Sicily!

Mount Etna looms on the horizon as we begin the approach to Augusta Bay, welcoming me back to the Island almost exactly 17 years since I was mobilized here after 9-11--and nearly 40 years since my first visit in 1982.

Time after time, cruise after cruise, I have known the spell of this place. I even lived here for nearly two years (tho' I'm embarrassed at how little Sicilian I picked-up in that time). Even without a linguistic edge I have had so very many adventures here, both alone and with my darling Lucilla. From Siracusa to Messina, Catania to Palermo, Erice to the ancient cities of Segesta and Selinunte...from the ruins of Agrigento to the estate of Horatio Nelson at Bronte. What a wonderful place!

I have a hundred stories, a thousand memories...can this island have been SUCH an important part of my life for SO long?

Oh yes.