In this first of two episodes on Europe's greatest festivals, we'll cheer with the masses at Siena's crazy Palio horse race, toss a caber at a Scottish Highland Games, don a mask for Carnevale in Venice, and celebrate Easter in Greece. Dropping in on some of the Continent's top parties, we discover that each one is a celebration of traditional culture, and all of them are full of opportunities to sing and dance, feast on traditional food, and party with locals.

This tour of Sicilian highlights starts in Palermo, where we'll sing with the merchants in the markets, join locals in their passeggiata, drop in on a contessa, and marvel at the Romanesque cathedral of Monreale. Then we'll sip wine on the slopes of Mount Etna, munch cannoli, ponder Greek temples at Agrigento, admire Roman mosaics at the Villa of Casale, and marvel at the view from the Greek theater in Taormina.