Dining Out

Navy events called Dining Out are required social events for every part of the command. Shannon is part of the Hospital Command and so we got to go to the Dining Out for hospital officers. All the Navy personnel wore their dress blues and all the spouses had to get dressed up too. I had to wear a suit and Shannon made me get a haircut. The Dining Out is full of various Navy traditions but the only one I really grasped was if you did something that the Commanding Officer deemed as “bad” you were sent to the grog as punishment. The grog is basically a punchbowl filled with lots of mysterious liquids and it also has some things floating in it. The criteria for being sent to the grog was pretty vague- Shannon had to take some a number of times for such offenses as living in Aci Trezza and being a pharmacist. Even I got sent up there once for being a spouse.
It doesn’t seem like Sicily has that many hikes but we did find a very interesting one. Pantalica is a limestone gorge carved out by the Anapo River. The drive is only about two hours south of us. It is not that long a hike but it has a lot of change in elevation. The unique part of the hike is that it is lined with tombs that have been carved into the rock. Some of the tombs are from the thirteenth century BC however the majority of them are from the eighth century BC. As you walk along the gorge there are thousands of niches, caves and homes cut out of the rocks and part of the point of the hike is to spend a couple of hours just exploring.

Cortina

It doesn’t snow in Aci Trezza so for President’s Day Weekend we took a trip to the Italian Alps for some skiing. We flew with our friends Adam, Derrick and Jodi from Catania to Venice and drove up to the town of Cortina. Cortina is in the middle of the Dolomite section of the Alps and is supposed to have some of the best skiing in the world. The town itself is a quintessential ski town with hotels, restaurants and upscale shops. Although they are in the same country, Cortina is much different than Aci Trezza in many ways. Cortina was actually a part of Austria until after World War I so the town is looks a little Austrian, German or Swiss and much different then Sicily with its Middle Eastern, Greek and African influences. We ate well on our trip Cortina had exotic foods we hadn’t seen in ages… like beef.
The slopes were great. It wasn’t too crowded and the weather was nice. I had never skied anything even close to as great as the mountains in the Dolomites. The views were amazing looking out over the range and the ski runs were so long you could ski on and on for what seemed like forever. For lunch we would stop at the chalet on the mountain for some food and some hot chocolate. We would eat outside taking in the views and take some time to relax.
Back on the skis I fell about a million times but had lots of fun.

Agathas

St. Agatha is the patron saint of Catania. She was born in Catania in the 3rd century and belonged to a rich and important family. Agatha was a Christian in a time when Rome controlled Sicily and Christians were being persecuted. When Agatha refused to marry a Roman Prefect because he was not Christian, the prefect had her tortured in an attempt to force her to marry him. In the end she would not give in and was eventually martyred in 251 AD. As a saint she is credited with specific occurrences of saving the city from Mt. Etna as well as saving Malta from Turkish invasion in 1551.
Every February Catania has a festival to honor St. Agatha. It is the second largest religious festival in Italy and we wanted to be a part of it. A group of us from Aci Trezza went down to Catania and joined the fun. It was packed, you could not see any part of a street that was not full of people. We jostled for position and were able to view the carriage that carries her remains as it went by.
From what I can tell every town in Sicily has a patron saint and it is common for parents to name their child after the patron saint of the town they live in. Our neighbor Agatha invited Shannon and Jodi over for some Italian cooking lessons one Sunday. They made Arancini which is some rice balls with meat sauce. They are very common fare at the Tavola Calda restaurants around here and the girls wanted to know how to bring the deliciousness home.
I took some pictures and ate the finished product.

Bellini Opera

Italy is famous for opera so Shannon and I decided to take advantage of having a great opera house so near by. The Teatro Massimo Bellini is named after a famous opera composer named Vincenzo Bellini. Bellini was born in Catania in 1801 and was considered a child prodigy. Supposedly he could sing an aria at 18 months. He wrote 12 operas and was one of the greatest composers of his time. He died early at 33 years of age in Paris and his remains were later moved and are now housed at the Duomo in central Catania. Many things in Catania are named after Bellini, the people of Catania are very proud of him.
The theater itself was completed in 1890 and its inaugural performance was Bellini’s Norma. It’s a gorgeous theater with baroque architecture.
Monika has had a box at the theater for close to ten years and invited us to join her. We went to see the opera Medea. I took a picture of the ceiling which shows scenes from each of Bellini's operas.

Calcio Catania

The Arabs called Catania “the city of the Elephant.” Just look at the Catania coat of arms and this statue in the very center of the main square. What’s with all the elephants?
Apparently Sicily used to be home to a species of dwarf elephants that could only be found in Sicily and Sardinia. Although the species died off thousands of years ago, the elephant has remained a part of the Catania identity and folklore.
The Catania soccer team, called Calcio Cataina, also has an elephant as their mascot. The football club was founded in 1908 and plays Series A football, which is the top of the football pyramid. On Sunday a bunch of us from Aci Trezza drove 20 minutes south to the Catania Stadium to catch some world class football as Catania took on Bologna.
European football can get a little rowdy so our friends who have gone to games before recommended that Shannon and I pick up some Catania colors so there won’t be any misunderstandings. This stadium is smaller than an average American Football stadium with two decks. The Eastern seats have a view of Mt. Etna over the stadium. You may also notice that there is a seating area that has a net over it, this area is for the visiting fans, the net is to protect them. The Catania fans sing songs the whole game, literally the whole game. They have leaders who direct the different sections of seating.
Catania Ended up losing the game but it was a fun time.
Afterwards we all headed over to the Canguru Pizzaria (Kangaroo Pizzaria), which is right next door to our apartment. The Americans have established a relationship with the owner of the restaurant and he agreed to let us make our own pizzas.

Syracuse

Syracuse was probably our best day trip so far. On a gorgeous Saturday we headed about an hour and a half south to the 2700 year old city of Syracuse. Syracuse was described by Cicero in the 1st century bc as “the greatest Greek city and the most beautiful of them all.” It was founded by Greek Corinthians, was once the most powerful city in the Mediterranean and has also been held by the Greeks, the Byzantine Empire, Normans and Arabs and on and on… . Shannon and I were the most famous people in town that day but before Saint Paul preached here, Plato visited a few times and Archimedes called Syracuse home.
We started off by visiting the ruins of the Temple of Hercules, which is right in the middle of town then headed over to the Duomo. This cathedral was probably my favorite that we’ve come across so far. It was originally built as a temple to Athena in the 5th century BC and then turned into a Church, later a Mosque and then turned back into a Cathedral by the Byzantines. As a result, it has a lot of neat architecture with ancient Doric columns. Next we came across a museum that allows you to tour tunnels used by people during German and Allied bombings in WWII. The tunnels were short and winding and had a huge cistern to keep the people hydrated for days. There were informative pictures and plaques. One told the story of how after a brutal barrage by the allies, people finally emerged from underground they were shocked to find their harbor was filled with Allied ships and they were already unloading their supplies onto the docks.
Afterwards we found an aquarium featuring Mediterranean sea life. Shannon enjoyed playing with a big turtle. We toured the fish market but didn’t buy anything. The Ear of Dionysius is a cave with only one exit. The story is that Dionysius used to use it as a prison and keep many of his enemies there. Because of the unique shape of the cave, a person on the outside can hear even the whispers of those kept within. Dionysus supposedly used to stand outside the ear an listen to learn of plots against him. There are also ruins of a Greek theater and a Roman theater. They still put on plays here in the summers.

Messina

It’s neat to view the Ionian Sea from the front and Mount Etna from the back of your house. Then sometimes you remember that Mt. Etna is actually the largest active volcano in Europe and those amazing formations just off the coast were created by huge amounts of geothermal pressure forcing the rock up through earth and water.
The history of the Sicilian people is marked by periodic geothermal disasters and few are more tragic than the story of the 1908 Messina earthquake. The earthquake lasted 30 seconds, hit 7.5 on the Richter Scale and was felt in a 180 mile radius. The earthquake itself and subsequent tsunami destroyed Messina, leveling over 90% of its buildings and killing over 100,000 people. It was the most destructive earthquake ever to hit Europe.
Coincidentally the Great White Fleet, the largest Naval Armada in the world, was cruising in the Mediterranean at that time. Upon receiving news of the disaster, Theodore Roosevelt ordered it to Messina. US sailors aided in extricating victims, and provided medical aid and food to the survivors. In addition, the US Congress passed the largest appropriation in history up to that time to bring additional supplies and build emergency shelters for the tens of thousands of survivors. The 100 year anniversary of the disaster was in December.
Shannon and I visited Messina on a Saturday for one of our frequent day-trips. Messina is only an hour and a half from our house and although it has a 3000 year history, the earthquake has left little from antiquity. The Duomo was originally constructed in the 12 century but has been damaged by fire, earthquakes and most recently by allied bombs in WWII. That being said, it was an impressive space. Many of the original components to the church were reused to create a marble covered basillica with a 82 foot high ceiling and 24 columns. The most striking attribute is the wooden ceiling colorfully painted and gilded with biblical and historical scenes.
Outside is the largest astrological clock in the world. It was original constructed in the 16th century and is close to 300 feet high. At noon the clock really puts on a show with moving parts symbolizing Jesus’ life, a roaring lion (very loud), and even depicting earthquakes. The whole show takes 12 minutes (I timed it) and ends with the playing of Ave Maria. It was very memorable.