Catching up…Sicily: May 28th-June 4th

Catching up…Sicily: May 28th-June4th

Day 1: Spent in a fairy tale town called Erice. It is set on the top of a mountain that you must take a cable car to get up to. It over looks the ocean and the town of Trapani. The day we went the entire town was engulfed in a cloud so we walked down misty streets and the fog was so thick that people in front of you would disappear into it. In a gift shop in the town I met two handsome Italian men who had vespas parked outside They could see me sitting on their vespa for a photo and gave me the matching vespa magnet as a small souvenir. The Italians are so friendly and so happy to share their country with you.

Day 2: Spent the morning in Monraelle visiting the cathedral that holds the world’s second largest Bizantene mosaic. The cathedral was stunning but the town of Monraelle makes the visit even more worth while. It is a larger North End, with tiny streets, lined with little old ladies on the blaconies—all of whom have sheets draped along the side so that men cannot look up their skirts. Down every alley are clotheslines and you can see that in each home lives the entire family, from babies to grandparents based on the clothes hanging. The Italian flag is visible from almost every corner and in the town center the benches are full with little old men with their canes and cigarettes all laughing together and making jokes in Italian. Again this is something I always appreciate about my time in Europe; there is a community for everyone. The elderly are not out casted and kept in their homes but rather are respected and out and about in the sun to enjoy the day. Monraelle wins for feeling the most Sicilian of all places.

The afternoon was spent in Palermo. Palermo is a bustling metropolis of almost a million people. Full of fast moving vehicles, stray dogs, toothless old men, Tunisans selling African crafts on the streets or cheap electronics. The cars move so fast that crossing the street is always a risk. Though much smaller than London, New York or Paris. This city makes the three seem slow paced. There is a gritty nature to the city, similar to that of Athens. But similar to Athens there is an old world wonder to it that sucks you in and actually makes the city charming. It feels so Mediterranean you could be in the middle east. And similar to most middle eastern cities the market is the center of where everything happens. Peter Robb writes of the Market in Palermo among others as being “more than a market it is a vision, a dream, a mirage.” This is definitely true of the market in Palermo.

EAT: Dinner at Pizzo and Pizzo. Best pasta of my life. They have a ravioli sampler where you can try all the restaurants ravioli, that are full of pumpkin and nuts. Portechini mushrooms, goat cheese, and basil. Home made linguini in butter topped with fresh black truffles from Umbria…a summer special.

Day 3: Most memorable day of the trip—a cooking class at the duke’s house in Palermo. This plan initially seemed like a huge rip off to spend the whole day running around the markets of Palermo, and spending 105 euros a person to cook, but after the experience I realized it would’ve been worth much more. We met at the palace (which from the outside looks like a nothing house but from the inside never ends) around 10:00 am. My car being my dad and Kate and I were sure we would arrive first after our day in Palermo we thought we were the experts; Alma drove with us too and as my dad began to get a bit cranky we stopped for a quick coffee and some Italian pastries. Alma and I shared a nutella filled croissant (A-mazing). Contrary to what we thought we were the last to arrive at the cooking class. We promptly left her house to go to the market. The market was remarkable, especially the fish area. In between market stands there are church entrances and people are going in and out of the churches. After a few hours at the market we all returned to the dutchess’ house to begin the dinner preparations. First the dessert was prepared.

After the dinner we were given a tour of the palace. It was truly incredible to see two people living only the way you imagined people lived hundreds of years ago. There were hidden door ways in every room. The doorways either opened up into secret passage ways that connected the house, or were storage closets where they held all of their extra china, all of which had their family crest on it. This amount of china was more than any one in the U.S. could ever manage to store even in the largest of homes. It was fascinating to get this little peek into their lives. Both the duke and duchess had lived in New York among other places all over the world so they had a great perspective on how things are in different places despite the fact that they were living so differently in Palermo. During the tour and through out the evening both made multiple references to the war. I am always struck when spending time in Europe how close to home the war was for everyone and how different that is for us in the U.S.

Day 4: After such a long day in Palermo everyone took it very easy. We took a small trip to Sugesta which is an very old greek ruin of a temple and a theater. The landscape was beautiful. But the main event of our fourth day in Sicily was Chuck’s 80^th birthday dinner. A movie of his life was put together that we watched in the evening before dinner. The movie was a wonderful celebration of his life, family and all the people in it. It was very special to see the part everyone in the room had played in Chuck’s life as well as to see how everyone had grown and changed. The meal was catered and to our surprise it was actually pretty disgusting. No one ate very much and at the end of the night a cat came in and licked all the canolis (which were by far the best part of the meal). The kids put on a Greek play that was fun to watch and followed it by acting out different people in the room. It became an activity that everyone got involved in and it was especially nice to watch how much pleasure kids can get out of these things.

Day 5: Went a town called Mazaro de Vallo, it is on the water and known for being the most Arab populated town in the area. It was prestinely clean and all the street walls were lined with beautifully hand painted tiles. Strangely the city was almost dead...it was hard to find people anywhere. Then to Selinunte, which included a very special private tour by Andrew (a British man who has lived in Sicily for many years) the tour was so extensive that you could really feel the lives of the people who had lived in Selinunte thousands of years ago. It was the first city to have an order of a grid to its streets, and although now it is only ruins you can see the order that was created. The greek temples are stunning with the back drop of the sea. Dinner was at Andrew's house, prepared by his wife and was excellent.

Day 6: Last day spent hiking and briefly at the beach. Then Scopello (had surprisingly good shopping) and a dramatic landscape. Pot lock dinner (one of the best meals of the trip) everyone made something and I learned from Kim how to make a dish that included egg plant, olive spread, goat cheese, basil, and peppers. The last night felt sad as we had all grown close over the week and I didn't want to say good bye.

Day 7: TRAVEL DAY, every travel day seems like it is d-day getting all my stuff together, managing to put enough in my carry on while keeping all my liquids in my suitcase and still keeping it underweight. This time I managed to make my carry on so heavy that it actually weighed more than my suite case. Great because I didn’t have to pay overweight but pretty painful to carry. Not to mention easy jet is actually very strict about only having ONE carry on even if the other bag is a tiny purse. I was able to get away with it on the way to Milan from Palermo. But in Milan I caught at security and told I had to consolidate the two…a task I thought would be impossible but somehow I managed to shove everything in using every strap to of my back pack to hold something—I looked like one of the Northern African guys on the beach selling hats, sunglasses, and chotskies, and carrying extra stock on my back. In Palermo easy jet would not check my bags all the way through to Paris, so although I had an hour and a half in Milan it was very tight being that the whole plane had to unload, get on the bus to the baggage area, wait for all the bags to come out, run to departures, and re-check in. When I got there my flight was being called (something Easy Jet is actually very good at—trying not to let people miss their flights) so I cut the entire line. This is a situation where I’m reminded not being shy is my saving grace. Finally by 1:30 I’d landed in Paris after waking up in Palermo at 5:30 am. By 3:00 I was in Paris and by 3:30 I was well on my way to starting my day with Ben a long lost friend I’d met in Salamanca 3 and a half years earlier.