Wednesday, March 13 - Arrival In Sicily




 

Our airplane landed on a cloudy, rainy day, but the weather could not dampen our spirts.  Tony and I were in Italy again, specifically Sicily, the land of Greek Gods and myths.

Conquered by the Greeks, the Romans, the Normans, the Arabs, the Saracens, the Spanish, the French, Garibaldi and his "red shirts" during the Risorgimento, the Germans, the Americans and now the Mafia.... Sicily has survived and prevailed.   It is strewn with vestiges of past conquerors, like lanterns lighting the way to the past.

We came to see these lanterns, these vestiges that travelers rave about, to attend a language school for Italian and to immerse ourselves in la Dolce Vita Italiana for 8 weeks.

And now, come and relive those 8 weeks with us through our daily diary.

Our journey began in Palermo which is located on the northwest side of Sicily.  A two bedroom aprartment awaits us in center city Palermo - 5 minutes from the famous Il Mercato Ballarò and 5 minutes from the train & bus stations.

It is a fabulous location for shopping the local food markets and for day trips to other important cities. And, as we discovered in the next 10 days, our landlords, Ignazio and Maria were fabulous people and hosts.  They are close to us in age and, like us, are a professional couple.  Ignazio is an architect and Maria a psychologist.  But unlike us, they do not speak English.  But that's OK, in fact ideal.  We've come to practice our Italian and learn to speak better.  This will force us to do just that.

Incidentally, Ignazio designed and reconstructed this space within a vacant building.  It is brilliantly laidout, modern, full of light, quiet and located on a small side street.

Below, is our apartment building. We were on the second floor, just above the balcony on the right.

 

And here is the interior.

 

 



 

And 2 American style bathrooms!!  Che piacere!!

 

  

 

And here are our fabulous hosts - Ignazio and Maria  

 

 

After we settled in, Ignazio took the time to walk with us to Il Ballarò market.  It has existed for over 1,000 years and is the largest of 3 open air food markets in Palermo.  The market sells the first fruits, vegetables and fish of the season, like blood oranges, artichokes and swordfish, etc.  Ignazio walked with us and identified various stores, how to read the price signs, etc.  Grazie, Ignazio!

He left us there to practice our Italian and to shop for interesting ingredients for our cooking adventures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 There will be a lot of pictures, but we promise we won't write something for EVERY day of the 2 months 

Thursday, March 14 - Rain all day!!

Well, if we can't visit the sights, we'll just go to Il Ballarò and shop!!

And shop we did, for 3 hours and we made 3 trips back to the apartment with our goodies.

We made "Fritedda" a Sicilian spring mix of artichokes, fava beans and peas.  Here I am shucking the peas and beans while Tony is preparing the chicken with lemon, garlic, parsley and, of course, white wine!! 

In addition, we made a soup of spring vegetables and various grains, a romaine lettuce salad with tomatoes and potatoes, and a vinaigrette dressing.

 

 

Friday, March 15 - Rain & Palermo Puppet Theater

Well, if it's going to rain where else to go but to Il Ballarò!!

 

Today we made Stuffed Squid in a white wine sauce.



Yes, the vegetables are the Fritedda leftovers.

 

In the afternoon the rain broke, so we went to the "old" quarter of Palermo, "the Kalsa" located at the waterfront.  Here we visited Opera dei Pupi, a traditional Sicilian puppet theatre featuring honorable knights battling the invaders!! 

 Puppetry was a very famous entertainment medium centuries ago, and the Museum has over 2,000 puppets from around the world.

 

 

 

This is one of the background scenes for the puppets.

 This is the stage on which the puppets perform.

  The puppets, some as tall as 4 feet.

The cavalry!

  Ahh the fight! 




Inventory

 Do you recognize these figures?

 

 

The Kalsa Quarter was the heart of old Palermo until WWII when it was bombed heavily.  It is here that Giuseppe Tomasi Lampedusa wrote the famous book called Il Gattopardo.  It is a recount of how Sicilian life changed when Garibaldi and his "red shirts" invaded the island and forever changed the culture and lives of the nobility and the people.   Lampedusa resided at Via Butera 28 and it is there where his family reside today, a Palazzo converted into a bed and breakfast.

 

 

While at the waterfront, we followed-up on Ignazio's tip and found a seaman who sold one of my favorite seafoods, Ricci di Mare (Sea Urchin or Uni in Japanese) which just happened to be in season along with artichokes!!!  (Now Tony knows why we came in March!!)

 

 Knowing my love for Ricci di Mare, Ignazio and Maria served it for us at a family dinner held later in the week.  What a SPECIAL event, both the dinner and the Ricci di Mare.

 

 

I may look hesitant, BUT they tasted REALLY GOOD!!

 

 

 

Saturday, March 16 - Rain, Sights & Beccafico

You guessed it, back to Il Ballarò!!

 

It's Saturday and all of Palermo must be shopping Il Ballarò.  It was mobbed.  It was frenetic.  Vendors were shouting. "Come here! We've got the best and freshest artichokes!"  The rain was torrential.  The water poured down folds in the awnings and collected in small streams that fell from the center and sides.  Not only were people dodging these streams, but they were dodging the umbrellas that people insisted on using.  But Tony and I were clever.  We donned the hoods of our raincoats and just scurried about.  Ohh, what a pleasure to return home.

 

Today we're going to try a TRUE Sicilian dish - Beccafico, fresh sardines stuffed with herb-orange flavored breadcrumbs.

The sardines are truly fresh and we've boned, filleted and stuffed about 30 while it poured.

                                             But first, Tony must do his daily work-out!

 

 

 

 

Now that dinner is prepared and the rain has abated, we're off to visit more of Palermo.

 

First, the Cathedral.


  Built in 1185, like most Sicilian churches, it was built upon existing Greek, Roman, Arab and early Christian churches. The bell towers were added in the 1300's and the interior radically remodeled in the late 1700's.
It is the largest church in Sicily.

 Sunday service at the Cathedral

 

On the church's bulletin board we found a notice indicating the beatification of Don Giuseppe Puglisi, killed by the Mafia in 1993.

 

Piazza Pretoria nicknamed by the locals, Piazza della Vergogna (Square of Shame).
It was built during the Inquisition, 1555, and was considered shameful because of its 16 "nude" statutes of nymphs, men, sirens and satyrs. 

 

San Cataldo - Built in 1143 in the Arab Norman style, it was the chapel of a 12th c. palazzo.  It is distinctly marked by 3 red Arabic styled domes.  The interior is simple and was never

 architecturally modified.

 

 

 

 

La Martorana (Church of Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio)

 

Of Norman origin (1105-1154) with 12th c. mosaics. Except for the mosaics, the interior was extensively and ornately altered during the Baroque period - see the altar.

It has an interesting entrance through the bell tower.

 

 

 

Palazzo dei Normanni

 

Originally a Norman royal palace, today it is the seat of the regional parliament of Sicily. 

 

 

Porta Nuova

 

One of the main gates into the city and one of the largest.

It was constructed in 1569 to commemorate the entry (in 1535) of Charles V into Palermo and his victory over the Moors.

 

 

The Eagle in the pyramid shaped crown (made of majolica tile) is a symbol of the Sicilian Senate.

 

The entrance is decorated with "telamoni" (figures of men).  This is a common feature in many Greek temples.

 

 

 

San Domenico

 

The Baroque façade was installed 1724

  

 

From the rooftop of a mall located across the street, we had a magnificent view of the Palermo mountains.  Much like Rio di Janeiro, the city is located at the mouth of a large bay and is encircled by mountains.  A spectacular sight.