Messina, Sicily, Italy

Messina, Sicily, Italy                                                                                   Tuesday, April 26, 2022

               Welcome to the Land of the Godfather! 

Sicily is a triangular-shaped island just off the tip of the boot of Italy.  You’ve heard Sicily in the news as it is where Mt. Etna is and she has many volcanic eruptions, most recently two months ago.  Today was clear enough that we could see her in the distance (see photos) and look for the smoke rising from her.  Sicily is also known for her citrus groves from where she gets some of her most memorable liqueurs and gelatos.  But it is the people and the countryside that stay in one’s heart!  Genial, raucous, coffee-anytime-of-the-day, pasta-loving, and family-oriented.  Even in fiction, Francis Ford Coppola was able to direct a series of movies that depicted the culture.

Our tour was a tracing of two film sites for the Godfather.  Neither of us have seen the movies.  We just wanted to see the villages, the ancient fortresses, the churches, the vistas, the coastline and highway tunnels, and the flavors.  Today ranks up there as one of our favorites (yes, we’ve had many!)

There were 21 of us who rode a bus around the 3^rd largest Sicilian city of Messina (population of 300,000).  Like nearby Greece, Sicily lies on the juncture of two tectonic plates.  In 1908 during the Christmas holiday, an earthquake and resulting tsunami destroyed much of the island ad killed 80,000 of the 130,000 inhabitants.  Other weather conditions affect them, too.  The cars were heavily dust-covered and we learned that a sirocco had blown through bringing the talcum-powder sand from the African Sahara. Yet Messina and other cities and villages, have their surviving—some of them rebuilt—structures that give them hope while linking them to their multi-occupied history.  One of the largest is a cathedral from the 11^th Century built by the Normans.  Its clocktower chimes at noon, has a carousel, and plays “Ave Maria” for the entire city’s enjoyment.

Driving out of the city, along the coastline, and through multiple tunnels, into and through fishing villages, we zigzag-ed up steep hillsides and around hair-pin turns that made our bus driver a superstar.  There’s no way to see around the tight bends, so he honks a few times and cars stop or back up to let the big bus maneuver through one obstacle after another.  In several spots backing was necessary and our tour guide said enough Mama Mia’s to make you think she was doing a rosary.

Our first destination was Savoca (SAH voh cah).  Don’t stop with just our photos.  Google it and be amazed.  When the bus could advance no more, we got out and walked up and along cobblestone streets learning about historical homes, once again hearing the litany of occupations dating back for centuries.  After seeing one of the churches, we made a macabre stop down some side steps to see the catacombs.   Unlike those you’ve seen or pictured in Rome, these are showcases of influential families.  The bones dressed in their finest clothing are now encased in glass because of vandalism and for years the families maintained those bodies by changing out the clothing and sometimes having Christmas dinners there.  Huh.

We washed that site out of our minds by going into a restaurant and getting scoops of gratina:  frozen ice with lemon and sugar.  And a dry biscuit from the nearby bakery.  Then it was a hike up the hill to see fortress remnants, to take photos of cathedrals—Savoca used to have 16 cathedrals and two convents—and we gaped at the views from high above.  Our guide showed photos of scenes of the movie that were shot directly on location; FFC’s profile with a movie camera is on the main square.  There are now less than 100 year-round inhabitants

Then it was a reverse drive down and around and honking, then BACK UP yet another steeper mountain to get to Forza D’Agio (“fortress of silver”).  At an elevation of 1400 ft, its shining walls once glinted for miles.  From here, we were able to see Mt. Etna again, the “mother” church of St. Maria of the Annunciation whose façade collapsed in an earthquake in the 16^th Century, and see some of the streets and promenades made famous in The Godfather.  The wooden crucifix was originally in the older church, but construction moved it here and it stayed.

And so we’re back to The Godfather.  Apparently there was a dancing scene in the movie that was filmed in a square near the mother church.  Now that I’ve seen some of this heavenly scenery, I’m definitely going to watch the movies…but I’ll wait to see them on a bigger screen.

Photo taken at second village

Sirocco dust

Unofficial symbol for Sicily, which is sort of triangular