Nancy and Peter in Sicily

Nancy Bellantoni & Peter Galipault

END OF march update

pre-dawn from the beach cottage in the sky

Late afternoon rainbow pierced by "god" rays

Waiting for the detectives

We were getting frustrated after three weeks, having to stay close to home, waiting for the polizia spot check; to make sure that we live where we're saying we live. (The registry office said they would come by within 15 working days.) We asked Enrico, why haven't they come yet? He said he would call his friend who works with the polizia. Of course, his friend came over to Enrico’s hotel right away and gave him a form for us to fill out. He said to have it signed by our landlord, Franco (Enrico's dad) and then bring it to the police station. We created a fillable pdf and filled the forms out with Franco at Villa Aurea, his B&B out in the country. He then gave us a ride in his car to the police station around noon. Unfortunately, it was lunch time, so we made an appointment to come back a little later at 12:50.

We went back to Villa Aurea to kill some time. Franco asked us if we liked bananas. Yes, of course we like bananas. He picked a bunch of tiny Sicilian bananas from a tree on his property to give to us. Then we picked some lemons from another tree. Accidentally stepping on a lemon that had fallen to the ground, the air exploded with the strong scent of the fresh fruit. Then it was time to go back to the station. The police woman there took the forms away to make copies. When she returned she said, "tutto posto." Everything is okay.

Passo passo

The next day, we received an email notice from the anagrafe, the registry office, saying that we are now officially residents of Pozzallo. Get out the prosecco! Now we just have to figure out how to get our physical residency cards. It turns out that we need them to buy new phones, get our health cards, our driver's licenses and pretty much anything else.

A noble castle

The following Saturday was a nice day for a visit to Donnafugata, a 19th century noble residence featured in The Leopard by Giuseppe Lampedusa. We found the inside of the castle to be a great disappointment. It seems to have deteriorated quite a bit since our last visit only three years ago. It was noticeably neglected, dirty and dusty. We speculated that perhaps mice and squirrels had moved in for the off-season and had been chewing on everything. The surrounding 20-acre garden, was impressive, lovely and well maintained. We walked around, explored the labyrinth and reveled in the bird song and beautiful wildflowers.

We'll follow the sun

A week later we decided to head west again because that's where the sun was shining. To the north and east were clouds and rain. Arriving at the coastal village of Donnalucata, we went for a short walk, but the town seemed to be still sleeping off the winter. So, we headed west once more for Marina di Ragusa ending up at a seaside restaurant called Marisco. There we had a fabulous meal of Spigola a Sale. Which is a whole sea bass baked in a thick crust of salt. The waiter knocked the salt off and filleted the fish for us. Very tasty.

Oddly enough, another lunch option, they had Maine lobsters on offer. The lobsters seemed a little sluggish though, possibly suffering from jet lag.

Looks can be deceiving. This platter was almost as wide as the table. There's a lot of fish under that pile of salt. The delightful orange and fennel salad was not so large!

It’s good to have friends

I went for a haircut and a shave at my barber shop, Savoir Faire. I asked Emiliano what his opinion was; should I shave off my beard? He thought that was a good idea (Nancy thought so too). He charged me the same price as for a haircut only. Enrico says that Emiliano gives me the special price because he knows we are friends.

Speaking of friends, our first visitors!

Charlotte and Kevin came from London by way of Verona and Milan traveling by train and car. They stayed with Enrico at his hotel, Mare Nostrum. Late in the afternoon we met up with them. To kick off our visit, we went to dinner at our favorite ri Mari e d’Amuri. Among other savory specialties, everyone had a whole fish. As always, the food was amazing and the service friendly. We will go there when you visit.

Savio says There is enough to see in Sicily to take up two lifetimes

We hired a guide to take us to see the sites of Pantalica. Arriving at the top of the twisty and winding road we met Savio in the small hilltop town of Ferla. He and his wife Barbara are both guides and live in Catania.

Savio says that the first time he came to Pantalica, he knew he had found his spiritual home. This Reserve is the largest in Sicily, covering more 3,600 hectares. In three hours or so, we only toured a small corner of the park. We saw caves that were originally tombs from the neolithic era. Some were converted to homes and churches during the Byzantine era. In fact, people lived in the cave village until the 1950’s! We saw some evidence of wild boar activity and clambered down into a steep canyon where there is a small pool, known as the Grotta Pipistrelli. It was a challenging trail but we did alright. Although we chickened out at the end, crossing the stream on the slippery rocks!

The bay of the turtledoves

We took the coastal route to Marzamemi, an historic tuna fishing village, intending to have lunch first then continue to the Vendicari Reserve to do some birdwatching. This area is famous for the Spring migration of many species of birds. Along the route, we spied Greater Flamingos near Pantano Longarini.

But by the time we finished browsing the shops, walking around the town and having lunch it was time to head back to Pozzallo!

After a little reposo at home, we met up at ri Mari e d’Amuri to complete the circle and have another delicious meal. Kevin got the Tonno a la Montalbano again and we shared the Antipasto Rustico and Pacheri, one with a spinach pesto and one with a piselli pesto (get the piselli).

Saturday we had to say arrivederci. We had coffee and went to the cafe for a light lunch. They left for Catania to fly back to London the next day. It was a great visit. We miss them already.