Venerdi 06.03.09

So if you ever have to choose between Eastern Europe and Sicilia, choose Sicilia! After a stressfull trip to Prague, Palermo was just what I needed. I wasn't even planning on going there until the night I returned from Prague to find an email from my cousins, Rick and Cindy, saying they were going to be there and could I meet them? The answer was only a heartbeat away: YES! Literally, within 24 hours I had convinced Hilary to come with me, we had bought tickets, and were on a train headed south.

Now, you're probably thinking, "A train to Palermo? Isn't Sicilia an island? And isn't it at the opposite end of the country from Milano?" The answer to all three is a resounding yes and that's why it took us 20 hours to get there. We prepared though with cards, books, food, and a computer to watch movies. Surprisingly, or not surprisingly knowing Hilary and I, we didn't need all those diversions because we made instant friends with the two Sicilian sisters in our cabin and practiced our Italian all the way there.

I don't care what anybody says, Sicilians are the best people on earth - so friendly and always going out of their way to help and make you feel welcome. For example, not only did these two girls invite us to stay in their cabin because there was more room than in ours, but they showed us how to get up to the observation deck when the train was disassembled and loaded onto the ferry. The fresh air felt so good and they were so proud to show us their home as we left Italia and met the beginning of Sicilia.

Another example of Sicilian hospitality occured when we were walking through the fresh produce market after checking into our awesome hostel and we stopped in front of a restaurant to debate whether we needed an afternoon snack. The owner enticed us with samples of his freshly tempuraed vegetables. Obviously, he had us with the first taste and so he showed us to an adorable table close to the balcony overlooking the bustling street. He made us FRESH BREAD and created this wonderful antipasti misti for us. We were in heaven, especially when he gave us some MORE FRESH BREAD straight from the oven for the road.

After stolling around taking in Palermo's center, including Teatro Massimo where the last scene of The Godfather III was shot, we went to meet Rick and Cindy at their hotel to go to a late dinner. Hugs and kisses were showered all around and hand-in-hand we made our way to Antica Focacceria San Francesco, Lucky Luciano's favorite spot and still a local hangout. Even though there was still so much to catch up on, we had all had a long day and called it a night around 1am with plans to meet back up in the morning.

Sabato 07.03.09

Unfortunately, Hilary and I started our morning off with severe disappointment because after an hour of waiting online and months of dreaming of the concert, we didn't get tickets to the PinkPop festival near Amsterdam where Bruce is headlining in May. I nearly wept. My only consolation was the idea that my first Bruce concert should probably be in America and hopefully it wouldn't be too much to ask for it to be in New Jersey.

It's hard to stay down when you're in Palermo in the 65 degree weather and so after breakfast, we took Rick and Cindy to the outdoor market so they could experience the beauty of all that fresh food as well. I will never cease to be amazed at how vibrant those sweet Sicilian oranges are! As you read, you'll figure out that the weekend was pretty much all about food. And family. Come on, how much better can it get?

Then we toured the cathedral and had the benefit of seeing it in both cloudy, mysterious light and brilliant sunshine, before we strolled down through the four corners and saw the famous Fontana Pretoria. It's been nicknamed "The Fountain of Shame" because all the naked figures embarassed the Palermitans as they passed it to and from Sunday services. It really is fascinating though with all it's concentric circles of statues and animal heads in the basin.

Getting hungry again, we walked all the way down to the harbour and found a seaside reataurant just as a short storm was rolling in. This restaurant was THE BEST in my ENTIRE life, no kiddng. The owner seated us and offered us the "menu completo" which I took to mean by our Italian exchange as some kind of prix fixe menu where we would get one dish from each category. No no no, he literally meant the complete menu, as in everything he was offering fresh that day. We figured that out when the plates of food just didn't stop coming and soon there was no room on the table. We had freshly steamed mussels, calamari, mixed olives, baskets and baskets of fresh bread, octopus, prawns, filet of grilled swordfish, a whole sardine (which is maybe my new favorite fish), a whole sea bass, clams, risotto with mussels, spaghetti with clams, raw salmon sliced so thinly, and a basket of fresh fruit to top it all off. Oh yea. And perhaps the best part of this whole spectacular memory was when Hilary and I learned how to eat a fish with the head and tail still on, including the cheek muscle, a delicacy that surprisingly, is quite flavorful.

To end a great day, we toured the Galleria d'Arte Moderna which wasn't so much full of modern art but rather, art that told Palermo's modern history. Happily, I finally learned who Cavour was (a count who was a leader in the movement toward Italian unification, also the founder of the original Italian Liberal Party) and who Garibaldi was (a major general also influential in the unification of Italy who led many campaigns in Tunisia, Rome, and Austria as well). They're both national heroes and therefore have streets or piazzas named after them in every city.

Since we were so full from lunch we just indulged in gelato and then Rick, always the loving cousin, bought us wild strawberry tarts "in case we got hungry in the night" because we were "too thin." Seriously, he carries a hankercheif and candy in his pocket at all times and thinks we don't eat enough = the perfect man.

Domenica 08.03.09

We celebrated International Women's Day, a holiday to recognize the economic, political and social achievements of women. Started as a political event marking the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Fire in New York in which an entire factory of female workers were burned alive because they were locked in due to poor labor standards, the holiday has now blended into an occaision for men to express their love to the women around them. We saw a protest going on near Teatro Garibaldi and then throughout the day, watched men buy and give away tiny yellow flowers to every woman he saw. We were even stopped in the street by a nice man and his family who asked if we were Belgian and then once we replied in the negative, said how beautiful we were and wished us a great day. Seriously, how lovely!

We spent the rest of the day eating freshly fried calamari and prawns down by the harbour, walking along the water's edge and watching the children fly their kites, and then looking around Villa Giulia, the site of the Palermo botanical gardens. Our time was short but sweet and we parted ways in the afternoon, Rick and Cindy to go back to London and us to go back to Milano. It really was the perfect weekend.