Putnam patriot., 1926-04-23

H0tel Excelf0f. Paierma

Hotel Excelsior. Palermo P Tn the e0urse 0f any kind 0f travel one encounters very definite types o tourists There are the true sight saera first 8f all. those earnest one. who move from city t0 city heavily armed with tho gIideboeks and the in struction- 4f friends who have prepi auaIv trHeefspd the route To them traeal is d matter If duty an histarI cal mcHa ta be thoroughly and com. ulrtflg digasted Their opposite type numbers the tourist who frequently amits hi4 ruidebook and his maps and , his data. Wh0 quickly f0rReta that friends at home told hIm moi to miss fhis or that particular sight Wha, iu short. takes his fragel n lesurelE and comfortable content. fling his hours uth pleasant Hht and eunds. Ire aurutiv and gareiessiF unmfHdfui Of the cardinal law of Baedeker
 Two travellers who aiIRbtrd from inc frnlu A GiardiaI. below the eiiH af Tasrmina on December 2fst. lasts belonged ta IhIs latter category. But Sicily very quickly aroused them from the slethful ways of the careless tour ist far af all the countries uf the Med IterraHeaH Sicily surely demands af its visitors that they know something af nas; history and its effects upon the present civilization of the island
 First of all. Sicily is not Italy The marrow crossing of the StTa!ta If Mes sina from Reggie. over in the Toe of IfaiV. at the foot of the Calabrian Mountains te MesziHa itself now aris- en from the ruins of its terrible earth quake of seventeen years ago, takes the traveller into a land of separate history. a totally different homogen- city a people of an apparent differ enep Co their fellow cquntrYmen nu the mainland
 A glance oVcr a brief history of Sic ily makes one vish to parody the pop ular seHg about thc eArgeutines and the Greeks For the history af this extraordinary lHtle island situated ia the very middle of Mediterranean life and history and trade Is aur long story af invasion and ronquests. oi civilizations that ra and fell. pf col 0uios and kingdoms each of which huz left its elesEH defined traces mol nHls n the pat baf IH fhe present of SlelI iun life and cH fam
 A Procession of History
 The summary of all tbe eau hr gIe ea d brief structure FHf af all mythology giea# raHfHfeiz ta th BaanfaIH aH3 sEfH and aieWpe o Sicily thet etyelau as thu uilglgal a.t tler. and down nf tine Ee1=t ei sH raeu=stz= Iha iHasalat Wlll later h1 z h4nn the eeTs r#eb th8f thT one eyed PoKnhemu huf1@! IHtH he c. after the fleeing l5lyf Then eHm . trihu men aul af Africa Whu Aef
 really thr drst known settlers Ih
 Greek came to found hcrC | Giylliza
 finn that rivHllod Atheus itaeH Hn
 fht Ramaus followed ia add pages H
 conquest and colonization Co the | lands story Christianity. appeHflui
 in the later Roman period was almas ohliterated iu the following invasion of ihe Saraeeus and fiuHlly came th
 Norman kings. whose influence ma
 bc roughly said to have lustcd dow
 until the famous invasion af GarihaI
 di and his "One Thousand in 1860
 We only bring these statistics
 the renders attention because if he
 
 will see about hum at every turn th
 evidences of these successive eiNillzi
 tians and historical changes. Ih
 fact applies moi only to the art an
 thc architecture and the visual mor
 umonta left by the Greeks and the Rl
 mans and Che Saracrns and the Freue
 but it applies td thr Sictlians then
 selves There E still in Sicily a dH
 tuctk Greek tTpe. as Creek tn fa,
 and form as the figures on Che irie5
 of the PartheHou Therr arr Roman
 tae the descendants af those lerior
 Chat swept theIslaud repeatedly undt
 tha hafuetH If tis ffbtt he sar.
 eeuE. fan lgft h.bnd th m t race ]
 he merged into siril'au lte Hnd siar' All thtse epa ate te hg =trH t0tla
 Hud there Ate tua many ot the cH l toms azd thg manner of tha fHFad,f
 which che tourist wrfi e5 Tly trace !
 their historical eaHrgHe
 The irau fraw \aHIe .ais ths tEaA ciCr daWa 8i ' aniui un. Ide frni | the vocifpraus parttr= of many notch here is lttlHeeaieuce thH thi nzl1 uifiruut htile h4hlHf tllare fs th I eHteWay tn what mAnN. uaHv fraRe | YIN NtNft. ftAHAfA ft.#tt hAtttf. i'ht"t H- continue to call thc mest boautlfg | place tn the world What would yo 1 do if someone asked you Co lesertb the most beautiful place that you ha | ever secus Probably, if you were no ' m editor and didn't have to hold you f job you would sigh deeply mumhl ! something about, "Oh fl was teo beau ' tifuli" and sink of into silent am comfortable rcminisecnee
 i Up To Tsormina
 f One aseends and the verb is rartic [ ularly just te Taarmuu from th | level by a winding road that al f most immediately shows indications 3 ! what is te cemc + is bong foa f chat leads between white villas spt H I gardens ef bouEWusilita and IasmH | and oranges and roses a road tha f turns and twists forever upward gh ing the visitor nnw and then a eltmrs ' ef majestic Efnu, later te De seen I full glory Below is the sea and be yond the strait, the mountainous pen insular of Caahria over in Italy One enters raermna through th Mcssjna Gate mediaeyal structur ! set in the remains of Saraccn wal A moment later the meter is in th ' lftfip PiaTFa NffFnrio Fmmanurip for