Since my childhood in my hometown, Mascali, Mt Etna and its eruptions have played an important role in my upbringing. My grandparents used to tell me about the 1928 eruption, which totally destroyed, in only few days, the old Mascali. This eruption left its citizens both powerless and attracted by the volcano's impressive and brutal violence of the volcano.
While observing the black rocks in St Antonio I was trying to imagine the lava flowing and covering everything and I could not come to terms with the fact that this wide stretch of rugged lava was all that was left of the famous Mascali, the main centre of the homonymous county.
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The more I grew up the more attached to my Island and Mt Etna I became. In my mind the volcano was hiding myths and mysterious gods inside its cavities.
I was also fascinated by the legends of Homer and The Odyssey, the genial tricks of Ulysses, when he managed to escape the fury of the Cyclops who throwing two big stones against a fugitive named 'Nobody' gave life to the rocks of Acitrezza.
Sicily is a land of extremes and contradictions which are deeply-rooted in the character of Sicilians and reflect our abilities to face with courage and a strong sends of respect,
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the various emergencies caused by the volcano even in very recent times.
I believe there are very few places in the world where you can touch the lava stones while admiring the creative work of this lava in inventing and shaping the morphology of our land; where you can find the pebbly beaches in Fondachello next to the steep cliffs sinking in the blue water in Acireale.
It is this fascinating beauty, may be still undiscovered, the inexhaustible source of inspiration for my creativity.
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