I’ll keep this short, preferring to write in greater detail about what I learned through this experience in my PALLIUM article.
1. Always travel on a trip like this with someone else.
2. Select one or two cities as a base of operation and fan out from there.
3. Rent a car – only if someone else does the driving.
4. Maintain your sense of humor – regardless of how grim circumstances become.
5. Keep seeing the world.
On my last evening in Italy, I ate dinner at the home of Marco’s sister-in-law, Silvia, and her family (Marco and his mother joined us). She put on a great meal of classic Italian pizza, fish, and a pastry stuffed with cheese and meat. After dinner drinks and coffee followed. She even made paper American and Italian flags and strung them over the table. A nice touch.
The conversation turned to politics, and we swapped stories about scandals. The Italians like nothing better than a good juicy political scandal.
I asked for the paper flags as a souvenir. Of course, Silvia obliged.
Marco, his mother, and I wended our way through the narrow deserted streets of Barge to Marco’s house. When we arrived, I went in while Marco accompanied his mother to her home. When he returned, he presented me with a bag of chocolates, a gift for me to his mother.
I went to bed at 1 a.m. After five hours of sleep, I awoke, showered, and left Barge (and Italy) for the two-hour drive to Milano’s Malpensa Airport.
I started the day in Barge.
Marco and I drove 20 minutes to the high school where his sister-in-law, Silvia, teaches. It’s a school that focuses its program on preparing the students for social services. Silvia teaches English, and so I guest talked the class. I asked many of the students to introduce themselves to me in English and to tell me something about themselves. Most of them were eager, but a few were shy.
By the end of the 50-minute class, they had started to warm up. They asked me questions about Canterbury, and I spoke to them using some of the primitive Italian I learned using Rosetta Stone. They were impressed and couldn’t understand why anyone would want to learn Italian. I told them I had done so to prepare myself for my trip.
Next, we moved on to another class, this one an Italian literature class. The students’ English wasn’t as good as the English of the student in the first class, but the second class had lots of personality. I repeated my basic Italian and I asked them a few questions. Many of them told me they wanted to visit New York. One girl wanted to go to Miami; a boy to San Francisco. I encouraged them to study their English and their studies in general. I also told them I would describe my experience with them to my colleagues and students.
I then had a coffee in the school’s faculty room, which is certainly larger than Canterbury’s and has a great view of the Alps. The school is in disrepair, but they are making improvements. They have two computer rooms. Teachers have access to three school-owned computers. I saw one teacher using her own laptop.
Most of these students will not go to college. Silvia told me that she and her colleagues have a difficult time motivating the students. However, they seemed to enjoy my visit more so for the fact that I was a diversion from their ordinary day as for the fact that they had the chance to converse with an American in English. They couldn’t imagine why someone would want to visit their school,, but I assured them the experience meant a lot to me.
In the afternoon, we visited La Venaria Reale, one of the Savoy family estates. The complex contains the palace and gardens.
Pictures below.
I could resist calling this post 8 1/2, a tribute to the classic Italian film of the same name by Fellini.
Yesterday, we left mid-morning for Torino and the Cinema Museum. It’s about an hour’s drive from Barge, mostly on nice clean highway roads where drivers actually obey the rules and are courteous. Cars stay in their lanes – a stark contrast to the approach in Palermo. Marco parked the car on the street and we proceeded to one of the city’s big palazzos for the first caffé of the day. Then we walked a short distance to the museum that already had long queue. The Mole Antonelliana is a major landmark of Torino. It is named for the architect who built it, Alessandro Antonelli. Construction began in 1863 and was completed 26 years later, after the architect’s death. Nowadays it houses the National Museum of Cinema and it is believed to be the tallest museum in the world.
One of its attractions is a glass elevator that takes you to the top of the tower directly through the center of the building. Once you have arrived at the top, you can take in spectacular views of the city. Think of it as going to the top of the Empire State Building to see Manhattan and beyond.
After lunch in the museum restaurant (I had pasta), we started our tour. Let me begin by saying that this is simply the best cinema museum I have ever visited. UNBELIEVABLE in every respect – from design to its holdings. Its kind of like the Vatican museums for all things cinema. A cineste’s paradise.
The museum is divided in a number of sections, each devoted to a particular topic. For example, there is a section displaying movie posters, a section that imaginatively illustrates the movie-making process, a section devoted to the history of the Magic Lantern, and a section recalling how television and the movies have influenced our homes. TVs in the bathroom? Yup – they’ve got that too. And you can watch a short movie while sitting on a toilette. Very funny – everyone was laughing.
In the center of the ground floor is a large space containing red lounges with speakers built into the headrest area. Here, you can relax and watch one (or two, if you like) of the compilations they screen. I watched the one devoted to dancing in Italian movies. It does for dancing what Cinema Paradiso does for the movie kiss. Having spent four hours walking through the museum (I didn’t want to miss a thing), I looked forward to a few moments of putting up my tired feet.
Artifacts from some of my favorite movies (ones that I teach or have taught) enthralled me: giant movies posters for classics such as Rear Window, Stagecoach, Sunset Boulevard, and Citizen Kane; photos of Alfred Hitchcock at work, set designs from The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari; and reproductions of nickelodeons (I had never seen one before), to name a few. All in all, a great experience and one that has enriched me tremendously.
We then had another caffé and a dessert before touring the rest of the city. I saw a few royal palaces (including Palazzo Reale) and a beautiful church, Reale Chiesa di San Lorenzo.
Torino is a beautiful town despite what the owner of a restaurant in Sicily told me. The city is sophisticated, easy on the eyes, and fairly easy to navigate. Long colonnades with plenty of shops line the streets. People are polite. One of the city’s large squares is the stage for performers ranging from a pianist playing a concert grand (and selling his CDs) to a mime, to a jazz trio. I spent about 30 minutes there taking photos.
We stopped in a couple of book shops, including a Virgin Megastore type place. Marco had promise his niece a new book. It was now about 8:30 and time for dinner at a restaurant at which Marco had made a reservation earlier in the day. The place was crowded (a good sign), and the food was terrific. I ordered a combination of fried shrimp and calimari. Also had appetizers and some white wine.
I wanted ice cream for dessert, so Marco suggested we walk to a gelateria (ice cream shop in Italian). The place is called GROM (www.grom.it). If you ever find yourself in Torino, visit GROM. The ice cream is great, and the store prides itself on its ethical business model. They are part of Italy’s Slow Food Movement – an anti-fast food cause. The owner is a young guy who has used his family’s fortune to start the business.
While watching tv at the hotel in Palermo one evening before going to bed, I saw a story about The Purple People, an anti-Berlusconi group. At dinner the night before, I asked Marco and his family if they had ever heard of them. They hadn’t. But lo and behold in Torino I saw clear evidence of The Purple People. (Supporters, who wear their political feelings on their body, don something purple to show their solidarity.) This particular group had a table in a square and sold purple tee shirts, etc. It’s difficult to be really sure if someone wearing purple is a supporter, because if you look in the shop window, purple seems to be the color of the season.
At about 10 p.m.,we started the one-hour drive home, but not before Marco made a slight detour to point out a few last points of interest, including the hunting grounds and the hunting lodge (looked more like a palace) of a former king.
Once home, I downloaded my pictures from the day and made a few choices for this post.
Today, March 15, Marco is at work, and he has graciously allowed me to make myself at home at his place. (The place in which he lives used to be a bordello.) I made myself breakfast and will focus on organizing my thought for my PALLIUM article, which I have started.
Pretty much everything is closed in Barge on Monday, so even if I wanted to walk around the town there wouldn’t be much to see or do. As I previously wrote, Barge is a very quiet town, populated by many Chinese who are employed primarily as masons. It’s quite odd. (Authorities recently found a Chinese man hanged inside a Catholic Church. Speculation exists that he may have been murdered elsewhere by the Chinese mafia and his body put on display in this closed church. They found a bag of oranges outside the church, but no one is really sure what the abandoned oranges symbolize, if anything.
Marco’s sister-in-law came by to accompany me to Mrs. Bovero’s house for lunch. Marco and his two nieces joined us. We had a fine lunch of ravioli, chicken, potatoes, and salad. Fruit and cookies for dessert. Now I back at Marco’s house, where I will continue to work on my PALLIUM story.
Below are pictures from Torino. Top-bottom, left-right: Alps in Barge, fruit vendor in Barge, in queue for the cinema museum, me sitting in a piazza, inside the museum, detail of Palazzo Madama, piano player in piazza, the Purple People, Italian poster for Rear Window, street performer, view of Torino from top of Mole Antonelliana, me with Marco’s brother, mother, sister-in-law, and niece, woman on the street.
Barge is a charming small Italian town, quiet and with narrow streets (they freak me out still) and a central square and church. Dinner at Marco’s mother’s house last night consisted of antipasto of procuitto and kiwi followed by a cold beef covered in a flavored mayonnaise sauce followed by crepes followed by another meat dish and salad – also carrots. Desserts (dolci) kept on coming: torta (pie) and a small mound of chocolate mouse on the side, then a large assortment of cookies and other delights. Red (regionally produced) and white wine (from Sicily) punctuated the dinner. At the end of the meal, Marco opened a bottle of Italian champagne to top off the night.
The conversation vacillated between English and Italian. Marco’s sister-in-law, Silvia teaches English as a local high school, so she spoke English quite well. Her husband is a psychologist. Their two children, Cecilia, 6, and Costanza, 2, proved to be good entertainment. Costanza cried for awhile because she missed her mother; Cecilia eventually fell asleep before dinner ended because she had competed in a ski event earlier in th day. Mother Bovero, Teresa, cooked and served the food.
My dinner conversation centered around what I do and what I think about Obama. I asked Silvia many questions about her job and the system of education in Italy. She, as are all teachers in Italy, hired on a year-to-year basis and are not paid during the summer months. Also, shockingly, the state reassigns teachers to a different school each year. I have made arrangements to visit her school and her class in particular on Tuesday.
It’s such a better experience living in a “real” residence as opposed to a hotel. It’s a part of my trip that I hadn’t really counted on. Originally, I was to spend only one full day in Barge; with my change of plans the one day has been extended to three full days – a great opportunity to see the Italy that not too many American tourists ever experience.
Marco’s place is really nice. He spent six months converting an old space in a medieval building into a fashionable two-floor apartment. I have my own room and bathroom – and Internet access!
Today Marco is going to show me Torino, particularly a museum devoted to the history of film and especially Italian cinema. An exhibition called Della La Dolce Vita (Since La Dolce Vita) captures the decadent lifestyle of Italy’s rich and famous through photographs (by three photographers) of well known American and Italian movie stars. (http://www.museodelcinema.it/).
Time to go. See next post for update.
This is just an interim post to let you all know that I made it safely to Barge, which is located at the foot of the Alps in northern Italy, in the area called Piemonte (foot of the mountains). Had dinner with Marco and his family – at his mother’s house. A slice of the real Italy. Tomorrow I will get a tour of Torino. On Tuesday, I hope to go to the school where Marco’s sister-in-law teaches high school English. Maybe I will be the guest teacher.
Until next time.
This is just a quick report about a conversation I had this morning with two older couples at breakfast. I will add to this post later in the day, so check back.
On my way into the breakfast room of the hotel I couldn’t help but overhear someone mention Haiti. I listened in (eavesdropped might be a better word) on the conversation, and it became clear that they were talking about mission work. After I gathered my breakfast (scrambled eggs, meat, pastry, yogurt, freshly squeezed orange juice (spremuta, in Italian), and an apple for later in the morning, I went over to the table and struck up a conversation.
Turns out that their church sends two groups each year to Haiti for mission work. They work in Jacmel and have built a nursing school, which has graduated three classes of nurses. I told them a little about Canterbury’s involvement in Haiti. The conversation was brief. Who would have thought you would overhear someone talking about a Haiti mission trip in English in Sicily? Small world.
Time to do a bit of souvenir shopping and make a museum visit. Oh, yeah, take a few pictures too.
Afternoon post.
With some trepidation I headed out to find the Palazzo Abatellis, which houses the greatest gallery of regional art in Sicily and is one of the finest art galleries in all of Italy. Prior to leaving the hotel, I plotted the route on a map and wrote down the directions. It seemed pretty easy, but sometime I just don’t trust my sense of direction. In any case, with only one wrong turn, I found the place with no major problems. Incidentally, it turned out that at one point along the way, I noticed that the museum had marked the sidewalk with arrows leading right to the destination. So I just followed the arrows (see photo).
I paid the 8 euro ($10.91) entry fee; they took my bag for security reasons and then led me to the starting point. The museum is laid out on three floors.
The building itself is an architectural gem, a Catalan-Gothic structure with a Renaissance overlay designed by the Sicilian architect Matteo Carnilivari in 1490 for Francesco Abatellis, the praetor of Palermo. The building suffered damage during the bombings of WW2, but was restored in 1954.
In brief, the collection tells the story of the evolution of Sicilian art from the 13th through the 18th centuries. It contains many examples of religious art (paintings and sculpture), particularly of the Annunciation, Nativity, Last Supper, Crucifiction, Resurrection, and Ascension. Many of the depictions of Madonna and Child show Mary with breast exposed, ready to give her Son sustenance. In all of my art history classes, I had never seen such examples.
The gallery’s most famous work (a fresco), the Triumph of Death, dates from 1449 and is of uncertain attribution. In room 11 of the second floor is the spectacular Annunciation, the work of Antonello da Messina. My friend Marco had strongly suggested I visit this museum and particularly this piece. It was well worth the visit.
This afternoon I did some souvenir shopping and bought a couple of warm clothes items for when I am in Barge/Torino, where the weather is cold.
Tomorrow is a travel day, so I don’t think I’ll be posting. Flight leaves Palermo airport at 3:10 p.m. (Air One airlines) and arrives in Torino at about 5 p.m. Marco will pick me up and we’ll drive to Barge. I’m a bit nervous about the car rental return, but there is not much I can do about it at this point.
Below are a few photos I took today.
Let me begin with what happened at dinner last night.
I returned to Capricci di Sicilia, a restaurant I ate in the night before. The food is excellent (simple Sicilian cuisine), the waitress pleasant and attentive, and the place is quiet. I ordered the swordfish (fresh) and a glass of red wine (delicious).
The waitress (name sounds like “Juicy”) brought the food promptly. Nicely presented – the chef had edged the fish with slices of orange and a large wedge of lemon. I ordered cassata for dessert (my new favorite sweet treat).
As I finished my dessert, the owner, Vincenza, 51, wandered into the room to chat with a table of four patrons, who had finished their meal. As she turned to walk out, she looked in my direction, and I motioned her over to sit down at my table.
Vincenza smiled, sat, and asked me if I had enjoyed the dinner. “Very much,” I replied. I then asked her to tell me about the history of her restaurant. She told me that she had been in the marketing/advertising business for a long time but had always had an interest in cooking in the style of her mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. While at dinner with friends one night, she decided to make her dream of opening a restaurant come true. Shortly after, she learned about an available space, an abandoned garage. (Vincenza’s husband died a few years ago at the age of 52 of heart problems.)
When I told her that I was a Director of Communications, Vincenza got all excited and invited me to sit down at a table near the door to chat. While eating lettuce (from a bowl) with her fingers, she told me about her family – no children, one sister. She is a wine expert (studied in Paris), also. She let me sample some food and offered me an after dinner drink, which I took.
Vincenza supervised the renovations and opened the place on December 7, 1991. At first, she did all the cooking, but later tired of it and promoted her assistant, Francesco, to head chef. She introduced me to him, and he told me that he attended culinary school for five years in Palermo. I complimented him on his preparation of the swordfish.
Each morning she rises at 6 a.m. to shop at an outdoor market for fresh fish, meat, and produce. No frozen anything.
Then, Sandro, an old friend of Vincenza, entered. She introduced me to him and the two started to jabber in Italian. I took that as my cue to leave and wandered back to my hotel. A nice night.
This morning I decided to visit the Museo della Fondazione Morimiro. I had a bit of trouble finding it, but asked (in Italian) for directions. The woman I asked told me it was just a couple of blocks up the street. She was right.
The museum, whose collection is owned by Banco di Sicilia, is impressive. It contains a vast array of Greek artifacts and vases, coins, and paintings from more recent times. The collection of Italian majolica from the 16th century to the 18th century is among the finest in Italy. When I finished the tour, it was time for lunch.
After eating a lunch of pasta, I spent the afternoon walking around talking street photos (see below). I don’t know why I’m so attracted to taking photos of homeless people, but I make no apologies – they make great subject matter. The photo of the old woman on the bench – had I arrived about 30 seconds sooner I would have my camera out to capture (or perhaps not) a shot of her taking care of her business right in front of the bench for all the world to see. A bit shocking. I’ve seen men in Haiti and Manhattan relieve themselves in public, but never a woman. I’ve included two examples of homeless people in today’s post.
Tomorrow I plan to do a bit of souvenir shopping and visit another museum. We’ll see how it goes.
I am going to try to make this quick (or I will finish it later) because I want to catch a 4 p.m. showing of Alice in Wonderland (in 3-D) a few doors down from the hotel.
This morning I walked around a few of the squares near the hotel and took lots of photos. Some are posted at the end of this entry. I decided to tour Teatro Massimo, a late 19th century opera house, the third largest in Europe (Paris and Vienna have larger ones). It’s stage is the second largest in Europe – big enough to stage Aida, elephants and all. I arrived at about 11 a.m. and inquired about the next English-speaking tour. 12:10, the ticket seller told me. So I continued walking around and taking pictures.
On my way to the Teatro, I saw a beggar in a position I had never seen before (see picture below). I took some pictures of him, but the exposures were off. So I went back and got it right. I got a little nervous because a couple of Sicilian cops showed up, but they didn’t bother me.
(Alert: a large group of Americans just checked in.)
With the beggar photos in the camera, I headed back to Teatro Massimo and took the 25-minute tour. It consisted of an ante-chamber (the Mirror Room), the auditorium itself (holds 1400), the Royal Box and its adjacent VIP Room (not used much these days), and the large-domed Echo Room (perfect acoustics). There were five of us on the tour. All of the stops on the tour were very interesting. For you fans of The Godfather movie series, Teatro Massimo is where Michael Corleone’s daughter was killed (on the front staircase – see picture below) in The Godfather III. The scene is intercut with shots of an opera being performed inside.
Time to go the movies. I’ll be back later.
Okay, so I’m back from the movie, and even though it was in Italian, I thoroughly enjoyed it. There were about 50 or so people in the audience, and the young people in back of me talked through much of the movie. The concession stand was better than the one I saw last night. Again, they had an intermission. They just stopped the movie in mid-scene. People stood up to buy popcorn and drinks. They also showed tv-style commercials for local businesses during the break. Maybe it’s an Italian thing – this taking a break in midstream. They do it with their business day (lots of stuff closes for a couple of hours in the afternoon) and the movies.
The weather today was much better than it has been the past few days. no rain and a few breaks in the clouds. It’s not as warm as I thought it was going to be. I wish I had brought more long sleeve thermal shirts and a sweatshirt or two – but I have a warm jacket, which certainly comes in handy.
Had pannini for lunch (3.5 euros)
Here’s a little explanation of the pictures I have included in this post. Left-right, top-bottom: beggar (referred to above), me in front of Teatro Massimo, a man reading a newspaper in a square, Teatro Massimo, square with concert hall in the background.
March 9, 2010. 2:36 p.m.
Yes, I am still here. Had trouble yesterday finding a connection. The nice lady at the B&B in Messina tried to be helpful, but she was technology challenged. Anyway, my plans have changed.
After spending most of yesterday driving to my ultimate destination, the B&B in Messina, and all that happened in between Palermo and Messina, I decided it was best to return to the hotel in Palermo. So I made the 3-hour drive this morning. The advantages are: not a lot of wasted time driving, a centrally located hotel, plenty of restaurants around, plenty of sites yet to see, a safe place to park the car, and 40 minutes from the airport. My original destinations will have to wait until another time.
So let me tell you about my adventures of yesterday. Everything started out fine. Driving in Palermo is HORRENDOUS. The drives here make New Yorkers seem polite. Driving, needless to say, is VERY STRESSFUL. Despite is all, while in Palermo I have managed to drive without incident.
I made it safely out of Palermo and onto the Autostrada. The road hugs the coast. The views are normally spectacular, but not yesterday. The rain and clouds obscured the view. I had to drive through many tunnels, some lighted, some not. Very nerve wracking. Luckily, the road was fairly clear of traffic. There are basically two lanes – one for normal drivers like me and one for super fast drivers. I switched between the two.
On my way to Messina, I stopped in Cefalu, a seaside town. Parked (easy) and took a few photos. Walked around a bit too. Then I started up again for Messina. I had a GPS, so I thought I was in good shape. I knew ahead of time that the B&B was a bit outside the town and so difficult to find. I had two addresses. The first one brought me to an apartment complex – obviously wrong. The second one took me on the scenic tour.
The GPS had trouble getting me to my destination, and it tried to send me up a VERY narrow street. Well, to make a long and painful story short, the car was a bit too wide for the “street.” So the sides of the car got pretty well scratched up. To top it off, another car was trying to pass where I was desperately trying to turn around. I finally got it. With my fiend Marco’s help, he arranged for the owner of the B&B to meet me at an ESSO station – the original plan – but gone awry because of GPS problems. Well, by about 3 in the afternoon I rendezvoused with the owner and followed her to the B&B. The established is poorly marked, and as far as I could tell there was no street sign. Relieved, I took a shower (oh, yeah, the power in the hotel in Palermo went out on Sunday night and did was not restored until Monday morning, just minutes after I began my departure). Then rested, and thought about my options. Hence, the change in plans. Not to mention having to back out of the EasyPass lane. My nerves were shot.
Then I took a few photos around the property. The house is absolutely beautiful. The room was large, comfortable, well appointed, and had a great view of the sea. Great bathroom, too. After what had happened earlier in the day, the thought of driving to the next town over for dinner was not an option. Luckily, I had some food with me to tide me over until breakfast the next morning.
So now I am back in Palermo. I had lunch and walked around a bit. It’s raining hard so walking is no fun. Tonight I think I’ll experience going to the movies in Sicily. There is a cinema next door to the hotel. 4 o’clock show. There is still plenty to see in Palermo. So tonight I will plan my next few days here.
While I was walking this afternoon in the rain, Marco called (he knew of my change of plans) and suggested I fly to Torino (the closest airport to Barge, where he lives) a few days early – Saturday instead of Monday. I think I will take him up on his offer. It will help to break up my time in Palermo (Sicily) and allow me to tour Barge and Torino in more thoroughly. Also, it will give me time to relax (i.e. no driving) a bit before the long flight home next Wednesday.
In hindsight, I think I planned an itinerary far too ambitious. Too much time in the car between destinations and not enough time in the destination to do it any sort of justice. That said, I will still have seen and done a lot in Sicily/Italy. I will have visited 10 towns/cities and seen just about all of the major attractions in Palermo.
Here are a few pictures I took yesterday in Cefalu and the B&B in Messina.
March 7, 2010. 5:48 p.m. Palermo. Hotel Garibaldi.
This morning I drove (with Marco as my driving guide) to Monreale, a 30 minute trip from my hotel in Palermo. Monreale’s cathedral is one of the greatest extant examples of Norman architecture in the world. It was begun in 1174 by William II, and in 1182 the church, dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, was, by a bull of Pope Lucius III, elevated to the rank of a metropolitan cathedral. The church is a national monument of Italy and one of the most important attractions of Sicily.
The archiepiscopal palace and monastic buildings on the south side were of great size and magnificence, and were surrounded by a massive precinct wall, crowned at intervals by twelve towers. This has been mostly rebuilt, and but little now remains except ruins of some of the towers, a great part of the monks’ dormitory and frater, and the splendid cloister, completed about 1200. (Thanks to Wikipedia for the above info. The photos below are really mine.)
We arrived in time for the second half of Mass, in Italian, of course. After the service we took in the impressive mosaics and beautiful ceiling.
Then we toured the cloister gardens. It was raining a bit, so the gardens lost some of their splendor and atmosphere.
That done, I drove Marco to the airport to catch his flight to Torino (he lives in Barge, Italy). We have been using his GPS, which has been helpful, but not perfect. This morning it took us down a one-way alley before we realized it. Turning around was quite the challenge, but we did it!
We had a quick lunch at the airport and said goodbye. So now I was really on my own.
Getting out of the airport parking lot (and paying for the parking) proved another challenge. The system is that you put your ticket (that the machine gave you on the way in) into a pay cashier machine, which tells you how much is due. Finding that machine or another method of payment was difficult. While I was looking for the machine, two Italian guys asked me if I knew where the pay machine was. I answered, “No, I’m looking for it, too.” So I decided to follow them. A brilliant idea, because they spotted it right away. My parking cost 3 euros. The next step to get out of the lot is to put the validated ticket in the exit machine, which then lifts the arm.
I was surprised that I had no major problems driving back to the hotel. Oh, yeah, there were a few wrong turns here and there (thanks to the GPS, which tried to send me down one-way streets), but basically it did a good job. However, about a 1/2 block from the hotel, I heard a car horn. I tried to avoid it, but the driver kept honking. Lo and behold, it was the municipal police. I really don’t know why they wanted my attention. I rolled down my window and told them I was on my way to my hotel. Then I said, “Mi dispiace,” which means I’m sorry in Italian. I think I may be using that phrase often in the days ahead. The police seemed satisfied with my apology, and I drove the few yards to the hotel.
Tomorrow I plan to head out early to drive to Cefalu for a quick visit and then to Messina for the afternoon and night. I don’t know when I will have a chance to write my next post, but I will try to find a place that has wireless. Now sure about the forecasts, which so far seem as accurate as the one at home.
Below are a few photos (click to enlarge), which I took in Monreale.
Today is Sunday, March 7, 2010.
Yesterday, we began the day with a trip to the south of Sicily. Our first stop was Piana degli Albanesi, a town with a high percentage of Albanians, who have been there for centuries. The purpose of our stop there was to eat what is regarded by the place we stopped at, the Extra Bar, to be the best cannolo express in Sicily. The biscuit is made locally, just a block from the bar. They are delivered as needed and filled upon one’s order. (see picture below). I also had an expresso, which seems to have become my new habit. I have about 2-3 a day.
Next, we headed to Corleone. Yes, the place of The Godfather, and don’t think that the town hasn’t taken advantage of that opportunity. There are Godfather tee shirts, mugs, and just about anything else you can imagine. They even have a liquor – Amaro don Corleone, of which the proprietor provided me a sample. Supposedly, it is good for the digestion and contains local herbs. Had simple pizza there.
So the next destination was Palazzo Adriano, the location of the filming of Cinema Paradiso, one of my favorite movies. The town has a small museum devoted to stills from the movie and a few of the original props. It was a thrill for me to be there. Very emotional because I love the movie so much. There is no real cinema in the square – that was built specially for the movie and then restored to its original purpose. I learned that the actor who played Toto now works in his father’s supermarket. The dad built two stores with the money his son earned. The museum has a few pictures of the actor (Toto) as an adult, and it’s no stretch to see that he lost all of his adorable cuteness – and, as a result, his movie career. We stopped in a bar on the square to have a quick caffe (espress0). Italians chug their espresso like some people drink a shot – down the hatch all at once. It has taken some getting used to for me to do it that way. I also took a bunch of photos of the square, the fountain, and the church.
By now it was about 4 in the afternoon and it was time to head home. Using a GPS device as our navigator, we ended up on some roads that give new meaning to country roads. Marco later explained to me that they have probably been used by the Mafia a getaway road. As a result, parts of the road have blown up, making passing very trecherous. We traveled on that road for what seemed like forever, and then we were finally happy to hit a better maintained road that looked like a minor highway.
Driving in Palermo is not for the feint of heart. It’s terrible. About the only rule is there are no rules. Drivers seem to consider themselve as having the right of way – and pedestrians think they go. So it makes for an interesting trip. The streets are VERY crowed with small cars contending with scooters that dart through the traffic. I was a nervous wreck, but finally made it back to the hotel unscathed.
We relaxed for a bit before going to dinner. I tried to connect to the Internet using a wired connection (which I had done successfully the day before) but with no luck. I did manage to get a wireless connection here at the hotel, so I have been able to keep up this blog and check email.
For dinner I had grilled swordfish, a salad, an appetizer (don’t know how to spell it), a glass of red wine (which I didn’t finish), a dessert (something with a pistachio taste), and a glass of grappa.
I should mention that on Friday I met a couple of women in a church. One was from Chicago and the other from Wisconsin. The parents of one of them were visiting Sicily when the wife took a nasty spill and had to be hospitalized. The women arrived in Sicily to give support to the husband. The wife has has two surgeries to relieve pressure on her brain and is now conscious. Later in the day, when I was walking throught the market, I ran into them again. They spotted my camera from behind and came by to say hello.
Today, I say goodbye to Marco, who has to fly home so he can work next week. We will first visit Monreale, and then I will drop him off at the airport. Then the adventure really begins. Stay tuned.
So today was my first full day in Sicily (Palermo) and what a full day it was.
Marco and I started touring at 9 a.m., after having breakfast in the hotel. These are the places we visited today along with a few thoughts about each.
Piazza Pretoria & Fontana della Vergogna (a great three-tiered fountain with many naked figures. Nicknamed the Fountain of Shame)
Cathedral Palermo (most impressive exterior)
Cappella Palatina (most impressive interior with spectacular mosaics and a carved ceiling)
Palazzo dei Normanni (government headquarters that is also a tourist site)
Mercato Ballaro (a large market place that sells everything from fresh fish and meat to small electronics)
Cappuccini Catacombe (dressed skeletons of priests, professionals, and small children. Most tied to the wall; some lying in their coffins)
San Giovanni agli Eremiti (a garden on the site of an hermitage)
Lunch: Le Cubana (great cafeteria-like restaurant. I had an anchovy pizza.)
Dinner: in San Giuseppe Jato (about an 40 minutes away from Palermo. Marco’s friend, Luigi, did the driving. A great example of Italy’s agritourism. LOTS of great food.)
Palermo is a bustling city. Unfortunately, our hotel room faces a very busy street and the rooms are not sound-proofed, so it is noisy all night. Driving is a nightmare, a combination of the narrow streets with the frenzy and got-to-get-there-fast attitude of Manhattan. It’s a walkable city, however, and with a few exceptions we walked everywhere today. Got back in at 11:20 p.m. Now it’s time for bed.
“Drive the highlighted route,” said my Garmin nuvi as I backed out of my driveway at 12:02 p.m. My destination: JFK Airport. ETA: 1:33 p.m.
And so it is beginning. After a year in the planning, my Duffy Family Travel trip to Sicily is finally happening.
I worried enough for seven people during the past few days, ever since the weather forecast called for snow and rain today. That accompanied by the closing of JKF’s largest runway (four months of repairs began on March 1), could have been a recipe of delay disaster. Bryan Kiefer told me not to worry, and he was right.
The traffic was minimal. I breezed to the airport in 91 minutes. Pretty good. Long stretches of road opened up to me as if Moses himself were parting the Hutch just for me.
I also dreaded parking the car in long-term parking. I envisioned having to park very far away from the Air Train station at Lefferts Blvd. However, the gods must have been with me, because I got a great space. Yes, Guy, I did write the area and aisle down so I wouldn’t forget.
Arriving at Terminal 1 at about 2:00 p.m., I had to wait 30 minutes before the people at Alitalia were ready to check in passengers for their flight to Milano.
With check in finished, I sent through security: removed belt, watch, medal around my neck, shoes; took out my laptop, cell phone; and took off my coat. Everything in those plastic bins they provide. No issues, although they love to look at the details of my camera gear on the computer screen.
So here I am at Gate 1 waiting for a 5 o’clock (I think) boarding call.
I arrived in Milano on time (8:00 a.m.). When I came out of customs and luggage pickup, Marco was waiting for me. That was a relief. We hung our at the airport until it was time to take our flight (2:25 p.m.) to Palermo on EasyJet.
Arrived in Palermo at about 4:00 p.m., picked up our luggage, had a cup of coffee (wow – REAL Italian coffee), and took a shuttle bus to the car rental company. The car is okay – a Skoda in a lovely silver. I drove to Palermo, but not before stopping in Mondello (like Larry on Leave it to Beaver), a seaside town. Took some pictures. Arrived at our hotel (Hotel Garibaldi) at about 7:00 p.m.
The first step in a seemingly unrelated series of events that influenced my choice of Sicily as my next travel destination occurred 20 years ago. Two trips to Italy in the 1980s (with Canterbury students and faculty) originally piqued my interest in international travel and Italian culture. In 1988, a movie called Cinema Paradiso, one of my favorite films, one that I teach, and one shot mostly in Sicily, further triggered my interest.
The next step occurred during the summer of 2007, when Marco, a fellow Lourdes volunteer from Barge, Italy, told me about his superb two-week vacation to Sicily. I confessed to him that I was quite envious. “Marc,” he said, “one day you will go.” I could only hope to, I thought.
Keeping in touch by email, Marco told me that he had planned another trip to Sicily for the summer of 2008. Upon his return, he sent me some photographs he had taken during the trip for me to critique. His beautiful images reignited my desire to visit this three-cornered island, but I considered traveling alone to be a bit intimidating, and I told him so. To my surprise, he volunteered to plan my itinerary and be my guide and translator. Now I had no excuse not to apply for the Duffy Family Travel Grant to make the trip happen.
When Marco and I met in Lourdes in August 2008, we spoke again about traveling together through Sicily, and he reiterated his offer. One month later, two additional “steps toward Sicily” occurred in fairly quick succession. The first happened at the start of the school year, when the aunt of one of our students from Sicily offered me the use of her family’s home in the province of Agrigento. The following month, at the 2008 Canterbury Medal Dinner, Phyllis Dillon told me she and Dick had recently returned from Sicily, and strongly urged me to go. These moments and interactions are omens calling me, I believe, to discover the riches of Sicily.
In May 2009, Headmaster Tom Sheehy announced that I had received the Duffy Travel Grant. I began planning an August 2009 trip. However, last year’s economic downturn put a crimp in Marco’s plans to travel with me in August 2009, so, to make a long story short, he agreed to travel with me for a few days in March 2010.
My itinerary: Palermo, Messina, Taormina, Catania, Syracusa, Agrigento, Trapani. At the end of the trip, I will fly from Palermo to Torino and then go to Barge to visit Marco for two days. Then it’s back to Milan for the flight home.
Map of Sicily
I’ll try my best to keep the posts fresh, but much of that will depend on access to Internet/WIFI connections.
Ciao.
