Venezia

Venezia. The city that inspires art of all persuasions, a city that is art in and of itself. Romantic, stoic, stately, dying slowly and gracefully, returning to the water and the mystery from which it emerged.

Gondoliers guide their elaborate boats down lapping canals, their voices echoing off of lacy facades.

The aromas of her back alleys, the steady buzz of visitors from around the planet giving her a heartbeat, the water smoothly flowing in place of her stradas giving life to her sanguine presence.

Unabashed grandeur. Ridiculous wealth drips from her every piazza, unashamed.

Her voice beacons, whispers that if only you turn the next corner, wander the next alley, she'll reveal another secret.

You get a faint glimpse, a hint of her inner beauty, then it steals you down the next backstreet, lures you deeper into her dark crevices where you beg to be lost.

Quickly, you fall for her. You yearn to caress her beauty with with hoping eyes, and a curious heart.

Her beguiling charms make you heartsick knowing you have to leave.

She doesn't care how passionately you love her, how quickly you've submitted to her wiles. She shrugs you off like a schoolyard crush, ignores your pleas to converse with her. She flexes her mighty scenes, languishes in the aria, tears your soul asunder, a million times.

The smell of her, the taste of her, the flavor of water, land, labor, love, pain, air, and burning, fiery passion. Her ambiance evades your pleading all the while tempting you with more, more.

The water continues to lap softly under the din of modernity, telling you she will never change. In your heart, in her own eternal soul, she is unique. She has captured an essence of beautiful humanity that is hers alone, and she guards it until her last, sepulchre breath.

Her sweet, saccharine memory.

The way she makes that which was born of poverty, of desperation, grand, lends her own unique version of splendor that can never be replicated. She glitters with glass, reverberates with art, sparkles with all the spectacular wealth of the world, both new and old.

The way she makes you feel small, like nothing you could ever do could impress her, could compare to the worlds she's witnessed.

You watch her fade in the distance, see the people arriving anew into her bosom, and you feel a twinge of jealousy at them. How could they ever love her the same way you do? How dare they attempt a look around her velvet curtains, to catch a glimpse of her unclothed beauty. Can they ever feel her true heart, will they get to see more, will they perchance know her? Can anyone?

Leaving, being away from her, she haunts you, haunts our collective memory. Nothing like her has ever been, and after her it never shall be. She is disarmingly beautiful, absurdly stubborn, and irreparably etched into your mind. It hurts, and she revels in the pain she inflicts, she knows what she is to the world, she knows who she is.

And yet, no one else ever will.

Bellisimo.

Tuscia and Montefiascone

Today's first stop was at another cheesemaker's, this time pecorino-romano.

We met these gals (pecoro) and got to do a tasting of the fine cheese made from their tasty milk.

Believe it or not, in this picture I'm doing something that would be illegal in the United States: drinking raw (unpasteurized) milk, sheep milk, to be specific. THE FORBIDDEN MILK!!

Some cheese wheels curing, and the cheesiest smile I could muster.

We had lunch in Tuscia, a beautiful city on a hill. Quite a walk to get up there... but incredible views once you reach the summit. That's roomie Janene photo-bombing me in the background.

The view from Tuscia. Worth any walk.

After Tuscia, we went to a fancy pants lake for some gelato and a castle visit. There were crashing waves... exciting!

This church lies on a site where a "miracle" occurred, the same "miracle" that initiated the building of Orvieto's duomo...

They have catacombs. They're pretty neat, my first catacombs! Wasn't supposed to take pictures, but... eh. Someday it will be okay.

And then the castle, me, at the top, affected by the wind.

Also worth it for the magnificent view. For dinner, we went back to the farmstead trattoria I mentioned in an earlier blog to be showered with home-made goodness. It was another awesome day.

I know this posting is a little abrupt, but tomorrow morning, I leave for Venice, so I need some rest (ha!). After the weekend, I'm sure to have some good pics and stories (hopefully), then the plan is to hit Firenze again on Tuesday with some friends, but we'll see!

Ciao! Buena notte!

Taormina, Siracusa, Ortigia Island

Ah... I hate to rush this, but I must. The second day of my trip (which had a lot more personal... drama than I will subject you to) I went to Taormina, a little resort town on a mountain you must take a cable car to get to. At the foot of the mountain, (not technically Taormina) there is an amazing, beautiful grove, with a rocky beach, blue striped umbrellas, crystal-clear water and beach side dining. Yeah, heaven.

First, had to grab lunch. Primi: insalate di polpo, or octopus salad with potatoes, arugula, and mussels. Yuh-huh-mee. Little squeeze of lemon... perfecto.

Sicilian-style macaroni, in a sauce of stewed tomatoes (pomodoro) and eggplant (melanzine) with shaved ricotta salata (a hard, salted ricotta) and basil (basilico)

Lemon (limone) and strawberry (fragola) gelato, and some espresso.

Isola Bella, in the center of the grove. Literally means "beautiful island", and it completely lives up to the name.

Great place to rent a beach chair and get a little sun after lunch. Again, if you ever get the chance, go to Taormina. It is heaven.

I went to Toarmina proper, up the mountain, but I went back the next day as well, so in just a minute you'll see more of why it's so incredible. But first, I took a drive up Mount Etna (seen in the distance there) right at sunset for the view. If you go, follow the spray painted signs- they're the accurate ones, strangely enough.

When it got dark I stopped at a restaurant on the volcano. It was great! The chef loooved talking to me, he was excited that I was from Vegas and Orvieto, gave me a Sicilian cook book and everything, amazing dinner! I ordered the antipasti platter... 9 Euro... it came with the crostinis above (cured pork fat on the right, porcini mushroom tapenade on the left) and...

Cured platter... clockwise from top left: grilled purple artichoke, two Etna cheeses, 5 kinds of salumi, then headcheese, fritatta with ham and peas, tiny wild mushrooms, two kinds of pickled cipolinni onions, carrot salad, pickled artichokes, another wild mushroom, grilled, then zucchini salad, and pickled cactus. And...

Salsicca picante (spicy salumi) with unsweetened whipped cream to cut the heat. And that was just the first course! If I had known he would shower me with the best of Etna on one plate, I may have stuck with one course! (I still have some of the salumi- of course I couldn't eat it all) then for my second course...

Veal cutlets cooked in a special kind of Marsala from Sicily that's made with almonds (mandorla), sliced almonds, and buttery roasted potatoes. Yummy, and a nice glass of Nero D'Avola, which is an awesome native varietal grape that is perfectly suited to growing on Etna. Seriously, visit Sicily, then send me more wine. And some Pistachio liquor. I want to go back! (Skip Catania)

After some train drama, had to go back to Taormina the next day (oh, no!) after a grueling attempt to get to the top of the mountain (May day festival cancelled 90% of the trains and buses) I stopped to eat lunch in this beautiful cafe. Loved the floral trellis.

Spaghetti with sardines and fresh tomatoes, and dill, incredible. I would eat this again, any time. I have the recipe, too...

Then catch of the day, tuna, with onions stewed in red wine vinegar, olive oil, white wine, and herbs. Tender, delicious.

And also, this is the view from Taormina proper. The weather is perfect, as well.

By the way, they have an amphitheater built by the Greeks, from which you get another amazing view of the sea. Neat thing about Sicily, is they have ruins from every culture that has conquered the Island, which seems to be pretty much everyone, at some point. And they still use the amphitheaters for concerts and live plays in the summers, hence the wooden stage in the center.

I finally made it to Siracusa, but my room was actually on Ortigia island. But that's okay, because above is their Duomo... the cathedral of Minerva. So named because they built the church over a Greek temple to Athena, you can still see the Greek columns, inside and out. I was pretty happy to have some representation in Italia, I have plenty more pictures of this church if ever you're interested...

Siracusa proper has an archaeological park, one of the attractions is their Greek amphitheater, which at this time was getting temporary seats placed over the old ones, they were getting ready for a theatrical version of Ulysses, I think. They had a mini Trojan horse behind the stage.

But the (believe it or not) coolest part was the Orrecche di Dionisis, or "Ear of Dionysis", which acts as a natural amplifier. To get to it, you walk through the most fragrant garden I've ever had the pleasure to stroll through. Before I reached this, some guys walked in and started chanting, it amplified it throughout the whole area, it was really impressive, even the tiniest noise becomes magnified when you walk into this cave, really cool.

Not to be outdone, the Romans built an amphitheater here as well. Well worth the 8 Euro admission to this park.

In closing, when going to Sicily, plan to spend at least a week. It's a really big island, with a lot of history, but I only saw the east coast of it, and I already want to go back and see more. Pay the exorbitant price for a room in Taormina your first night, as far as I could tell the view from the hotels was completely worth it, and you'll want time to walk around that city, and relax on the beach. Eat a lot, Sicily has great food. Skip the beer, drink the Nero D'Avola, and eat cannolis, seafood, and anything with pistachios or almonds in it, you will not be disappointed. The gelato is incredible. The pizza is thick crust, and satisfying. Buzz through Catania to see the piazza di duomo, but don't spend too long there, mostly an espresso/cannoli break should suffice. In Siracusa, a nice B & B on Ortigia island is your best bet, they're surprisingly economical, and the island is spotless and lively. They also have a cool fountain, and a temple of Apollo which you must see. There are some arches in the sea, but expect the tour boats to be in the 50 euro range (I wish I could have taken one, maybe next time). The archaeological park is awesome.

Tomorrow, we have another field trip, then I'm going to Venice for the weekend...

Ciao!

Written on a bar napkin, Catania, Sicilia

You can see why. You can feel it, sitting in the Piazza di Duomo.

(View from my balcony in Catania)

It's the kind of gritty, old, strange city you want to soak in, contemplate, but you don't want to turn your back on it.
(Random ruins in the center)

A different country, altogether.

(the market)

Open markets in back alleys, unwanted eggplant and artichoke trimmings tossed aside, onto the street, to rot grandly in the oppressive sun, like the structures around them.


(Beef and veal on a street stand)

Butchers slam cleavers into hunks of meat and shout at customers over the incessant din. Is it just me, or does everyone have shifty eyes here?

(Piazza di Duomo)

You catch their gaze, but for a minute they continue piercing you with their eyes, as if you give them the same eerie feeling they give you. They walk slowly here, hands in pockets, as though they're waiting to see everyone else's cards before revealing their own.

(Dinner)

Thick crust pizza, doughy, tomatoey, delicious. Cheap, like everything else. Espresso, an amazing cannoli. Food is good here, maybe it has to be to offset the vibe. My waiter scurries to bring my order, glancing up from under his eyelids at his boss, the guy in a nice suit pacing the caffe, the one who pulled out my chair.

Across the piazza, a shell game and some sandals for purchase. Cheap beer. Crowds of old men waiting out the day on the steps under the elephant obelisk, the landmark. They all have intense looks, watching the moves of every person in the vicinity.

(Catania Duomo)

As of now, I am unafraid, but startled by the change of scenery, the vast difference between this city and the rest of Italia. You can feel the centuries pressing down on her people, see it in their tired looks, though they amble slowly. You can see it in the glorious decay that walls you in, Catania's intensity, she, the source of the organized crime that has plagued more cities than just this one.

An Indian man walks by, wearing the most ridiculous earmuffs I've ever seen, and I stifle a laugh, as there's no hint of cold in the air.

(graffiti on the side of a church)

A tourist walks by, worried look on his brow. His fanny pack makes him too obvious, a target for the onslaught of pickpockets the information office warns you about.

The graffiti adds to its er, charm.

Perhaps its the dive bar of Italia, the one you visit for cheap drinks and kicks, but where you're afraid to touch anything.

Bienvenuti in Catania, Sicilia.

Tomorrow, the other end of the spectrum, Taormina and Siracusa.

Buena notte, ragazzi.