Random Sicily
Palermo. After a two-hour drive on an almost suspended motorway we reach Stazione Centrale and are suddenly faced with the Italian neo-realism at its best. Huge impressive buildings, with large wooden shutters, a cathedral built in Gothic- Moresque style, trees with embracing crowns, bunches of small shops gathered underneath their cool fresh shade. Pasta, wines, jars of jam and spices, medals, teapots, candle holders, and even a cat that sleeps coiled can be seen in the shop windows. Everybody seems to be enjoying a break – in the squares with colorful canopies, leisurely sitting on their round chairs, unshaved men in T-shirts play backgammon. Catania. Dark like the lava from which it was re-built, the town felt like the universe in Eliade’s fantastic stories. We strolled under the pouring rain, among buildings with clothes hanging to dry and housewives talking to each other from every single corner of the streets. Next to the Dome we found a real “theatre scene” where, in an incredible uproar, the fishermen played their part, exhibiting the fish, crayfish and octopus: Piazza di pesce. In the baroque town of Noto we entered a cathedral where we witnessed a wedding, in Ortigia – a rock near Siracuse – we waited in a terrible storm for the night shadows to embrace the Greek remains, and in Giardini de Naxos we watched enchanted a group of kids performing acrobatic tricks on boards. Mafiosi? I kept hoping to see the “disciples” of Don Corleone in black suits, with their eyes hidden by sun glasses… As a matter of fact, I did see some, but since they never took out their guns, I couldn’t tell whether they were “mafiosi”.
Random Sicily
Palermo. After a two-hour drive on an almost suspended motorway we reach Stazione Centrale and are suddenly faced with the Italian neo-realism at its best. Huge impressive buildings, with large wooden shutters, a cathedral built in Gothic- Moresque style, trees with embracing crowns, bunches of small shops gathered underneath their cool fresh shade. Pasta, wines, jars of jam and spices, medals, teapots, candle holders, and even a cat that sleeps coiled can be seen in the shop windows. Everybody seems to be enjoying a break – in the squares with colorful canopies, leisurely sitting on their round chairs, unshaved men in T-shirts play backgammon. Catania. Dark like the lava from which it was re-built, the town felt like the universe in Eliade’s fantastic stories. We strolled under the pouring rain, among buildings with clothes hanging to dry and housewives talking to each other from every single corner of the streets. Next to the Dome we found a real “theatre scene” where, in an incredible uproar, the fishermen played their part, exhibiting the fish, crayfish and octopus: Piazza di pesce. In the baroque town of Noto we entered a cathedral where we witnessed a wedding, in Ortigia – a rock near Siracuse – we waited in a terrible storm for the night shadows to embrace the Greek remains, and in Giardini de Naxos we watched enchanted a group of kids performing acrobatic tricks on boards. Mafiosi? I kept hoping to see the “disciples” of Don Corleone in black suits, with their eyes hidden by sun glasses… As a matter of fact, I did see some, but since they never took out their guns, I couldn’t tell whether they were “mafiosi”.
