February 4, 2011
   
This is Monterosso Almo in Southeast Sicily (population 3300), where tourists dare not tread. Go, if you like tumbledown places with warm-hearted folks and heart-stopping views. This is OLD SICILY, folks. Step into the surprising chiesa madre in the upper part of town and have a drink at the bar across the street with the charming old onion farmers, then wander down into the lower (older) section of town and hunt for the stone fountain where women once scrubbed clothes. You’ll think you’ve stepped way back into a bygone time, except for the windmills taking over a nearby hillside like so many nasty weeds. In season, ask for directions to the mushroom (funghi) restaurant just outside town.
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Head over to Dianne Hales’ Becoming Italian site for a chance to win some cool Italy-related prizes.
January 22, 2011
The roving veggie peddlers who park outside the house and bay till they’re hoarse have lettuces so fresh they crawl with snails. You tear off a giant leaf and there they are—antennae waving in terror. I suppose if I were a brave Sicilian, I’d boil them up and bolt them down with some lemony oil. (Old Sicilian Proverb: You never get enough of kissing a sweetheart or eating snails.) Instead I toss them onto the terracotta roof across the alley and hope they’ll live a day longer.
Produce in Sicily is so fresh it comes with extras. Mushrooms with the roots and soil that fed them…
Tomatoes with their umbilical cord…
Oranges with their branches…
Eggs with mommy’s feathers.
I HEART my fruit & veggie hawker.
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January 19, 2011
Yes or no. Is Italy really part of the EU? (The current Berlusconi-Ruby scandal makes you wonder even more.)
See for yourself in this funny Bruno Bozzetto video.
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January 4, 2011
Throw your dreams into space like a kite, and you do not know what it will bring back, a new life, a new friend, a new love, a new country.
Anaïs Nin
May you have the courage to toss your dreams into space like a kite in 2011, dear Reader, and may it bring back all you wish for.
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You can tell it’s the new year here in Sicily. Christmas tablecloths have been hung out to dry.
Aprons have been washed.
Houses are being scrubbed. Duvets flap in a mild Mediterranean breeze (sort of like kites). A new start for a new year.
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December 25, 2010
Male bonding while waiting for mama or nonna to ready the Christmas spread:
En route to Christmas lunch:
Bella figura: Everyone dresses up in their best Christmas finery.
Postscript: This woman offered coffee and sweets to four strangers wandering the streets of her tiny village. Sicilians have truly mastered the arts of generosity and hospitality.
Auguri! This was the word that echoed around the streets today.
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All photos and text on BaroqueSicily are Copyright of Jann Huizenga ©2009-2015, unless otherwise noted. Material may not be copied or re-published without written permission. All rights reserved.
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