Cefalu, Sicilia

Stazione Centrale, Palermo

 Ciao amici miei!

I am still having a good time in Sicily but, there has been a long spell of bad weather including cold, rains, high winds and even an earthquake!  So, this has put a damper on my farm work.  I have spent a fair amount of time listening to music while labeling jars of lemon jelly and peach jam. 

Here are some tasks I have helped with during my farming experience:
pruning citrus trees
pruning other small trees
throwing old grape plants into a large pile
burning up this pile & other brush piles
weeding around tiny asparagus plants
twining some ivy up some poles
hauling away loads of old stuff...
and a whole lot of jar labeling
it has been really easy & chill!

There are a few other dudes that work on the farm, 2 Giuseppes & a Jachino.  Apparenly these names plus Salvatore & Antonino are the most common names in Sicily.  I haven't yet had any mafia related experiences, these seem to be few & far between these days. The farm I stay at is near Corleone, inspiration of the Godfather movies. 

I've learned to play a fun Sicilian card game & am reading Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami, it is good!  Other than that...  niente di speciale!

Please send good wishes to my mom who is having a knee surgery today.  I hope all goes well, Mom!!!!  I am thinking of you!

Enjoy the photos of Cefalu, a charming town on the north coast. It is where the excellent movie, Cinema Paradiso is set. :)

xoxo

view from my hotel room

quaint, small streets leading down to the sea

pretty laundry

having some fancy verdure grigliate & typical fried chick pea flour thing.  radicchio, in italy, is typically grilled or sauteed so it is less bitter.  yum!

some eggplant puree with  hazelnut "flan"

ah!  ths thing is amazing, the gelato brioche!!!  typical in Sicily, it is literally an ice cream sandwich.  A sweet, brioche roll filled with gelato!  what an indulgence. 

particularly cute vespa

the cathedral of Cefalu

with some German cyclists resting their pale legs ouside.  German tourists are the most prevalent in Sicilia this time of year.  It's too hot for them during the summer.

mosaics in the cathedral

strangely interesting stained glass (?)

giant, cloth easter egg

 a friend I was traveling with & I received a heart shaped pizza, tres delish!

lots of goats in sicily!  frequently in the countryside you will hear the charming sound of the bells goats or cows wear around their necks.

pretty view of the rooftops of medeival Cefalu taken from Parco della Rocca, up the hill.

there is an ancient castle here built to protect the coast & town, here are the old walls.

Palermo, Sicilia!

Ciao! 

So far I'm having a real nice time in Sicily!  I'm in Palermo for the day & am taking a moment to blog out!  So... this has been my adventure so far!

I told you a bit about the overnight ferry...  here are some shots, it really was an interesting experience.  Huge "ferries" leave for Sardegna, Sicily & other Euro ports from Civitavecchia.  You can bring your car too!  There were lots of Italians & also a fair amount of tourists, primarily German.

all hands on deck to watch the sunset

 I woke up for sunrise to see the coast of Sicilia on the horizon, it was really pretty!

It was really early when I got in, I took the opportunity to walk around a local market!  Lots of fresh seafood & crazy things like fresh lambs!  Whoa, I couldn't bring myself to photograph it. 

crazy mariscos

the fish scene was pretty wild!

also lots of nuts, spices, etc

baby laundry

the cathedral of Palermo is quite beautiful

here was a cute & strange shop selling odd items

like this!

porta nuova

this was interesting.  a large group of sicilian men crowding around 2 guys playing some type of game.  must have been the championship!

here is the famous Capella Palatina, full of beautiful mosaics!  Palermo is interesting, it is a big melting pot of Italian, Norman & also Arabic culture.  So, you see a lot of different styles of art & architechture. 

this was a crazy detailed wooden ceiling!

in a back room of a church, another important pastime!

 Oh, you know, just some more churches.  Really ornate baroque decor!

fancy!

famous opera house, Teatro Massimo featured in the godfather 3.  Interestingly, the town of Corleone is very near to where I am staying on the farm!

arabic domes

typical sicilian tiles

these teens were doing a really amazing dance routine

down on the shoreline

took a bus to Mondello beach to tan "greek body" ha ha ha!



these sicilians wear nylons & heels at the beach.  a place to see & be seen!!

 I had a nice easter with the family of my farm host.  He doesn't speak english too well so we have a good old time communicating.  It is actually really good practice for me!  Anyway, he has 4 children from 15-25 & we went to a daughter's house.  It turns out that about 25 other relatives came too, including grandparents, cousins, aunts, etc.  It was overwhelming & fun!  It is tradition here to have agnello (baby lamb!) on Easter.  Many were curious about my vegetarianism.  We ended playing some trivia game, everyone was super impressed that I could answer some questions considering we were playing in Ital.  I was getting all the science questions right, like what is the integument or litmus paper.  It pays to be a nerd sometimes!  The farm work has really been a lot more chill than I would have imagined.  I expected to be working my tail off but really, I am spending a lot of time hanging out.  I am finally getting around to reading Angels & Demons by Dan Brown (the guy who wrote the da vinci code)... it is awesome!  It is set in Rome & all about art history & such.  I am almost done with it.  Also, after about a month of working on it I finally finished the Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie.  It had won the booker prize & I am always a sucker for those books.  However, it was a real trial to get through, I didn't even start enjoying it or following the plot until about page 100.  I was proud of my dedication.

I hope you are all well!!!  That's it for now my friends, I'm off to visit a gallery.
xx