Restoring a Damp House in Sicily, Part 8

April 26, 2010

Tragedy in the bathroom.

Remember those beastly expensive Italian glass tiles I naively ordered?

These are them, installed.

When I sprayed glass cleaner over my new sea-blue walls, wiping away the obscuring film of white plaster the mason had left, I could not believe my eyes. Not a single straight line! As if an ill-tempered four-year old had been hard at work.

How could I have allowed this to happen, you ask?

Well, early in the day, curiosity kept prompting me to run down two flights of stairs and check on the work. After 30 minutes of this, the mason said I made him nervous, and would I please go away and cease to bother him? The work is molto delicato, he said, and it is necessario to concentrate and be left solo.

And so away I went, full of cockeyed hope that I’d soon have a useable bathroom.

I returned to the house after two days, descended into the winery-cum-guest quarters and beheld anarchia. Thousands of tiny mosaic tiles stuck willy-nilly onto the wall. I felt like I’d been gored.

But I refused to face reality. Don’t panic, I told myself. It’s rustic. Rustic is good. It fits the theme of the wine cantina. Molto rustico! Charming in its own way. Isn’t it? Isn’t it?????

I called over a few friends to have a look. Horrid, they said, daring to utter the bald truth. Really horrid.

It doesn’t look bad from afar, though, does it? If you kind of … squint at it?

Now what do I do.

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Gelato Days, Gelato Nights

April  15, 2010

It’s that time of year again. The ripe time. The jasmine is sweet; cows low in verdant pastures; a soft breeze blows from Africa.

It’s time for Sicilians to begin doing what they most love doing: eating gelato.

Men Eating Ice Cream, Sicily, copyright Jann Huizenga

Sicilians claim to have invented ice cream by mixing citrus syrups with the snow of Mount Etna. According to Mary Taylor Simeti, though, the reality is more complicated.

Ice Cream/Gelato, copyright Jann Huizenga

Ice Cream Cone, copyright Jann Huizenga

The place to go for ice cream in Southeast Sicilybesides the wonderful Caffè Sicilia in Noto—is Gelati Divini in Ragusa Ibla. You won’t find any icky Baskin Robbin’s flavors (no Cotton Candy, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Oreo Cookies ‘n Cream). These are Old World gelati for grown-ups: Rose Petal, Cream of Marsala, Jasmine, Honey of a Thousand Flowers, Fennel, Persimmon, Moscato d’Asti, Nero d’Avola. Rosaria, the charming proprietess, will always let you sample before you order.

Ice Cream at Gelati Divini, Ragusa Ibla, Sicily, copyright Jann Huizenga

Gelati Divini

Sicilian gelato has much less fat than American ice cream, so indulging is not really a sin.

Ice Cream at Gelati Divini, Ragusa Ibla, Sicily, copyright Jann Huizenga

Chocolate and Vino Cotto (Cooked Wine)

Taylor Simeti also recommends the Gelateria Cappadonia in tiny Cerda as the best gelateria in western Sicily. (Cerda is about an hour’s drive east of Palermo). In season, they make an artichoke gelato! Do you have a favorite gelateria in Sicily? Or maybe a great Sicilian gelato recipe? Please share!

Girl Eating Green Gelato, copyright Jann Huizenga

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Sicily, and a Nostalgia for Lace

April 5, 2010

Like spun sugar.

Snow white.

Sicilian lace, full of grace.

Lace at Sicilian Window, copyright Jann Huizenga

Sicilian Lace in Window, copyright Jann Huizenga

Sicilian Woman Working on Lace, copyright Jann Huizenga

It’s women’s work, an eye-straining affair.

Sicilian Lace on Door, Siracusa, Sicily, copyright Jann Huizenga

Sicilian Lace on Door, Sicily, copyright Jann Huizenga

Twenty years ago Sicily’s shops brimmed with handmade local lace. Now it’s often made in China.

Antique Sicilian Lace Panel, copyright Jann Huizenga

Sicily’s art of lacemaking is dying, and isn’t that a shame?

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Note for tourists: There’s a fine little museum of Sicilian hand embroidery and lace in Chiaramonte Gulfi in southeastern Sicily (a hilltop village also known for its olive oil museum and pork restaurant, Majore).

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In Sicily Lies the Key to Everything

March 27, 2010Sicilian Men Chatting, copyright Jann Huizenga

To have seen Italy without having seen Sicily is to not have seen Italy at all, for in Sicily lies the key to everything.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Italian Journey

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Thanks everyone for all the great comments you’ve left in the last few weeks. It was hard to choose a winner in the  contest, but finally, with my husband’s help, I narrowed it down to Melissa Muldoon, for the comment she left here. Congratulations Melissa! She’ll receive DK’s Top 10 Sicily. Melissa is a super (or as she says, “crazy”) student of the Italian language, and blogs in Italian, often about Italian cultural topics. Check  out her blog here.

And watch for my next book contest coming next month!

A Few of my Favorite (Sicilian) Things

March 24, 2010

1. The buttercup sprouting from stone

Flowers Grow on a Church in Sicily, copyright Jann Huizenga

2.  The lovely laundry

Laundry Hanging in Sicily, copyright Jann Huizenga

3. The layering of history

The Layered Walls of Sicily, copyright Jann Huizenga 2010

4. The little truck

Yellow Truck in Sicily, Copyright Jann Huizenga 2010

5. The arched doorway

Arched Door in Sicily, Copyright Jann Huizenga 2010

6. The coppola

Men Wearing Sicilian Hats, Copyright Jann Huizenga 2010

7. The ice cream sandwich

Sicilian Ice Cream Sandwich, Copyright Jann Huizenga 2010

8. The stuffed scaccia

Sicilian Scaccia, Copyright Jann Huizenga 2010

9. The sacred olive

Sicilian Olives, Copyright Jann Huizenga 2010

10. And, (drum roll) … the Sicilian!

Sicilian Baker, Copyright Jann Huizenga 2010

What are your favorite Sicilian things?

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