Blogs from Sicily, Italy, Europe - page 62

HAy there, Its been ages since I have been able to get to a computer. Firstly I hope that everyone is OK in London and lets hope thats the last of that. Weve been having a great time and are now in Palermo in Sicile. Its also raining today the first since San Sebastion in Spain. From Lisbon we meet a Dutch couple and free camped in the sand dunes in LAgos on the south coast of Portugal . We have a couple of BBqs on the beach and had a couple of sunny Beach days. From there we drove along the coast where we stayed in a tiny town an had a awesome feed of Swordfish and Prawns . Very cheap and very nice. Further along the coast we came to Seville . Very Hot..Granada ... read more

Today is a holiday, the day when Italy celebrates the country’s unification in 1871. Earlier in the week, I had noticed posters advertising special events in Marsala today, so I decided to go see what was happening. Marsala was founded as a Carthaginian colony in 379 BC, and is probably most famous for the cooking and dessert wine which bears the same name. I find street parking a couple of blocks from the Piazza della Repubblica, which is the main center of town. On one side of the piazza is the Palazzo Senatorio, and adjacent to that is the cathedral dedicated to St. Thomas of Canterbury. Earlier in the week I discovered that the steps in front of the Palazzo were perfect for perching on and people-watching. I knew the piazza would once again be the ... read more

I decided on a short driving trip this morning to Segesta, Gibellina, and Santa Ninfa. The majestic Doric temple at Segesta remains surprisingly intact. It was here that I first encountered busloads of tourists. Luckily, I was there in between the buses. I just know that for right now, that kind of touring is not for me. I would feel like I was on a perpetual field trip being herded from tourist point to tourist point. After the short hike up the hill to see the temple, I drove through Salemi, Gibellina, and Santa Ninfa. Gibellina and Santa Ninfa do not feel like Italian towns! Vacant streets, no visible town centers. They were hastily rebuilt after the earthquake in 1968. No sense of history there, but they do have wide streets. ... read more

For those unfamiliar with Italian burial practices, it is commonplace to construct a family mausoleum where family members will be laid to rest for as long as someone pays the rent. Old tombs that are not maintained will be emptied, the remains transferred to a potter’s field, and the mausoleum rented to another family. I found the two cemeteries I walked through in Villarosa and Santa Catarina Villarmosa fascinating. Some of the mausoleums are quite elaborate, and look like miniature chapels. I was often struck by the contrast between new and old, and I always wondered what the story was behind some of the oldest monuments. Another common practice is to place a photo of the deceased relative directly onto their headstone. At first I thought this a bit odd, but grew to like the personal ... read more

Today was the day of the animals. I first encountered a cow and calf on the road between Villarosa and Enna. As I explored Sperlinga, stray cats were abundant all over the cliffside. Next, a group of goats was being herded on the road to Alimena. And finally, on my way home in the dark I came upon a rather large herd of cows headed home on the north side of Villapriolo. Fortunately, I had slowed down in reaction to cars that had stopped on the opposite side of the road. It wasn’t until I was practically in the middle of the herd that I even saw them. This stop-and-go process continued for nearly 1 km, and I had to laugh to myself when the last herdsman I saw was prodding his cattle along while talking ... read more