Shabby Chic Scicli, Sicilia

May 25, 2010

Can you say that five times, fast?

Pronounced chic-ly, Scicli is not at all chic, though I suppose you could call it shabby chic. It’s got that vintage, distressed look—complete with a baroque voluptuousness, flakey paint, and mottled sandstone walls.

Windows in Scicli, Sicily, copyright Jann Huizenga

Go if you like out-of-the-way little gems.

It was a Moorish town a millennium ago, later a Norman one, and was rebuilt in the Baroque style after the 1693 quake. Then Time forgot little Scicli until it was declared a World Heritage Site in 2002. It is slowly waking up from a long torpid slumber.

Church in Scicil, Sicily, Copyright Jann Huizenga

It has its share of ogres, meant to keep foreigners and evil spirits at bay.

Ogres in Scicli, Sicily, Copyright Jann Huizenga

Hike up to the decaying Church of San Matteo if you dare. You’ll be amply rewarded with stunning views: a sapphire sea on your left and a town that looks like a stage set at your feet.

Church of San Matteo, Scicli, Sicily, copyright Jann Huizenga

Enrico Guglioto of Pomodoro restaurant, Scicli, Sicily, copyright Jann Huizenga

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The best place in town for lunch is Pomodoro, owned by Enrico Gugliotto (pictured here) and his brother Giuseppe (in the kitchen). It’s about a five minute walk from the baroque heart of Scicli (Corso Garibaldi 46, closed Tuesday, 0932.931.444).

And check out the gorgeous Scicli cemetery if you’re into stone cherubs and angels. It’s just outside of town.

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Readers, can you help me? Will you consider voting for my Sicily photograph in the Islands poll? Here’s the link. The link will bring you to a photo I shot of a Sicilian woman in Capo Passero (in the extreme southeast corner of Sicily). You can vote by clicking on *My Favorite* underneath the photo. (I could win a photography course and you could win a camera!) GRAZIE MILLE! (To see thumbnails of all 22 photos in the competition, click this link.)

A Caltagirone Spree

May 2, 2010

“Where come from?” asks an artisan who stands puffing a cigarette in a doorway in Caltagirone. He looks like a Sicilian baron, with lush lips, an important nose, and hair shiny with pomade.

The U.S.”

“Ah! I have cousin Stefano Battaglia, he live in New Jersey. Maybe you know?”

“No0000. It’s a very big place!”

“Take me to America!” the man says with a sudden smile. “America more beautiful than Sicilia.”

I wonder why Sicilians always respond like this when I say where I’m from. Are they hungry for a compliment or do they really believe America is a better place?

When I tell him Sicily is più bella, he frowns, like he doesn’t believe me.

I’m in Caltagirone for my ceramics fix. Some recent purchases: a fragile pot, pasta bowls, and a holy water font, all in Caltagirone’s colors of citrus yellow, Ionian blue, and basil green.

Caltagirone Ceramics, photo by Jann Huizenga

Little mom and pop shops brimming with tiles and jugs and mugs line the famous stairway. The quality varies, and you have to bargain. Some of the best artists are represented in the Palazzoceramico, on your right after you’ve gone up a handful of steps. There’s a museum and a cute coffee shop inside, too.

Or you can fuel up on espresso on the main piazza, Piazza del Municipio. Go up the staircase into the big building with the three arches, and you’ll bump into this cafe.

Caltagirone Cafe, photo by Jann Huizenga

Crane your head upwards and a huge, tangled battle scene with the Moors will come into view.

Caltagirone Mural, Photo by Jann Huizenga

Caltagirone is one of the eight baroque World Heritage Sites in southeast Sicily. It has lush churches, a superb ceramics museum and pretty gardens. Restaurants are few and far between, but I can recommend la Piazzetta for its good quality and prices (try the cool semifreddo with warm chocolate sauce for dessert). Shops close between 1pm and  4pm (of course), but most are open on Sunday.

Caltagirone Church, photo by Jann Huizenga

One more thing: Don’t forget to strike up a conversation with the charming pensioners standing in clumps all over town.

Have you been? Do you have other recommendations?

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Seafood Alla Siciliana by Toni Lydecker You can win this cookbook!

Toni Lydecker’s Seafood alla Siciliana is somewhat smaller than coffee-table size, with thick, glossy paper, wonderful recipes, very pretty photos, and stories about Sicily’s cuisine. All you have to do is leave a comment on any of my blog posts between now and May 9, and I’ll enter your name for a random drawing on May 10, 2010. (You can enter one comment a day, max.) The only hitch is that you must provide a US or Canadian address for the shipping, so my apologies to readers on other continents.

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