Syracuse, Sicily – “When in doubt, go to Italy” is the saying.

We are always in doubt. What better place to go?

Today, a warning about why a global recession is now likely.

But first, an update on Sicily… where we’ve spent the last few days exploring.

Sicily is not exactly Italy. It sits in the middle of the Mediterranean, where every sleepy sailor or ambitious empire builder was bound to wash up. The Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Spanish, and French – all tried their hands at ruling Sicily. The Italians are only the most recent of the invaders.

A Visit to the Temples

We rented a little Fiat 500 to explore the island. It lacks power, but it is perfect for zipping around in tight places.

Yesterday, we visited Greek and Roman ruins. The Valley of the Temples at Agrigento is a marvel. It has one of the best preserved Greek temples in the world.

About two hours away is a Roman villa with some of the best frescoes ever discovered. Apparently, they were buried in a mudslide and were thus preserved for 1,000 years.

The Sicily that we’ve seen so far is remarkably open. Rocky mountains, open fields, vast pastures – there is little shade. It must be excruciatingly hot in summer. If we were running things, we’d plant more trees.

Still, it is nice to be able to see so much countryside as we are driving around. One thing we’ve noticed is that there are thousands of abandoned houses – large stone farmhouses – all over the island. The small towns, too, are depopulated.

In the large towns – Syracuse and Palermo, for example – you see many recent immigrants from Africa and India. But the small towns and rural areas seem to be losing people, leaving houses empty.

Between Scylla and Charybdis

More about Sicily in a moment…

Back in the markets, the Dow rose 200 points – or just over 1% – on Friday.