Sunshine and Seafood in Scoglitti

Some of my friends have been after me for quite some time to organize a roadtrip to Scoglitti, on the southeast corner of Sicily, a sleepy little beach town where our friend and auto mechanic Tony owns a restaurant. I had been there once before and told them how much I'd enjoyed it. Finally, we settled on a day and arranged it with Tony, who would meet us near Ragusa and guide us around the area before having lunch at his restaurant in Scoglitti.

After about an hour's drive from Sigonella, Tony met us "at the second Tamoil" on the highway to Ragusa. (Tamoil is the biggest gas station chain in Sicily.) We drove through Comiso and past the now-abandoned U.S. Air Force base there (brand-new school, closed). We stopped for a coffee and the best little ricotta "cream puff" with a crunchy crust I've ever had. The area is famous for ricotta made from cow's milk (usually it is sheep's). I hope to return to try the Sicilian breakfast of warm ricotta sometime.

Tony took us to his son Anthony's new house, still under construction, and Anthony gave us a tour of the whole place. He is currently laying tiles and stones mosaic-style in the entire front yard, quite a large and ambitious project. His wife studied art and it helping design it. Like many Sicilians, Anthony is doing all of the finishing of the house himself with the help of family members. This saves a lot of money but takes a lot of time. He's going to have a beautiful place when it's all done.

Next, we went to the famous Sicilian Donnafugata Castello, a popular destination for both locals and tourists in the area. This is not where the wine by the same name is produced, but it is a nicely situated and attractive palace that has been somewhat restord for tours. We enjoyed the various rooms--the standard "hall of mirrors," banqueting rooms, the bishop's rooms, the painted ceilings, suits of armor, statues, chandeliers, hand-painted wallpaper, antique furniture, and the surrounding gardens. Photos are not permitted inside, although we sneaked a few.

By then, we were all starving, so we proceeded on to the little fishing/beach town of Scoglitti (sko-YEE-tee) and the restaurant run by Tony's other son, John. Along the way, we passed the Greek archaeological site of Kamerina, where 100,000 people once lived. John wasn't quite ready for us, so we took a little walk across the piazza and down to the seaside, which has a great esplanade and fisherman statue along with a view of the fishing boats and beaches. The palm trees and sunny day combined to make us all happy we had come to see "Tony's World." Scoglitti by the way, was the site of the Allied invasion in 1943, although today there is not a trace of it. Below are Lisa, Pat, Kendra, and me.

Finally, we settled down to a fine lunch at Pizza in Piazza prepared by John for us--cold seafood salad, pasta with lobster and salmon, mixed salad, and a whole fresh fish for each of us. We ate every bit, washing it down with bottles of the local Cerasuola wine and followed, of course, by expresso.

Fine food, fine friends, and a fine day for all. Life is good!

Caltagirone, #1 for Sicilian Ceramics

Sicily is famous for its beautiful, hand-made ceramics, and Caltagirone (KAHL-tuh-gee-RO-nee) is the most famous "city of ceramics" in Sicily. And, lucky for me, it is only about thirty miles from Sigonella, making it an easy shopping destination.

CERAMICS R US! Everywhere you look, you see them. It's a hill town, and even driving up the hill to the town, there are ceramics decorating the walls. They are on buildings, on walls, in the Museum of Ceramics, and, of course, in hundreds of little studios and shops. Every piece is hand-painted, and many of them are also created in clay by hand. Everyone, I mean everyone, in Caltagirone seems to be an artist. It makes me wonder--is the art of ceramics-making genetic?

LA SCALA! That is the name of my favorite restaurant in Caltagirone, but it is right on THE stairs (la scala). It's at the bottom on the right, as you head up. The stairs are extraordinary--worth a trip to the city even if you never buy a single thing! The official name of the 142-step monument is Staircase of Santa Maria del Monte, and it was built in 1608. The coolest thing is that the riser of each step is decorated with hand-decorated ceramics in different styles, old and new, by artists of the town. I have never been to this town when I didn't climb the steps. It's an activity that is physically demanding, shopping-productive (many shops on each side), and aesthetically pleasing. Coming back down with heavy packages is a challenge, but there is the restaurant La Scala waiting below. I always eat there and highly recommend it. It's decorated with ceramics, of course, but also has some archaeological interest (look through the glass-covered sections of the floor).

The way to enjoy Caltigirone is just to wander, marvel, and take your time. There are so many workshops, shops, stores, and even a "supermarket" of ceramics, that you can never see them all. And each season, the designs and products change slightly. They make literally everything you can imagine in ceramics: tiles, figurines, pots, plates, tables, lamps, mirrors, kitchens, key holders, jewelry, and on and on and on. The dominant colors are blues and yellows. You can watch artists at work, often in the back room of a tiny shop. (Hint: If you see something you like in Taormina, look for the artist's name on the bottom of the piece and look him/her up in Caltagirone. Usually you can find them with Google. You'll save a lot of money this way.) I own a significant collection of Sicilian ceramics after just four years here.

In addition, there are zillions of photo ops, Baroque architecture galore, churches, Italy's largest nativity scene (so they say), and glorious views of the surrounding countryside and Etna on clear days. This hill town is 600 meters high! Like so many good Sicilian towns, it was founded and named by the Arabs, inhabited by Greeks, Ligurians (northern Italians), Byzantines, Normans, and a few others. There is a definite influence by each of these in the designs of the ceramics. See more PHOTOS here.

The Museum of Ceramics may be interesting to artisans and perhaps historians. I found it to be not very interesting. Lots of dusty pots. However, the building itself and the surrounding park, which is decorated with ceramics, is very nice.

Credit cards are pretty much accepted everywhre, but there are ATMs all over town. Good thing.

The Castle of Caccamo

Unlike Germany, where castles are a dime a dozen, Sicily has only a handful of them, and, of that handful, the vast majority were built by the Normans in the 12th century. (Some notable exceptions are the Greek castle in Siracusa and an Arab one at Donnafugata.)

So, once again, who were the Normans, and what were they doing in Sicily? Looking back, I see that I wrote a pretty good description of them HERE. The came from Normandy and won Sicily over from the Arabs and then proceeded to rule it and bring it to its greatest glory under just four rulers. And I mean GLORY! Sicily was richer than all of England and the seat of pre-Renaissance learning and culture. In the words of John Julius Norwich: "Norman Sicily stood forth in Europe --and indeed in the whole bigoted medieval world-- as an example of tolerance and enlightenment, a lesson in the respect that every man should feel for those whose blood and beliefs happen to differ from his own." You can read the whole story in detail on this PAGE by Vincenzo Salerno. (Point of interest--it is said that the red-haired, blue-eyed Sicilians you sometimes see are direct descendants of the Normans.)

Back to the castles . . . I recently visited the largest and best-preserved Norman castle in Sicily, and one of the largest in Italy, at Caccamo, east of Palermo. It is impregnable and was never even seriously attacked. I can see why, since it sits on a sheer rock 521 meters (1,709 feet) above sea level. Another reason it is so well-preserved is that it was inhabited by the descendants of the Dukes of Caccamo until the 1960s!

Take Dramamine after leaving the autostrada at Exit Termini Imerese for the ride up the mountain, but then it's easy enough to find right at the entrance of the town of Caccamo. There is even parking and it's even free! You can't miss it. It only costs one euro to enter, but my friend Michael had the nerve to ask for a discount for teachers. They just laughed at him.

The castle is a classic white stone structure with castellated walls, a moat, towers, courtyard, and an interior that is a maze of rooms and stairways, some open and some not. The structure is used nowadays for conferences and meetings, but a few rooms are semi-furnished to give visitors an idea of their use. The "antiques" and displays are pretty pathetic, but he castle itself and the views from up there are spectacular!

The most famous room in the castle is the Sala della Congiura (Conspiracy Hall), where here, in 1160, a bunch of Norman barons hatched a plot against William I (known as William the Bad). I guess he WAS bad, because when the rebellion failed, the leader was captured and "taken to Palermo, where he was hamstrung and blinded and left to languish in a dungeon." So much for tolerance!

Anyway, this is a pretty cool castle, a classic, really, and worth your time for a visit. The town of Caccamo is also very picturesque. Warning: do NOT drive off the main street! You'll find yourself in a maze of ever-smaller streets that lead to nowhere!

See all photos of Caccamo HERE.

The Duck Bar at Christmas

It's looking more and more like Christmas at the Bar Papaveri Papere (The Family Duck Bar to us) in Nicolosi, where my friends and I gather every Sunday morning. Not only do they have a big tree outside and beautiful pastries inside, but it even snowed today! Check out the chocolate Nativity cake and Yule log cakes above!

Bloody Blood Oranges

As if a trucker strike and gas shortage weren't enough, these poor guys dumped an entire truck of fresh oranges right outside of Sigonella's NAS I today. Oranges were rolling down the gutters for about half a block!

By the way, the strike is now over and things are starting to roll again. More stations open, more cars on the road, speeders out speeding.

Trying to Get Gas in Sicily!

Here are some photos I took on the way to work this morning, before 7:00 AM . . . people trying to get gas. The strike is supposed to continue for another two days, and even then, when will we have fully-supplied stations?

Pickin' Up the Pieces

The mosaics in the Roman villa at Piazza Armerina (said to once be the hunting lodge of THE emperor) are undergoing an Xtreme makeover! A grant from either UNESCO or perhaps Italy is paying for the cleaning, restoring, and preservation of this fabulously rich archaeological site. See an earlier post by me HERE. And see my old photos on FLICKR.

I was there today with more than thirty of our AVID high school students, another teacher, and three tutors, and we were all amazed by the amount of activity and work going on inside the villa, which is covered in plexiglass. We could still move around and see most of the floors, but we also saw lots of workers, hoses, bags of grout, tiles, glue, air hoses, electrical cords, plastic, etc. It was archaeology at work!

It was also pretty cool to have the place almost completely to ourselves AND to get in free as a school group. To top it off, the bar gave us adult chaperones free cappuccini! Oh, by the way, the kids enjoyed themselves and learned a lot with an inquiry exploration activity.

It looks like this work is going to continue for quite some time, considering the villa floor cover 3500 square meters (42 colorful floors in 63 rooms) and are made up of an estimated 30 millions little tiles which are over 1700 years old!

You Paid What for It?

I saw this wine on sale at Carrefour (large supermarket) for .99 Euro ($1.41) recently and thought, "Hey, for that price, I should try it, and if it's bad, I'm not out much money." They had cases of it and lots of Sicilians were buying it. So I bought a case of six for less than six Euros. I opened it that evening, not expecting much.

I LOVE THIS WINE! It's a great Nero d'Avola, the most popular red wine in Sicily. It's full-bodied but not too heavy, certainly not too dry or at all harsh! Needless to say, I have bought another case since then and even at the regular price of 1,15 Euro ($1.64) per bottle, it's an incredible bargain for the wine.

The d'Avola grape was "developed" at the town of Avola, near Noto and south of Siracusa. Now it's grown all over Sicily. The label decribes it as "a product of the nero d'avola grape of Sicily. Rich, decisive and generous,a red with a strong personality and a aromatic and intense taste. Serve at 16-18 degrees C. with red meat, sharp cheese and 'sturdy' pasta." The winery is Itinere, which is located in San Mauro Castelverde in the Palermo area.

This is why I cringe at paying $8 a glass for wine in the States when 90% of it isn't even as good as this wine for about what, 50 cents a glass?

A Moment of Fame on Sicily Guide

I was honored to recently be interviewed about Sicily by Maria Tuttocuore for her website/blog Sicily Guide. Go HERE to read the interview!

Etna Blowing Her Stack Tonight!

These photos were taken just moments ago, between 7:00-8:00 PM, September 4. My friend Kendra called me from her house to the east, on the coast, to ask if ashes were falling in my yard. She said it was raining ashes on her house from Etna. Luckily (for me), there is a strong, strong wind out of the west, so it's moving away from us in Nicolosi.

I went to Rob and Jacque's across the street and got these photos from their back patio. I don't have a great camera. Jacque's photos will be better. It's shooting several hundred meters high. Kendra reports the lava flow on her side of the volcano is growing and moving down the mountain. (She's not in danger, nor are we.) It's just so awesome . . . we were all ooohing and aaaaahing like the Fourth of July.

Oliveri Blogger

This weekend, I had the pleasure to meet Sharon Barresi, author of the blog "Respiri di Vita." I found Sharon through her blog (or she found me, I don't remember which), and we began to correspond about a year ago. She is much more regular in her postings than I am, usually writing just about every day about life as an American ex-pat here in Sicily. Sharon was recently interviewed for a website about Sicily and a link to her answers are on her blog--very interesting insights about Sicily and Sicilians!

Here is the other half of the photo on Sharon's blog--that's her!

Anyway, it was a very please drive to Oliveri, the seaside village where she and her husband Andy live. The town is located underneath Tindari, the famous archaeological and religious site. I had been to Tindari half a dozen times, but never to Oliveri, which is a quiet little town of 2,000 most of the year and a summer mob scene of sun-seekers from England, Germany, Scandanavia, and northern Italy. Sharon and Andy like it better when it is quiet.


We had a walk around the town which also included photographing a bride literally "going to the chapel" with her whole family accompanying her, as is the custom here. Then we toured the little downtown, the beach area, and "Residence La Tonnara," an old tuna factory that is now a posh vacation condominium. We had a lovely relaxing lunch at home and an afternoon shopping foray to an outlet for athletic wear (including Kappa) in a nearby town.

All in all, we deemd it a highly successful visit and hope to stay in touch and visit whenever we can! Bloggers unite!!

Arrivederci & buon fortunato, Mike!

About a year ago, Susan and I were at the Papaveri Papere bar here in Nicolosi one weekend morning and we noticed a blonde man who was obviously an American waiting politely for his turn. (That's how we knew he was American, along with his clothes, shoes, blonde hair, military haircut, stance, and no sunglasses.) When he finally turned around, Susan beckoned to him and we got him to come over and talk to us. This is how we met Mike Rice.

Soon Mike met our entire "breakfast club" and became a regular. Much to my surprise, he was here on active duty with the US Navy. The surprise was that he lived way up here on the volcano, at least 20-25 miles from his workplace. Most military members live much closer, most right on base. So, we knew he must be really okay if he chose to live up here with "the mountain people," as we civilians sometimes call ourselves.

We learned that Mike had joined the Navy late in life (we are not really sure why) and that he had been in for eleven years. He lived alone and had been working for twenty years or so restoring a 1967 pickup truck for a hobby. Yes, the government shipped it over here! I never actually saw this famous truck, but I heard a lot about it. A few months after meeting Mike, he announced that his girlfriend Ann, from the Phillipines, was coming for an extended visit. And so we had the pleasure of having Ann become part of our group during two extended stays here in Sicily. She even took care of Pete and Repeat for me this summer!

Throughout the year, Mike (and Ann when she was here) joined us on outings, eatings, and Sunday morning coffee club. Our favorite saying of Mike's followed another memorable meal at Lisa's: "Just another occasion to totally stuff myself!" And our favorite photo of Mike is Jacque with her hand on his suddenly gigantic belly after an eating extravaganza at Trattoria Incognito. (Usually he is not only very slim, but also very modest in his eating and drinking!)

Now, Mike is going to sail off into the sunset, literally. He has had more than enough of the Navy. He and Ann are going to the Pacific to find a nice island, far, far away from "civilization" and just live there, for as long they want. We hope it for happily every after. (Get settled and we will all join you to play Gilligan's Island!)

Lava Table, Finally!

Before leaving for the States this summer, I took delivery of my beautiful new lava table! It's 80 cm. in diameter, perfect for a breakfast bistro table. Here it is . . .

Hercules Goes Mad

Hercules went mad and murdered his own children and wife in Siracusa on Thursday night. This was the Greek play "Heracles" (aka Hercules) by Euripides, written in 421-416 B.C. and performed here in Sicily in 2007 in the Greek theater in the archaeological park in Siracusa. The theater itself is over two thousand years old, but still in remarkably good condition.

Why did he go mad and do this you might ask? We had the same question (and the script, in English), but it seems that Madness and Iris, along with their dancers, inflicted it upon Heracles. Just minutes before, he was the loving husband and father returned from Hades and wreaking revenge on his family's captor, Lycus, the unlawful King of Thebes.

Of course, Heracles was immediately inconsolably remorseful when he awoke afterwards. The last scene of the play was his making peace with his own father and going off with his friend Theseus, King of Athens, to try and live the rest of his life. The theme was stated simply by Hercules himself: "Whoso prefers wealth or might to the possession of good friends, thinketh amiss. " Good friends are most valuable! "

If you'd like to see the entire script, in English, go HERE.

Our little group of good friends had a great time eating granita and buying papyrus paintings beforehand and then enjoyed a great seafood dinner in Ortygia afterwards, not getting home till after midnight. We really enjoyed the staging, music, special effects (earthquake splits the background and breaks up the floor), the acting (Hercules' father was played by an eminent professor and actor), and the ambiance of the Greek theater. The wife of Hercules personified "drama." She was the original Italian mother, I decided. About the only thing we did not enjoy was the stone seats (hard in spite of cushions). Even the youngsters in our group were glad to get up and walk after an hour and a half of drama.

Catania's Lava Coastline

One of the unexpected benefits of my many trips to the dentist's office in downtown Catania was the discovery of the beautiful black lava shoreline and its interesting rock formations. It just so happened that my dentist's office is located a little north of downtown Catania and right along the water. We were able to explore the neighborhood when I had some spare time before an appointment. Although we never found the bar or gelateria we were seeking, we did find this spectacular shore. Some of the formations caused by the waves of the Med are really beautiful. Apparently, this is a popular place for diving, too.

It made me start to think how long ago the lava actually flowed this far. I knew that Catania had been damaged, even destroyed by lava flows from Mt. Etna, but when? I came up with this explanation on a volcano site: "Since 1669 there has been no eruption that even remotely threatened Catania; the nearest lava flow in this period came to within about 15 km of the city. However, geological mapping of the urban area of Catania in the late 1990s has revealed that the area now occupied by the city was almost completely covered by lava flows on six occasions during the past 5000 years: about 4500 B.C., in 693 B.C., in 425 B.C., in A.D. 252 (or 253), in the 12th century (this lava flow is often attributed to an eruption in 1381, but was emplaced about 200 years earlier), and in 1669. The most voluminous of these flows is that of 4500 B.C. and occupies much of the central portion of the city area, while the 12th century and 1669 flows essentially remained outside the city as it was in those days."

By the way, Etna is NOT that close! It's at least 20-25 miles away. Here's a nice clear shot of Etna's peak from the shoreline itself:

And here is my favorite formation, which looks just like an elephant putting his trunk in the sea. Catania has an affinity for elephants. Perhaps it originated here?