Every step is a new adventure...

   Every step you take in these ancient Sicilian towns is an adventure.  We did a long, two-plus mile walk the other day under a warm sun.  The first half was uphill, the second half downhill to our apartment.

   On our walks we encounter many properties for sale, should we ask the price of this intriguing house?

   Up the steps, past a palm and a cactus, and here's this man selling some kind of greens from the back of his car, right on the street, parked the wrong way...

    An open door reveals an old-time carpenter shop.  Too bad all the workers are out to lunch, Joe wanted to talk shop...

   An old lady done with her shopping, and a beautiful orange tree in the middle of the sidewalk...

   At the high point of our walk, look up to the mountains, look down to the sea...

   Italian street signs are attached to, or embedded into the corners of the buildings.  Here's a very old street sign, and the sign for a street you may not want to venture down...  Interesting, you can see that the new Purgatorio sign is placed over the old one...

 











   Finally the long walk down corso Giuseppe Garibaldi toward the sea, to our apartment.  Garibaldi was the man most responsible for the unification of Italy in the 1860s, and there are streets and monuments honoring him in almost every Italian town.

   Yes, every step leads to a new adventure...

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The Sicilian version of Frogger...

   Our apartment in Castellammare del Golfo overlooks a busy intersection in the center of town.  Here is a video I took of the typical traffic we see every morning and late afternoon.  It is much quieter from about 2pm to 5pm during siesta.... 
                   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGEHII9dp_g

    This photo shows the balcony of our apartment, where I recorded the video... It is right above a great little family run market.  "Mama" has a sister who lives in Brooklyn.  No, you can't make this stuff up!

Note... Touch the photo to enlarge

...the Buona Forchetta (the good fork)...

...good thing we walked for a couple of hours this morning, because lunch was una adventura (an adventure) in dining...

We found a little trattoria called the Buona Forchetta just a two minute walk from our apartment that advertised a 12 euro lunch...sounded good, so we went in to give it a try...over two hours later we stumbled home !

Our meal started with bruschetta and deep-fried cauliflower fritters, followed by an antipasto for each of us...the mixed meat and cheese for Joe, and the mixed grilled vegetables for me...that was enough for a full lunch already !  But wait, there's more....the primo (first course) : pasta carbonara for Joe and pasta ala Norma (with grilled eggplant) for me.  This was served with house made caponata (a mix of eggplant, olives, pine nuts, capers, tomatoes, and olive oil...yum and yum...)

By now, we had had MORE than a full meal...but wait, there's still more: the secondo (second course...which was actually the fourth by now...) : chicken cutlet for me and meatballs in sauce for Joe.  This was all accompanied a contorno (vegetable) : french fries for Joe and roasted potatoes for me ...and bread and vino , of course.

We were moaning and groaning by this time, but wait - you guessed it - there's yet more !  Our waitress brought over two pieces of delicious homemade tirimisu...oh, my stomach...good thing she then brought us a digestivo of Amaro (an after lunch drink), right ?!

a small menu...big on flavor

our cute little trattoria...empty when we arrived, full by the time we left !

please...no more !!

It was an amazing meal...the total bill came to 28 euros (about 34 dollars)...the carafe of wine was 4 euros, the desserts and after lunch drinks were on the house...no tax, no tip necessary, although we rounded the bill up to 30 euros...a lot less than we would spend in the US for all that food and wine...what a deal !

It may just be Diet Pepsi and Pepto for dinner tonight....

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Meeting Carmelo and his 1966 Alfa Romeo Duetto...

   I guess you can tell from the heading that this is Joe writing... A friend in the States had been communicating with a man named Carmelo in Palermo, Sicily about parts for his vintage Alfa Romeo.  When I mentioned we would be near Palermo, he passed along Carmelo's email.  I contacted Carmelo, and he suggested that we meet at 3pm on Tuesday in the beach resort town of Mondello, a place that would be fairly easy for us to find.  Carmelo arrived right on time, driving his beautiful 1966 Alfa Romeo Duetto, with the top down, of course.  1966 was the first year of production for the Duetto, and Carmelo's car is a particularly early one, with serial number 660291, meaning the 291st car produced in 1966.

   Carmelo is a true alfista (Alfa Romeo enthusiast) and a true gentleman.  His enthusiasm and passion were obvious.  Carmelo's Alfa has been completely restored, and has won awards in local car shows.  After explaining all that he had done to the car, he asked if I wanted to drive it.  It didn't take long to say "si!" and off we went.  Chris waited patiently while I drove the Alfa through the jumble of streets that is Mondello.  We arrived back at the meeting place some ten minutes later, and I couldn't get the grin off my face.  What a thrill, both to meet such a kind and generous man, and to drive his prized car.  

   We have agreed to meet again when Chris and I return to Palermo on March 18.  The plan is to go to Carmelo's house for dinner, and meet his wife and two-year-old.  There is an Italian expression that fits.... non vedo l'ora, literally "I don't see the hour", but expressing "I can't wait".

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ah, taste the wine....

We had a lovely, hour long drive to Marsala today for a visit to Cantine Florio...they've been making Marsala wine since 1833, and our tour there was very informative.  The guide assured us that the wine they produce is not that marsala "cooking wine" you see on Wegmans' shelves...this is the real thing...meant to be sipped slowly in a dimly lit room with soft music playing...hmmmm....

Sure enough, when it came to the tasting, we were in a dimly lit room with soft music playing and prompted to savor every sip !

        The barrel rooms were amazing !

Love those barrels !!

The guns were used by Garibaldi's troups during the unification of Italy...

Our tasting room...

dimly lit with soft music playing !!

When we left, the weather had taken a crazy turn...what the hail ???!!!

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More sights around Castellammare del Golfo...

A few more photos of some interesting sights around town...

The door to our apartment, number 76, right next to a macelleria (butcher shop)... looks like someone has been shopping...

The Mother Church (Chiesa Madre) and another church.  Surprisingly, we have not yet been inside either one... although we hear the church bells ringing...

An anchor and an odd door...

The Angolo del Buongustaio (Foodie Corner, or Corner of Good Taste) which is just across the street from our apartment.   We've been in there a couple of times, they sell nicer wines, hams, cheeses, bread, etc...

Since Castellammare is on a hillside sloping to the sea, there are many staircases... some for walking, some for displaying flowers...

We had a brief shower the other day, and this rainbow appeared.  The photo is taken from our balcony...

Let's see what's at the end of the rainbow...

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Castellammare del Golfo...

What a beautiful city Castellammare is !  We've been fortunate that the weather has been good...sunshine and blue skies for the most part.  It's rained at night, but that's fine with us.

The city was developed sometime in the 800s when the Arabs ruled here, and the name means "castle of the sea"... the landscape is dramatic, with mountains soaring right out of the sea... it has a lovely harbor, and we have had a difficult time deciding when to stop taking pictures...there is a new vista around every corner.  It's a very walkable town...if you don't mind stairs !

   Castellammare has a tradition as a tuna fishing port... that industry has all but disappeared, but fishing is still an important part of daily life.  Fisherman bring in their catch and raise a flag when they have something to sell.  The local restaurant owners "troll" the offerings, looking for the best of the best.

One boat we saw had a puppy as second mate...

A couple more photos from the harbor...

 And it looks like someone can't wait for the Tiki Bar to open...

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