Andrej Tarkovskij in Sicily

19 July, Taormina. Hotel San Domenico. 1980

In Sicily for the first time. I don't yet have any understanding of it. Catania is a gloomy town, with heavy, dirty buildings which have their own kind of air and their own visage.

The Hotel San Domenico in Taormina is in what was once a monastery. Huge corridors; sumptuous staircases; the rooms used to be cells. There's a garden and a view over the sea. The sea here is very clean.

I've seen Rondi, but haven't yet talked to him about the things I intend to discuss with him. Maybe tomorrow.

Marina, the interpreter, is improving. There is something new about her. I am tired, going to bed. Here until the 27th, when I fly to Rome in the morning.

Andrej Tarkovskij, The Diaries, 1970-1986