Though her bone fides go back in time quite a way and I haven’t verified them (she’s supposed to be from some royal lineage that owned the Palazzo Butera we stayed in that she now owns a portion of), I had to wake her with a call to see why the driver hadn’t arrived to get us to the airport! At 6:30 am she was obviously sleeping, but roused. And when I said the service wasn’t answering she said “I’ll call his father”. And sure enough we had a driver tout suite!

Goodbye Palermo and Buongiorno, Rome!!!!

Just a few blocks away from our accommodations we started our time in Rome here checking out fountains and people watching.

We did the Rick Steves “Heart of Rome Walk” which got us from P. Navona to the Spanish Steps.

The streets were full of people. School groups and tourists, but also dignitaries and wedding parties. It was Pentecost weekend here in the Catholic heart of Italy. Bustling and sometimes overwhelming for our “up at 5:30” brains. But we made the walk and got oriented.

There were refreshments along the way and some fun with a young Italian server!

Until we reached the end of the walk at the Spanish Steps. You’re no longer allowed to sit and enjoy the vibe there – you’ll risk a 250 Euro fine though it looked mostly like the carabinieri were just asking folks not to sit.

But we earned gelato and spoiled our dinner! And I had a nap! We are finding the pasta very good, but it’s been a pretty steady diet.

Finished up at Piazza Navona for the evening. It’s warm and lovely.

In some ways this market felt more like the locals use it. I remember the scent of ripe strawberries most vividly. It was fun!

We found ourselves a good lunch today and just wandered.

The most fascinating thing was the stall where the vendor/artisan cheese maker was making ricotta. I think (after a little You Tube foray this was after finishing a batch of mozzarella.). Really interesting.

A bit of serendipity turned the botanical garden into a high point of the day. Enjoyable on its own for green and exotic plants and spaces, we ran into a local market of plants, pots, art and bamboo fabric accessories.

There are jacaranda trees here (I learned to identify them in Hawaii and their purple color always makes me smile.)

Then a smattering of the plant market.

And we wound down the day with a stroll and some food in the centro of this city. It’s one that leaves me a little ponderous. It’s unique, colorful, food filled and also struggling with the ills of most large cities (particularly post pandemic) including general trash around. Our apt neighborhood is gentrifying so to speak around its history. Good to see, but not my favorite Sicilian city – though the markets were great!!

I don’t think I mentioned anywhere that Mary and I taught ourselves to make caffe using an Italian moka pot in our apartment. First for me!

What a full day! We can recommend Streaty Street Food Tours! Salvo led us through the Capo Market with finesse and introduced foods I’ve not experienced before.

The market is the oldest in Palermo, with many generationally operated food establishments. I’ll probably forget something, but the food was interesting, spectacular or both! Salvo had two significant messages about street food. It was the working man’s food and each conquerors culture and imports affected their foods, customs and traditions. They can lay claim to “melting pot” in ways and ages we cannot.

First up, my favorite for the day I think. Panelle – a simple fried chick pea treat with seasonings. Made in homes as well, it’s flattened and fried and served with lemon spritzed on top. Excellent! (A restaurant version later didn’t quite match up.)

Moving along, our next treat was a mangia a bevi, after walking thru the textile market section.

Beth selected her second beer of the day while I chose a local lemon soda called Partaninna.

The next is a step outside my box – that’s what we’re in Sicily for!

Our reward for the tour! Gelato. The Sicilian version is that a Sicilian chef added milk to the local granite (also their creation) and went on to spread the famous dessert to Italy/Tuscany and eventually Paris. The Sicilian version is served in a brioche and as the ice cream is eaten is folded into an ice cream sandwich. No complaints here!!

A quiet afternoon for food recovery, before we headed out for the evening. We chose the breeze and ambience of the harbor, found a table and never made it beyond our drinks and appetizers. Bruschetta, panelle and French fries for Mary that we heartily devoured.

Had my last plateful of nespola- a rather wonderful spring fruit here in Sicily that seems something like a smooth skinned apricot, but is compared to a Japanese Kumquat. A fav new discovery!And off we went with driver Antonello across Sicily to Palmero. A 3hr private driver ride rather than the train (when Rick Steves recommends the bus over the train and the trip ETA’s exceed 4-5 hrs, you vote for a little more luxury).

We saw the mountainous Sicilian interior region, their protected park land, agricultural landscapes, clouds and some rain. Warm and we didn’t get wet during the wind shield wiper heavy showers.

Another interesting driver – Antonello plays in 3 bands. Drums and a Celtic instrument Beth recognized. They had quite a conversation about Celtic and Basque music, exchanging musical storylines and having fun with it. He sent follow-up info for her! He also has 2 bands that cover our generations music ie Eagles, Toto, etc. As well as soul.

Antonello got us to Butera 28, a portion of the Butera Palazzo in the La Kalsa neighborhood near the harbor entrance to the city and historico centro.

We found our way around the neighborhood and bistrot for lunch and walked part of the Rick Steves Palermo City Walk. We made it back to the apartment without bread crumbs but it takes all of us and several maps! That’s kind of the fun challenge of it.

Piazza Bellini: Trio of churches (UNESCO recognized)

La Martorana on the left above has the gilded interior below.

But San Cataldo was the draw here though. Arabesque in building and simple inside. The level of religious tolerance this reflects is encouraging – perhaps we will see return to that kind of humanity.

Santa Catarina is the third (I’ll think of it as the Cannoli Convent.

Have we mentioned that Sicilian Cannoli is special! The cream filling is richer with ricotta and they are placed in a more biscuit cookie like shell than the Florentine caramel based shells we’re used to. I love Florentines, but these shells are better. We love them (several times over♥️).

We kind of nestled in for the night. Beth and Mary got us some pasta and salad to eat in and we figured out how to use the small washer. We’ve been on the road for awhile after all!

Photos from Antonello

We saw some of the hillside towns near Ortigia/Siracusa today. I should explain that Ortigia is the historic center of the city and it is an island. Defensible back in the day when the European countries were constantly attempting to extend their own particular culture and power. And often their religions. Sicily, in particular, has a history of conquest because of its ports. Phoenicians, Carthaginian, Spanish, Byzantine, Greek, Norman, German Swabia, Roman periods existed here (that’s probably not all of them!) and the remnants show in their culture and great food.

The Baroque cities are unique in that they are phoenix expressions for towns completely demolished by an earthquake in 1693. And redesigned in the dominant architecture of the time – baroque.

NOTO

This is the city we finally chose granite over gelato or at least Mary and I did! Beth had her first gelato at 10:23am in Noto. I guess that would’ve been a late night chaser on her internal pacific time clock😆

Granite is ice and sugar and a flavor of your choice discovered when the Arabs brought sugar to Sicily. Sort of a cross between a snow cone and sherbet. We approved!

Nice little shops with typical local products. We left with lemon olive oil, pistachio pesto and beautiful spaghetti and black squid ink pasta (easy to pack).

MODICA

Famous for its chocolate, we tasted but didn’t walk away with any. They claim their cioccolato di Modica whose origins are from the Spanish period doesn’t melt!?! They mastered their specialty crushing cocoa beans and sugar on basalt plates. It’s grainy and quite nice.

We chose lunch here ……. The tagliere tasting boards are a little daunting in the number of items, but wonderful examples of local eating and fun to identify what you’re eating!

RAGUSA

Returning to Ortigia, our tour driver shared the waterfront, the Basilica of Santa Lucia with a Caravaggio altar piece, Sanctuary of the Madonna of Tears (a very modern church that dominates the new City of Siracusa skyline), makes sure we know Siracusa is the birthplace of Archimedes, drives us by the 5th century Archeological Park that we won’t choose to get to (Roman ruins ahead) and encourages us to get the the castle.

And then there is Angelo (our driver) to remember! A classic gentleman, Angelo was a charmer. He shared so much our heads were full. The history makes mine spin sometimes, but is fascinating in the moment and spaces we visited. Like our other encounters in day tours, our leaders seem genuinely passionate about their country. Angelo also shared “surprises” – little extras that were fun. But the most memorable was his opener when he told us about being a tuk tuk driver for Whoopi Goldberg – with the photos to prove it. Evidently also Harrison Ford, though no photos and he definitely wasn’t as impressed. We are sadly not in the celebrity category. Angelo also shared photos of his son Sebastiano, who is a musical theater performer (video proof NYC) as well as being a model. Sebastiano’s body baring photos got a “one hot Italian” exclamation from me!

We had a great day and got to see beautiful countryside before ending up on our terrace watching the harbor turn to dark.

A day without a plan. Well, except for the fish market and the castello and ………. Our last day here in Ortigia.

The fish is front and center here, but the veg and fruits were beautiful. Very vibrant and bustling – as are most European markets I’ve experienced. Fun ways to watch locals grocery shop and enjoy the bustle.

We also did a little eavesdropping on a couple of diminutive older women who were admiring the “cute little Italian boys” by which they meant the rather flamboyant young fishmongers. They said they could be late for the boat…..

We haven’t been able to find the definitive mythology for this beautiful bronze, but it was a gorgeous and strong piece of art.

The Castello Maniace is the tip of Ortigia. A fortress for war and protection. But now being prepared for an art exhibit. Well worth our time. And a great place to enjoy the sea beeeze.

And finally wine in coffee cups on our terrace as we recap the day and, of course, plan our next meal! At Retrocena with seafood pastas, shared salads and three spoons with the house made mango sorbet. Quite an elegant small establishment celebrating its 10th anniversary. Husband and wife team did it all by themselves, which she said would not be possible in the busy summer months. A stroll to Archimedes Piazza, down Corso Matteotti nearly back to our hotel before turning into the winding lanes to get there.

Meriviglioso!!!

Mary provided us a reason to celebrate!!! Her birthday was today (May 12th – apologies for the blog delay) and it needed to be as special as she is. That takes a little doing in Italia, but we had a fun time with it!

No photos of this (with good reason) but we started by accompanying a YouTube version of the Italian happy birthday song! Fun, but rude awakening for Mary!

Tanti Augeri A Te!

It’s sung to our music and if I can figure out how to embed it in this blog I’ll do that later!

Then little surprises (which she tolerated with grace and seeming pleasure) as we bumped through the day.

Dinner at a local osteria with the fun of engaging our young server in the surprise of candles!

I probably had more fun with this than Mary. But it’s a gift to celebrate a birthday with new experiences and places. And for me to let her know she’s a grand traveling partner!

This was a nice little treat to ourselves and a quiet, slower pace (without a car we could only enjoy strolls on the property and nearby teeny village). A little luxury in one’s life is a good thing and Caverna Etnea gave us that.

And then the food!! Exquisite and beautifully presented. The hospitality was warm and traditionally formal, all delivered with smiles and evocative descriptions of the fare and wine!

A lovely dinner finish to a nice stay. We can recommend Caverna Etnea!

Breakfast and off with Domenico, our driver, who brought us local oranges and lemons …….. the lemons were so large I was mixing them up with 🍊. Fun part of the trip!

We left Lecce and Puglia behind for Sicily – just as we became adept at getting about the city without too much guessing. Lecce and the Salento province cities were well worth the visit. We really enjoyed our hosts!

But now we are on to Sicily! And a couple days at Caverna Etnea on the north slope of Mt. Etna – the one you hear about on the news now and again. Domenico brought us from Catania to Etnea with little highlights, pointing out Taormina (Beth was there with a cruise some years ago) and the orange and lemon trees full of fruit. We’ve been pretty city bound, so we’ll relax a little here.

Our room holds some of the features of the “palmenti ” or old stone building used to crush and store grapes out of which it is carved. This is a vineyard with history.

A dinner wine tasting (with a dose of confusion caused undoubtedly by my lack of language and customs) was an extended affair. Italians all seem to know the benefits of drawing out the pleasure of wines and food. We walked back to our room through the vineyards – 75 year old vines being studied for their resistance to the grape phylloxera ( I think). The volcanic soils are supposed to create wonderful wines. And we found them pretty palatable🍷

Buona Notte

We’ve been to the tip of the heel today and enjoyed views of the blue Adriatic Sea from our tour van. Vinyards, olive trees and cacti in abundance in the rocky hillsides. We started the day in rain – but with Leccese caffe (Beth) and local pastries to start, we’re happy.

We found the cathedral in Galatina to soar in its magnificent interior. A Franciscan chiesa, it distinguishes itself from many Catholic cathedrals with the intensity of color on the inside. We were impressed. And now understand the difference between Baroque and Romanesque church architectural styles.

The mosaics of Otranto’s cathedral used a large tree of life motif to tell its story.

And the sun began to show itself against the Adriatic.

Though I didn’t try photos from the van interior, the scenery from Otranto to Leuca was a Mediterranean highlight on a winding coastal road.

Gallipoli showed its Greek influence in many ways. The sea breeze was balmy and we just enjoyed a city walkabout.

Home and ventured a culinary first – cavallo. To save you a trip to Google Translate, that’s horse meat – in our case in either pasta al forno or eggplant parmigiana. Actually quite tasty, if subtle. Any meal topped with niccola and fig gelato is fine by me!

The old town of Lecce has been a good jumble of churches, winding lanes and learning. Buona notte 😴