eastern coast of Sicily