Well, I can't give you all the sacred details of what I did on the equinox that happened to coincide with a full moon and Good Friday...but what I can tell you is that I wasn't in Palermo.
So, I needed to get away from Palermo for a few days. Needed some space. Needed some time to think. Needed some distance so I could miss Davide. Needed some alone time. Needed a change of scenery. Needed to meet some new people.
This 4 day excursion was just what I needed.
OK, before we get started with the story, it's orientation time.
MAP OF SICILY:
Palermo, northwest corner.
Catania, east side.
Sicacusa, southeast corner.
SIRACUSA has a mainland, and an island just off its coast called Ortigia. Siracusa is the main city, but all the good tourist stuff happens on Ortigia.
View Larger Map
On Thusday in Palermo at my house, Davide made me a wonderful pasta and then we watched Under the Tuscan Sun together...without the subtitles for the parts in Italian. It's the first time I watched that after learning Italian and I was like: holy crap, I can speak Italian!!! I understood what the Italians were saying! Yippeeeee.
So then (being the wonderful man that he is) helped take me and my luggage to the station. I took a late-afternoon bus from Palermo to Catania (because it's waaaay faster than the train) and met up with my host Gio and his good friend Iacapo. I instantly liked both of them. We headed to the house where I was introduced to other friends and the cats (Sfinfino and Anya). We went out that night to a restaurant that served copious amounts of horse meat (I declined) and then later to a bar that was essentially an anti-american, anti-capitalist watering hole with a load of fascist/communist propaganda and an equal amount of political comics. I liked the menu in particular. [Background for those not in the know...the Italian political system is a mess. It's corrupt and ridiculous and is always falling apart. There are many examples. The last two presidents were Berlusconi and Prodi] Sooo. the menu. It says: Prodi has left, and Berlusconi won't return...so, let's enjoy this magic moment together.
That night I had a serious argument. With a mosquito. I swear to Goddess, never in my life have I been bitten on the eye by a mosquito until I came to Sicily, and the was the second time. So, I didn't sleep at all and when I finally resolved to give up the idea of sleep I went to the bathroom to discover my eye was swelling shut. Mosquito: 1. Laurel:0.
Bastard. See picture for proof.
Ok, so I took my hormonal, one-eyed self to the train station to catch the train to Siracusa where the Goddess temples are, and there is something wrong with the trains. So I do the sensible thing and go get a cappuccino and croissant and hang out for a while. I make back to the station just as an impromtu train arrives...and I think: oh my good luck, I can catch this one and not wait longer. Right. Well, we traveled for about ten minutes and then the train stops. For an hour. We just sat. The conductor came by to tell us that there was something wrong with the lines and we just had to be patient. Then the train starts to move. All 100 feet (30m). And it stops again.
Ok, so three hours later (for a trip that should have been just over and hour) I arrive in Siracusa. But not where I was expecting to be, exactly. I don't know how to explain, but the Google map was wrong. Wait, I forgot the address and phone number of my hotel. Oooooh no!!! Totally screwed. Ok, it's cold, getting dark, and I have nowhere to stay. Not good not good.
Well, I figured I would find someplace so I started to walk. And, suddenly, I look up, and there is a sign for my hotel.
What are the odds? So, using the map I checked into the Sorella Luna (Sister Moon) hotel, and headed out to find something more substantiative to eat after the long day. And what do I discover to eat? A place called Coccodrillo Burgers. This means Crocodile Burgers. Now what is so amusing about this is that for about two months now I have renamed a classic Sicilian dish called Pane Con Croquette (essentially bread with tater tots) to Pane Con Coccodrillo. So, I found a place that really was bread with crocodile. I was sad that it was closed. So I ate somewhere else instead, but took a picture as proof to show Davide (who was with me when I made the original joke).
Slightly more full, but significantly colder, I headed back to my hotel and I sent a text message to this guy named Vincento (who Gio had recommended) who lived in Siracusa and agreed to show me around. I got dolled up and we met at six-thirty and went for an aperitivo (again so much food there wasn't really any need for dinner later). We chatted about art, history, politics, feminism, religion, traveling, love, the works. We spoke almost entirely in Italian for the first three hours, and almost entirely in English the second couple. I determined after he used the words "Mankind's quest to the moon" that he spoke the best English of any Italian I have met so far.
We ate one of the best dinner's ever:
Appetizers with different cheeses and veggies, etc.
Fresh ricotta with ground pistachio.
Orange and onion salad (something new, and I cannot explain how delicious this is).
Lamb and potatoes
Candied ginger and sesame cookies
An almond liqueur
Canolli
I was so full and sleepy that I declined the invitation to go with Vince for some more drinks, and decided to head home instead. And after all that food, I was grateful for the 1/2 hour walk back to my hotel. I called Davide who was out with my roommate, and I went to sleep.
The next morning I got up early to meet Vince. He had told me that there was an original Caravaggio painting at one of the local churches and since I have a major Caravaggio fetish I jumped at the opportunity to go. So, I had my lovely complimentary breakfast, and met up with Vince to go art hawking. We went to the church, where I have to admit, I was feeling mutinous for the fact you had to A) pay to see the painting in a public church...and B) that the view was blocked by one of those hideous tacky ceramic Jesus statues clutching his heard and looking pathetic. I do have to say I felt smug because I looked at the painting and there was something about it that didn't fit with the understanding I have of most of Caravaggio's works. There was something just not polished about it. And, sure enough, when we read the history it turns out that he was actually terribly rushed in this particular painting and never got to finish it to his satisfaction. Va bene cosi.
So, we stopped at one more place--an unconsecrated church--took some pictures of me and headed back to the island of Ortigia.
We parted ways as friends, and I went to explore and find some links to the Goddess. I had a great day.
I wandered and found little nooks and crannies that I loved. It was windy and cold, but very beautiful. I felt like I knew deep in my cells this place. It is one of those places that resonates and you feel like you lived there a long time ago. I took a million pictures and drained my battery. I met a family with a bar and had a great lunch. And they sent me off with a jar of tart orange jam that was just delicious. I found the ancient places of the goddess, and new places of new goddesses. I found an art gallery that I loved, and a place to get a massage (read the community property entry). I fell in love with an island and I can't wait to go back. I have decided that this will be my place when I need to escape.
I caught an early-evening train back to Catania and met up with Gio again. We ate a pizza at home and then went out. Let me first say that the nightlife in Catania is awesome and there are about a hundred billion youngsters running around the center with an equal amount of bars. We met up with two American girls I have met earlier in the week in Palermo, and we all headed to a bar that has a secret cave underneath with a stream. There is a special table for one small group to sit about the water. I found the place I want to be proposed to. Never gave it much thought before...but now I know. When my to-be husband asks me to marry him, I want it to be there. Couldn't take a picture without ruining the dinner of the people there, so no pic. Sorry.
But, me with the friends.....(and the elephant symbol of catania)
We hung out and had a couple drinks and then trudged the long way back to the car and went back to the house. This time, however, Gio was ready for the mosquito (which I could hear but didn't see) and we plugged in an electronic citronella candle and some bug spray. I slept like a baby. Take THAT, stupid mosquito!!!
The next morning (EASTER) Gio and I went to a place where they make beautiful pastries and we walked around the city for a while and enjoyed the market and the sun. He left around noon to go to a lunch and I took a long, hot shower and packed my things. When he returned around three we took off on a cruise around this city on a 1982 vespa. It was a perfect day because the streets were empty...everybody was with family eating, apparently. The weather was so gorgeous that we went to the water for a little while, where people were hanging out in their bathing suits!
Since I had a Pasqueta (Easter with friends) to go to the next day, I needed to head back to Palermo, so I grabbed my things, caught the bus back to Palermo and Davide and my roommates picked me up at the station. All-in-all, a really great little trip, and I plan on going back again soon.
Ciao tutti!
FOR COMPLETE PHOTOS OF CATANIA/SIRACUSA TRIP, SEE:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/laurelfedor/sets/72157604249574131/
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