The View from a Broad. Back from Sicily. Anybody been there?

[CTyankee]

(apologies to Bette Midler, I couldn't help myself)

Two weeks in Sicily. Well, the Sicilians by and large don't bother to learn English, so my beginner Italian really came in handy. I was expecting more hostility to Americans but found Sicilians mostly uninterested in us. I made a real effort to smile and say "Buon giorno!" every morning and always buy something at the coffee bars that I went to for a bathroom (some of my little group didn't do that, just trooped in and used the bathroom and trooped out, very rude).

The best: Taormina. What a gorgeous view. And it was there I heard an Italian version of John Lennon's "And so this is Christmas." It was beautiful.

The least appealing: The agriturismo. I suspect that these stays are a way to save family farms in Sicily.

Interesting factoid: The Sicilians have been so ground down over the centuries that their dialect's future tense just died out, doesn't exist any more!

Most interesting site: The Greek temples and the history lesson about Athens' overreaching in the Peloponnesian War with its Sicilian Expedition, which finished Athens as a democracy and as an empire. A lesson for us.

Scariest moment: Nearly being blown off Mount Etna in a howling snow storm. Our little group of Americans were promptly labeled "i pazzi" (the crazy ones) by the locals.
It's a nice mountain to look at from a distance (and does not have lethal eruptions).

Best bargain: the wine! Cheap and plentiful and some pretty good. Also NO sulfates so you really don't get drunk (well, I didn't drink that much, but that was what I was told).

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Hey there, CTyankee.......

My husband and I were briefly in Sicily this last summer for a couple of excursions as part of a larger trip......

We loved Sicily...

I agree about the history lesson with Athen's overreaching and the war that followed. I hadn't learned that before.

As I say, we were there for a couple of shore excursions, so we didn't get to mingle with the ordinary folk too much.

But it is a beautiful place, and I enjoyed our visit a lot!

Glad you had fun, too.....


:hi:

[CTyankee]

2. history lesson

If you are interested, there is a new book out on this historical war. It is called "A War Like No Other" by Victor Davis Hanson. Even tho he is a military guy, he writes well and has lots of information. Of course, the real deal is the book written by a first hand witness to the war: Thucydides. Nothing beats his descriptions in his "History of the Peloponnesian War." He was perceptive enough to see that future generations could learn a great deal from this war, and if they were smart, avoid making the same mistakes. Duh. It's all there and it was written 2500 years ago!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

5. Our trip was with Stanford University, and a couple of professors came

along. They did lectures and provided us with a lot of historical background. And you can bet they talked about Thucydides! A brilliant writer, IMHO....the parallels between then and today are uncanny....

[CTyankee]

7. Now that's a group!

Even tho I had a small, nice group I would have loved one with Stanford profs! Maybe I'll look up my former Classics professor from grad school. I am considering a trip to Greece next.

[BlueStateGirl]

3. I lived there when I was a child. My father was stationed at NAS Sigonella

We spent the first year off the base in a small village on the Ionian coast. I have many fond memories of the island and the Sicilian people.

I would love to go back.

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

4. Was there a lot on vacation

since my dad served in the Italian army there. We used to go throughout the island so much that my sister and I got sick of it. The Greek temples are magnificent and some of the views and beaches are great.

Sicilians are very interesting. Like many other island inhabitants, they tend to view people from the outside with little interest. Believe it or not, communicating with Sicilians, some of whom do not speak standard Italian, was at times difficult.

[CTyankee]

8. I feel kind of sorry for them

Over time they have been invaded by so many different outsiders with such divergent cultures, and now here comes the Americans some of whom don't "get it" when visiting another country. The Mafia is another problem. Any politician who dares to challenge it's power gets blown to pieces, like those two judges in the 80s. It just seems the Sicilians have given up on eradicating the Mafia.

[nuxvomica]

6. I visited my distant relations there in 1987

They live in Sortino, a small town north of Siracusa. As you approach it by car, it appears to be nothing but craggy moutain until suddenly this jumble of old stone and stucco buildings appears before you. There wasn't a modern-looking building in the town. We were there for the Festival of Santa Sofia, the patron saint of the town, and I have never seen a more beautiful and artistic fireworks display as the one they performed that evening.
I will have to ask my father about that factoid. That's very interesting.

[CTyankee]

9. I'm going back to Siracusa

because the Museo Bellomo was closed and the Caravaggio painting I wanted to see was being restored in Florence while I was there.

I got a beautiful water color on papyrus in Siracusa. It's a very interesting place.

[nuxvomica]

10. We only spent a few days in Siracusa

We visited the Roman amphitheatre and the Ear of Dionysus but not the Museo Bellomo, unfortunately. If you get a chance, make a day trip to Sortino. I expect it hasn't changed that much since I visited. There is a 1000-year-old monastery on the edge of a cliff and we saw huge pipes that were being used to pump concrete under the foundation to save it from collapsing. A distant relative was one of the handful of monks still living there. To give you an idea of the "look" of the town, here's a watercolor I did of the Church of Santa Sofia, not from life but much later from a photograph:

[CTyankee]

11. How lovely! How much it reminds me of Sicily!

Thank you for the remembrance. I bought an original watercolor on papyrus from an artist in Siracusa. It was very lovely also. I got it for my son and his new wife.
I am thrilled you showed me your beautiful art work.

Mille grazie!

[nuxvomica]

13. You're welcome

Italy is so beautiful, it's no wonder it has produced so many artists. BTW, I told my dad your factoid about Sicilians having no future tense and he laughed heartily. It seems the factoid is only poetically true. He said my grandfather often spoke of the wine he would make next year. I would guess that a culture that makes wine could not function without a future tense, no matter how oppressed. ;)

[Kat45]

12. I'm half Sicilian. My aunt went on vacation there several years ago

and she ended up meeting a relative! They didn't know of each other and didn't speak each other's languages, but the woman was inviting her over for dinner. Unfortunately, she couldn't go because she was with a tour group, but the two of them have been exchanging Christmas cards ever since.

And as for the dialect, my mother, whose family is Italian (not Sicilian) says she could never understand my father's family when they spoke because of the Sicilian dialect.