Trade In the Switchbacks

There are a few things going on in this photo–Mount Etna’s craters in the background, the medieval town of Randazzo and its cathedral in the middleground, and a steep valley and a very curvy road in the foreground. Now, imagine if you were driving on this road. You’d have to focus on the switchbacks–and from…

Seeking Lords and Ladies 

Like something out of a fairy tale, the (almost) 800-year old Santa Maria Cathedral in the City of Randazzo was constructed in the Frederick Gothic Style, a style encouraged by a civic and military program sponsored by Holy Roman Emperor and King of Sicily Frederick II of Hohenstaufen. The black lava stone blocks of the…