in catania, lava is the theme. the gray lava stone colors the entire city. mount etna has spilled onto the streets, and earthquakes have leveled the town. the highlight of catania is the fish market, where haggling and bargaining is standard business operation. [speaking in italian] merchants and customers lock in a life-and-death struggle over the daily sardine catch. catanians take their fish very seriously. north of catania, along the coast, timeless fishing villages like aci trezza mingle mythology with modern life. every day the fishing boats of aci trezza wind their way through these rocks, the legendary rocks of the cyclops. in the odyssey, ulysses and his men escape from the one-eyed monster cyclops by blinding him with a spear then clinging to the underbellies of sheep to escape from his cave. the irate monster cursed them, hurling huge boulders at the men. looming over these coastal towns, casting its great shadow is mount etna. europe's largest active volcano, etna has been spouting lava for some 600,000 years, including some 12 times in the last