Sicily, a crossroads of the Mediterranean for more than 3000 years, has been ruled by Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Swabians, French, Spanish, Italians, and miscellaneous others while its people have retained their strong personal independence. Come with me as I make my way around the coast of this island from Palermo to Palermo visiting extinct cities, collections of ancient coins, Europe"s largest volcano, and many other corners of this island with a thousand faces. Walk with me through this series of essays, each a snapshot of a town, a city, a train, a beach, a haphazard pile of rocks--each a glimpse current life, of a long ago civilization, of rugged nature. They are my view of an October, turn-of-the-century Sicily.