Today we drove down to a town called Noto which is famous for it's baroque buildings. The reason for this feast of 18th century architecture is that in 1693 an earthquake destroyed the existing city so it was all rebuilt during the next 50 years in the fashionable style. A bit like Napier in New Zealand which was destroyed in 1931 and is now an Art Deco town.
It has had a few earthquakes since and the cathedral lost it's dome in the 1990's as a result. It has since been rebuilt as can be seen behind Gills head.
The photo below was taken from the top of a church tower built around 1730 to no earthquake standards whatsoever, this always worries me, if an earthquake were to happen now we would be doomed!
Once we had done the city we drove down to a nature reserve (Vendicari) which is a stopping off point for migrating birds. Strange as it may seem we are south of Tunis and the nearest African coast in not south but west. We did see flamingos in the distance and a few other birds and the beaches were nice although a bit windswept.
My only previous knowledge of Sicily was gleaned from an excellent film (and book) by Alan Whicker about his war. He landed in Sicily and eventually went all the way up through Italy to Milan.
The wonders of the Internet allowed us to watch the film again this evening and recognise many of the places he visited including Noto and Taormina and Catania where we have been for the past few days.
If you have never seen his film go and have a look, it should be shown to all schoolchildren as a warning about war.