Ciao Roma!

All rivers lead to Rome, as the expression goes.  The Eternal City.  White marble, blue sky.  Tutto e grandissimo e bello.  

A dopo!

Heading to Rome ~ Overnight train

I left Cefalu on Saturday via the overnight train to Rome.  It is essentially a 12 hour trip, give or take.  I like overnight trains.  This will be my 5th time!  I took an overnight train in Egypt, from Aswan to Cairo.  Two in Europe: Vienna to Warsaw and Warsaw to Paris. And then two in Italy.  It isn't a posh experience.  But it is usually comfortable.  

Here is my cabin:

You don't always get goodies, but TrenItalia hands them out:

This train went from Cefalu to Messina, where the train is taken apart and the cars are loaded on to a ferry.  Then the train crosses the strait, is put back together, and you're on your way:

When you are about 30 minutes from your arrival, the porter comes by with your breakfast:

And boom, back in Rome with all its splendor!  9am mass at Santa Maria Maggiore and a fancy lunch!

The Top Ten

 Top Ten Things I will miss about Sicily:

10.  Palm trees

9. Cicadas with their weird pulsing buzz

8.  7am swims in the sea

7.  Bread made from Sicilian grain

6.  Pistachios everywhere and in everything

5. Lunches and outings with marvelous European friends

4. Architecture from so many historical and cultural periods

3. The granita and brioche duo

2. The fragrance of jasmine

1. The way my teacher called me, “cara Elizabeth”

Palermo!

 Only 50 minutes by train from Cefalu, Palermo is an exciting and wild city, absolutely full to the brim with extraordinary architecture and a beauty all its own.  It's a big city, and always has been.  It was founded by the Phoenicians in the 6th century BC and quickly became an important port for trade and one of the most populous cities of the ancient world.  It was taken over by Arabian conquest in the 9th century AD and then by Norman in 11th century AD.  It is a UNESCO world heritage site for its Arab-Norman architecture:

I traveled with my friends Helga (Austrian) and Pasquale (Swiss), seen here ascending the stairs to visit an interesting church which is such a Baroque explosion of glory!:

In the cloisters that connect to the church is a middle eastern style garden of tremendous delights, like bananas, lemons and pomegranates.  

And there is also a little pasticcieria where you can find traditional Sicilian treats, like this Minni de Sant'Agata.  It is meant to look like one of Saint Agatha's breasts.  If you remember, she was martyred by having her breasts torn off.  See previous post and story.  It has a pastry base, topped with a lemon curd and then ricotta and chocolate chips.  It is covered in marzipan.  Very sweet.  V V good, though.

Leave the shaded garden and step out into the furnace of the day!

Here is some wonderful graffiti featuring Giovanni Falcone who played a crucial role in cracking down on the mafia during the 70s.  He was killed in 1992:

It includes one of his famous quotes.  His work as a judge was so key to turning the tide on the power of the mafia in Sicily.  His words here, "It is time to move forward!" refer to moving beyond the 19th century and La Cosa Nostra.  Into the modern world. 

We had lunch at a Sicilian osteria with remarkable traditional foods.  Like these antipasti of arancine (rice balls made of saffron risotto and shaped to looks like oranges) and chickpea fritters and potato croquettas:

And I had pasta with pistachio pesto and burrata .

Molto buono!

 

 

Morning routine

 

Saturday trip to Enna

Known as the "belly button of Sicily" because it rests pretty much in the center of Sicily, Enna is a hilltop city with an interesting history.  When you see it from the autostrada, you think you may be in Tuscany.  It has that look.... old city perched on top of a large rock outcropping.  Its history melds Norman and Arab influences, with some 20th century touches.  Like this fascist era building.  Most Italian cities have a least one from the Mussolini era:

It is a city that has an impressive fortress, a beautiful duomo, lots of interesting churches and sweet piazzas:

The duomo is splendid. Here is the entrance:

Layers of interesting spolia (which is the Latin word for bits and bobs).  The colossal columns are resting on these marvelous Norman bases, with these delightful lions and animals:

Huge columns taken from mosques, splendid Baroque decoration, a carved roof that looks like something from the time of Henry VIII, over the top Rococo recesses....

The fortress is very large and covers an entire side of the hill top.  It has towers at every corner so you can see what is coming at you.  Archeologists have unearthed evidence of humans way before the Normans, of course.

Che bello!

Gratteri and Castelbuono

 I always make great friends when I travel and this trip is no exception.  Ines (German), Remo (Swiss) and Dachia (Russian), and I decided to rent a car and get out of Cefalu for a couple of excursions.  On Friday we met in the late afternoon and drove up into the mountains to two lovely old towns.  As we climb the mountains, here is a view of the coast (and humidity) we are leaving behind:

It's difficult to tell what people who live in Gratteri actually do.  It is isolated and small.  It has its own access to fresh water and there is also a water purification system in place.  The town is full of windy streets, very picturesque, super quiet and charming.  Nothing was open.  We just walked and took photos.  It was the late evening so people were hanging out in the wee piazzas and wondering about us as we walked by.

Here are some scenes from our walk:

From there, we drove to Castelbuono... in our little Fiat 500:

Castelbuono has a past that mixes Arab and Norman influences.  The construction of the castle, which is buono, began the in 14th century and wasn't finished until the 17th, I believe.  We were there in time for dinner.  The restaurant had at one point been nominated for a Michelin star.  The restaurant itself was a bit clumsy.  But the food was interesting a good.  We got an amuse bouche of a fluffy ricotta thingy and a eggy spinachy thingy.  For dinner, I had the pappardelle with pesto and a Sicilian red wine. 

We then walked back to the car.  The town was lit up so prettily.  Loveliness.  

Typical Italian evening

 So the sun goes down, of course.  The heat remains but it's just not as scalding.  In fact, in the shade with a little breeze, it's very comfortable and beautiful.  At night, everyone comes out for a passeggiatta.  A tradition in most of Italy, this is an evening walk that is all about eating and talking.  Everyone is out at night.  People go to dinner a bit late (well, in my opinion.  But remember I like to go to bed at 8.  I'm lame) and meet up with friends, chat the evening away.

It's rather civilized:

My friend, Ines (from Germany), and I are at a restaurant in the piazza.  I ordered a delicious Sicilian-style pizza and a glass of vino bianco from the Etna area.  She ordered a traditional eggplant dish with saffron. 

I took home my leftover pizza in this box that is SO very Italian stereotype.  OH!

I always meet fabulous people on my trip.  Lucky me!

Saturday stroll

 The sirocco winds are beginning to hit Sicily.  They are hot winds that come up from the Saharan desert and are the tipping point for the hot summers in Sicily.  This morning I just went for a slow stroll, taking photos of things and places I thought had a certain beauty.

Like lined up mopeds:

Majolica tiled staircases:

Groovy old churches and shrines:

Beautiful Baroque facades.  The unfortunate thing about Cefalu (and I noticed it in Siracusa, as well) is that there are many old churches but they are all closed.  In Tuscany, all churches are open for visitors to take a look inside.  Here I think they just don't have the money/infrastructure to keep these places open.  I am going to ask my teacher about it on Monday.

This church is particularly interesting.  It is called Saint Stefano Protomartire o del Purgatorio.  It's 15th century.  The purpose of the church was to pray for the souls in purgatory in hopes you could help lessen their time there.  Notice the skull and crossbones above the portal:

I walked to the Bastion to look at the sea and there was a man there, playing the theme from The Godfather on his accordion:

As I was making my way home, I became fascinated by the roots of these trees that are pushing up the concrete.  They look so alive:

Home to Villa Caterina!