One Evening in December, Sicily

December 19, 2013

Stars burn. Leaves whisper. The village is waiting for Natale, waiting for 2013 to run out.

You can sometimes catch a glimpse of a Christmas tree behind shutters. Boxes of panettone crowd out everything else in mini-markets. Poinsettias shimmer red on the piazza. But otherwise, no hoopla in the village. Just a quiet wait.

Ragusa Ibla Gardens at Christmas, copyright Jann Huizenga

Quiet Christmastime Evening in Ibla, copyright Jann Huizenga

Scooters in Ragusa Ibla, copyright Jann Huizenga

Click to subscribe to BaroqueSicily.

Find me on Facebook.

My photography website.

Back to Sicilian Me

December 5, 2013

A whirlwind two weeks of work (read: hard labor) in Republika Srbija is over.

As we rolled from one misty town to the next, the slate-gray sky spewed rain, sleet and snow. There were mutterings of discontent: We’re waiting for more war, someone said. There could be revolution, another whispered. Coal dust fell from chimneys. I felt dim. Everywhere I drank cappuccino, but nowhere did it taste anything like it should have. I looked for cornetti where there were none. Only the brilliant eyes of 450 teachers kept melancholia at bay.

Today I had real coffee on my very own sun-dazed piazza. Hot rays hit my cheeks and I yanked off my scarf, then my jacket and sweater in a kind of joyful frenzy. My impish pal Salvatore sat across the table. It’s the scirocco, he said, pointing south. From Africa.

Later, sitting with my cutting board in the blue air, I snip off rosemary and bay leaves from the clay pots. I set a tomato sauce to burble away on the stove and turn up Bocelli, who belts out an old Sicilian tune, E vui durmiti ancora.

I guess you could say I’m undergoing a metamorphosis. Back to Sicilian me.

Cooking Near the Cathedral at Ragusa Ibla, copyright Jann Huizenga

Click to subscribe to BaroqueSicily.

Find me on FB.

My photography website.

Moonrise & the Cathedral

November 19, 2013

Somewhere deep in the heart of Sicily, there’s a moment of pure peace.

Moonrise in Sicily, copyright Jann Huizenga

 

Click to subscribe to BaroqueSicily.

Find me on Facebook.

My photography website.

Dawn Stroll, Deepest Sicily

May 1, 2013

Tumble out of bed at dawn and meet me for a wander about town.

Street Sweeper in Southeast Sicily, copyright Jann Huizenga

Lion Fountain in Southeast Sicily, copyright Jann Huizenga

Red Door in Southeast Sicily, copyright Jann Huizenga

Clock tower in Ragusa Ibla, Sicily, copyright Jann Huizenga

Fountain in Ragusa Ibla, Sicily, copyright Jann Huizenga

***

Click to subscribe to BaroqueSicily.

Find me on Facebook.

My photography website.

A Wonder-ful Morning in Sicily

March 2, 2013

After three days of dreary downpours and hellish winds–during which I worked so slavishly on a translation that getting out of my PJs completely slipped my mind–Saturday dawned sunny! I put on real clothes and clickety-clacked my way down to the piazza with Marcella Hazan in my bag.

I dropped into a chair, leafed through Marcella, and wondered: will I EVER be able to cook like an Italian?

I am studying this 1973 book–bought for a buck at a library sale–as if it were the Bible itself. I’m trying one recipe a day and have loved every one. (The updated version is Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking).

Sicilian Breakfast, copyright Jann Huizenga

Then I looked at the palms waving overhead and wondered: Will you survive, dear friends?

Horrible winged black bugs are eating palm trees to death in Sicily. Our piazza has already lost one. I mourned it like I’d mourn a best friend.

Palm trees in Ragusa Ibla, copyright Jann Huizenga

I looked to the right and I saw a gaggle of guys. I got up and asked for a photo. They were a little shy, especially when I spoke to them in English. They wore braces. They were sweet sixteen.

Sicilian Teens, copyright Jann Huizenga

I remember the braces I wore at that age, gap-toothed and horribly shy.

And I wondered: Would I like to be sixteen again?

Would you?

***

Click to subscribe to BaroqueSicily.

Vieni trovarmi su Facebook.

My photography website.

Site Meter BlogItalia.it - La directory italiana dei blog