Italy, Sicily

Sicily, September 2013

George has returned from a fantastic holiday to the island of Sicily with Nele and Jesper.

The holiday started in Palermo where they visited the church San Giovanni degli Eremiti (St. John of the Hermits).

The church dates back to the 6th century. It has been extensively modified during the centuries, but a restoration held around 1880 attempted to restore its original medieval appearance.

In the town Cefalù George climbed the head shaped rock outside the town that probably gave the town it’s name. Cefalù translates to head.

George stayed in Cefalù until sunset.

- Getting the right George angle is important!

This time it resulted in this Halo George photo that has been promoted to cover photo for George’s facebook page LEGO George Travels.

They went to see the Sanctuary of the Black Madonna of Tindari. The statue, which is of Byzantine origin, was smuggled out of Constantinople in the 8th and 9th Centuries when a storm forced the ship into the port of Tindari. She now sits behind the altar with the inscription “nigro sum sed formosa” (black am I, but beautiful). Local legend tells that the lagoon was created after a pilgrim who came to see the Madonna refused to pray to the Madonna because she was black. The woman accidentally dropped her baby into the ocean just behind and the Madonna made the land rise to save the baby. Even the sands have taken shape of the profile of the Madonna.

George visited Taormina from where he could see Mount Etna. Mount Etna is a 3,323m active stratovolcano. It lies above the convergent plate margin between the African Plate and the Eurasian Plate.

Here George is leaning against some volcanic rock in front of the latest eruption’s lava stream that took away a restaurant that was right in the centre of this photo. Numerous villages and small towns lie around or on cones of past flank eruptions. Since the year 2000, Etna has had four flank eruptions—in 2001, 2002–2003, 2004–2005, and 2008-2009. Summit eruptions occurred in 2006, 2007–2008, January–April 2012, and again in July–October 2012.

When on Sicily do like the Sicilians – a Corleone wine.