Nevertheless I long, I pine, all my days to travel home and see the dawn of my return. And if a god will wreck me yet again on the wine-dark sea, I can bear that too, with a spirit tempered to endure. Much have I suffered, laboured long and hard by now, in the waves and wars – The Odyssey
  • Hello

    Hello everybody. If you are here, it is likely to see the pictures from my recent trip to Sicily. You will be relieved to know I do not feature in any of them, as I was the one holding the camera!. Many of these were taken as research for my project and as such may seem a little odd – these are not tourist snaps. Also, the photos do not feature some of the more “adventurous” aspects of the trip. It’s quite hard to take a photo when you’re being chased by a Sicilian farmers dog, going on a 10K sea kayak trip or nearly falling off a cliff (travel tip – if you don’t like heights, don’t try and go somewhere with “Mountain” in the name). More to come, but one step at a time…..

Etna, the original Sicilian – everyone else just washed up on her shores. My Kayak instructor Giorgio explained explained how the mountain impacts the landscape over time and the weather in real time. Lots of currents going on – rock, wind and water
Also with Giorgio – we found the Ciclope Society from ‘La Terra Trema” in Aci Trezza. “a man’s made to be caught by a girl, just as the fishes of the sea are made for those who catch them”
Porta D”Europa in Lampedusa. Some local vandals had trashed it a few weeks earlier. Note – the Lampedusans I met were very empathetic about the refugee situation. They are fisherman and will always help those in need on the sea. They also know this is a bigger issue than them and they need help. My trip to get there was much more than the 300m – appropriate given what others do to get here…..
“Just Do It” indeed
Hard to see in the picture, but straight ahead is a hatch into the bottom hold of the ship. You do not want to be down there
Lampedusa is also a big tourist place for the mainland Italians and I took a day trip with them. The small island you can see is “Rabbit Island”. Our captain told me you could see rabbits swimming to it sometimes but I’m not sure if I believe him. One week earlier a refugee ship capsized and luckily they made it to the island were they were rescued by the coastguard in some pretty rough weather.
and in real time, the coast guard are again the fishermen of men
5 mins from my hotel the “Quarantine” ship and the processing center. The Helicopters bring in the most urgent cases
From Lampedusa to Porto Empedocle in Agrigento – a familiar vessel had preceeded us
People have been arriving in Sicily by boat for quite some time
At the museum – the exit from the park was closed so I had to hop the fence
Inland Agrigento
The Sulphur mines
Monte Guastanella, location of some manmade caves used by the Moors amongst others – strategically located at the top of a mountain. Did I mention – I hate heights!. I gave it a good go trying to get to the top from various directions but never quite made it. I also got chased by a big dog for my efforts
On to Palermo and the melting pot of the Ballaro
Side-note – there were Dogs everywhere!. In the countryside and in the town – a small sample here. Not pictured is the big one that chased me in Agrigento
Sicilia – to be continued