1936 On the Continent

treasures and monuments destroyed by a terrible earthquake. To-day both the Dome and the AnnunziataCatalani church are only reconstructed or restored versions of the old buildings. Those who arrive by direct train from Villa San Giovanni are therefore advised not to break their journey here but to continue to Palermo or Catania. However, it may happen that the eager tourist does not wish to waste the precious daylight hours and travels by night. For such tourists there are excellent sleeping cars on the trains communicating between Rome and Sicily and Naples and Sicily. If you are tired out by the nocturnal journey you can stop at Messina, leave your luggage at the railway station and take a bath and a rest at the
Albergo Diurno
—already described—which in Messina is
modernissimo
. Having inspected the two churches mentioned above, you may care to watch the play of the church clock at noon. The inhabitants of Messina are very proud of it, but in my humble opinion it will take a few centuries before tourists will flock to Messina in order to see its works. But having seen the business with the clock, what else is there to see in Messina? Shall we say the museum, where there, are a few Egyptian objects, one Carvaggio and a few other pictures. By now it must be lunch time, so let us go to Ricardi’s restaurant near the railway station and become acquainted with the fish specialities of the Sicilians, their wines and world-famous ices. It is no exaggeration to say that nowhere in the world has the making of ices been raised to such artistic perfection as in Sicily. The various
cassata
concoctions are veritable poems. But Sicilian sweets are no less excellent; every one of them originated in the once so wealthy Sicilian convents and monasteries. In Sicily even to-day a lady—whether married or not—does not appear very often in the street, and formerly it was quite inconceivable that a well-bred girl should leave before marriage the convent where she had been placed for her education by her loving parents. Well—according to an Italian author, the sweets recipes of the convents were all, without exception, “love letters” into which the little Sicilian dames had mixed all their romantic dreams.
The Lipari Islands
    You can leave Messina for Palermo in the early afternoon. If you enjoy seeing the miracles of nature, break yourjourney at Milazzo, the harbour of ships sailing for the Lipari Islands. Milazzo is not a big city, and its hotels are accordingly rather modest establishments, but you can safely spend a night or two either at the “Moderno” or at the “Stella d’Italia.” The small steamer leaves Milazzo at 8.45 a.m. for the volcanic Lipari Islands.
    The group consists of seven islands. The Lipari, Salina and Vulcano are close together; the other four are the Alicudi, Filicudi, Panarea and Stromboli. These seven islands are almost a miniature New Zealand, with their countless hot springs and volcanoes. The best way to visit the islands is to land on Lipari and hire a boat there. The most important island of the group is Stromboli, whose 2,150-feet high volcano is in continuous activity, with hourly or two-hourly eruptions of considerable violence. It is an unforgettable sight when glowing lava and rock brought up from the bowels of the earth is flung into the sea at the Sciara del Fuoco during a more violent eruption.
Palermo
    Returning to Milazzo, you can continue to Palermo either by rail or by road. The railway line runs through lovely scenery along the sea coast, and as Palermo is approached the train passes through veritable gardens. Palermo is one of the most beautiful towns in Sicily and one of the most interesting in the whole of Italy. Every nation that has played a rôle in the history of Western Europe has had something to do with Palermo, occupying the city, fighting for it, or retreating from under its walls in defeat. As a consequence the teeming population of Palermo includes dark-skinned Arab types as well as tall, fair-haired Vikings, and practically every type in between. Palermo is a veritable experimental laboratory for the ethnologist.
    The city has some excellent hotels, but the “Igiea Grand Hotel” is the best. A good first-class hotel is the “Panoramus” on the Via Florio, where the charges are on the moderate side; still less expensive is the “Centrale,” the hotel of commercial travellers on the Corso Vittorio Emanuele. There are a few good boarding-houses, such as