Noto

Noto Antica was an important city during ancient times. At its height, during the Arabic period, it was actually the capital city of one of the three administrative districts of Sicily. Then, in 1693, tragedy struck as the entire city was destroyed by a significant earthquake which also killed 1000’s of its inhabitants. Faced with the choice of rebuilding what was essentially a massive graveyard, the few remaining residents relocated to the current city of Noto some 8 km (5 miles) to the south. The resulting, planned city is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site as one of the finest existing examples of the Sicilian Baroque style. I’m not a huge fan of baroque. In fact, I’m fond of saying, “If it’s Baroque, you should fix it”. But, seeing all of the buildings together is quite impressive.

The main administrative building is directly across from the duomo on the main street through town.

Looking uphill along a side street.

Once feature of this style is balconies such as the ones shown on the buildings lining the main street.

Many balconies are supported by interesting and intricate figures such as the grotesque faces in the picture below.

A fountain in a small piazza off the main drag.

Finally, we have Amy, gelato in hand, in front of the duomo. Sicily is renowned for its gelato and the weather was pleasant enough during our travels for gelato to be consumed. Then again, even if the weather isn’t great, Amy and I have been known to enthusiastically dig into a cone or cup.

Ortygia

The oldest part of the city of Siracusa is Ortygia, a small island connected to the mainland by three bridges. The maze of narrow streets makes navigation interesting. The only redeeming feature in that respect is that if you walk long enough you will get to the water and can find your way from there. It is an island, after all.

While we visited we took in two main attractions. The first is the duomo. The building was originally a 5^th century BC, 6 x 14 column Greek temple dedicated to Athena. Notice, I didn’t say the duomo was built on the site of the temple. That is because the 7^th century AD church was constructed by filling in the spaces between the columns to create an edifice in the Christian style. The entrance façade was rebuilt in the 18^th century in the Baroque style. The remains of the columns and their Doric tops can be easily seen on the exterior of the building. Unfortunately, the cathedral was closed during our visit so we could not view the interior.

Our second stop was at the Fontana Arethusa, a natural fresh water pool where legend has it the nymph Arethusa took refuge when she was being pursued by Alpheus. It is not a fountain in the traditional sense with water gushing from a stone and concrete monolith. Rather, it is the opening where an underground spring/river surfaces. The pool, formed by manmade walls, is directly adjacent to the sea and empties into it, forming an estuary-like environment complete with a large stand of papyrus (reputed to be the northernmost papyrus) and a cotillion of ducks. The original inhabitants believed that the water flowed underground all the way from Greece. I’m not sure how they would have determined that, perhaps a message in a bottle dropped down a specific well in the motherland. While the water was originally pure and fresh, seismic activity at some point created a connection with salt water so that now the water which issues forth is somewhat brackish.

Siracusa

Sicily is basically triangular. The ancient city of Siracusa lies very near the southernmost vertex at the intersection of many important trade routes across the Mediterranean Sea. Siracusa, like all of Sicily, has seen many different rulers. If there was a group that came to Sicily then they either took control of Siracusa or at least tried to. Siracusa was founded by the Corinthians and some of the earliest remaining remnants are from that Greek period.

The archeological area includes a large altar platform and the remains of a Greek theater.

Above the theater a small waterfall cascades out of the opening formed by an ancient aqueduct.

I always find it fascinating when I come upon ancient wheel ruts carved out of stone. The ones seen below are easily a foot deep. So deep, in fact, that it might have even caused trouble for carts with lower axles. Imagine how many carts it would take rolling aver the ground to cut that kind of path through the stone.

Siracusa was involved in many conflicts, choosing allies one moment and switching allegiances whenever it benefitted them. Following one major battle against Athens, thousands of Athenian prisoners were held in awful conditions in an old quarry next to the ancient sites. One famous place within the quarry is called the Orecchio di Dionisio or Ear of Dionysius. The acoustics within the chamber are so good that legend has it the captors spied on their prisoners by listening at an opening high up in the vault. To put things in perspective, the opening to the cave shown below is easily 50 feet high.

The Greeks were not the only group to leave their mark on the city. Nearby the Greek theater are the ruins of a small Roman amphitheater. It is nowhere near as well preserved as the Colosseum in Rome, but at least nobody built over the top of it in modern times so you can see the entire outline. I was disappointed to note that you can no longer wander down into the main part of the ruins as you could when Amy and I first visited Sicily in 1996.

Pupi

While pronounced the same way as what babies do in their diapers, pupi are actually marionette-like puppets. The art of making and using these puppets used to be a widespread art-form throughout the region of Sicily near Catania, but it is now dying. Only a few people continue the traditional way of producing and using the puppets. We spent our evening outside Catania in Acireale at the Opera dei Pupi Turi Grasso. All of the puppets are built by Turi Grasso, the pupi master, and costumed by his wife. The master himself narrated the action while two of his sons and a third person manipulated the puppets. Other family members are included in the business, but were not present for our visit.

After a brief introduction to the art of puppet making we saw a production of the Legend of Roland. The historical figure Roland was a general under Charlemagne who died defending the rearguard against the Basques at the Battle of Roncesvalles. The legend is something else which involved lots of manipulation, backstabbing and fighting scenes. Stomping noises from wooden blocks attached to the puppeteer’s feet provided the sound effects as swords clashed against shields and puppets hurled themselves against each other from opposite sides of the stage. There were some nifty special effects including one puppet whose head split in two and a bloody eruption from the throat of another. The show lasted over an hour with a brief intermission so that they could pick up all the slain puppets in preparation for the final death scene.  Interestingly, only one puppet in the entire production was female, Angelica. For better or worse, the entire evening was done in Italian so I didn't get as much out of it as I might have otherwise.

Catania

Our first stop in Catania was the Centro Storico, or old center. There we found an inviting main square, complete with obligatory fountain and church dedicated to the patron saint of the city. We also found SUN! Below are pictures of the duomo and fountain in the main square.

Lunch was a wonderful experience. A group of us headed into the local fish market, pooled our resources and selected a variety of goods from among the offerings. In truth, the stores around the edge made it more than just a fish market. Fresh fruit, cheese, sausage, etc. made for a delicious repast. There was a huge variety of fishy things available: Squid, swordfish, a live octopus and insect-like crawly things were all spotted along the way.

If you didn’t want fish, how about half a goat – cut laterally right down the middle. Ummm, yummy brains.

There was also a purple cauliflower thing which we were told was really tasty, but we didn’t have any on the trip and carrying one home wasn’t really a viable option.

Finally, we headed a quarter mile down the road to the first of what would be MANY ruins, in this case the remains of a Roman era amphitheater.

Naples and Beyond

Our trip to Sicily began in with a late start in snowy Viterbo. Rather than rushing out through the frozen slush, we postponed our departure until a more civilized 11 AM when we boarded the bus and headed for Naples. The delayed start meant we didn’t do much in Naples beyond drive around for a quick tour and then head to the waterfront to board the ferry. Below is a picture of the Bay of Naples from an overlook above town. In the background is the island of Capri.

Our boat was a combination passenger and cargo ship with the cargo in the form of tractor-trailers which were backed onto the ship. The two lowest decks were reserved for cargo, with two upper decks for passengers. Sicily is not a hot tourist destination at this time of year. In fact, it is just coming out of the lowest depth of the off season. Thus, our group of 66 were essentially the only passengers other than the truck drivers who mostly camped out overnight in chairs in the lounge. Below is a shot of the check-in lounge and the trucks on deck.

Our room was a typical cabin. It could sleep up to four, but we were two, leaving it less cramped than it might have been. We had our own private bath with shower and the beds were not bunked.

After a restful night on relatively calm seas we awoke to a perspective of Mount Etna which is only available from the water. Etna is some 3300 m or 10,000 feet tall and recent weather conditions meant there was snow cover on well over half of the mountain. It is also an active volcano. The black splotch high up on the right side of the mountain in the picture below is lava from a very recent eruption. The residual warmth of the cooling lava kept snow from accumulating on top of it. Most of the time the activity is far up the mountain where it doesn’t bother anybody. Sometimes it creeps down to the level where people have built unsanctioned buildings and takes them out which makes the local authorities happy. Other times it threatens actual cities and towns causing cries of outrage that the government isn’t doing anything about it. Come on people – it’s a VOLCANO! It will erupt.

We made port in Catania, shortly after breakfast and were met by our bus for the stay.

Off on Vacation

Well, sort of. We are headed off on a 10-day trip with the school to Sicily. The students travel within Italy as part of their program and we get to tag along as chaperones. Minimal work and everything is covered, right down to meals. But, we do have to hang out with 59 teenagers. I actually like most of them, so it could be worse. I figure I can announce this since anybody reading it is 3000 miles away and unlikely to want to break into our apartment to steal the single suitcase of clothing which we are each leaving behind.

Anyway, I have no idea what internet access will be like and will not be bringing my laptop so I don't plan to post until our return. By then I should have plenty to write about, assuming I can remember it all! I will take lots of pictures.

Snow Apocalypse

It's been a slow week. Nothing much happening, but I apologize for not posting sooner. The 3-4 inches of snow we had last week shut down the city until this Wednesday when the Mayor of Viterbo finally allowed schools to reopen. It was fun watching the Viterbese wander the streets in awe of all the snow, dressed in their ski suits. But by the time it was over I was really ready to get back to work. We had two good days of classes and then yesterday, lightning struck for the third time. The first storm was a typical one, the next storm was the storm of a generation, yesterday was the storm of a lifetime. We got 12-14 inches across slightly less than 24 hours. The city is at a complete standstill and probably will be for a week or more. Where before people were amused and happy, now the look is one of shock. The army was called out to help dig out from the last one. How can you go up from there? It isn't as though Italy doesn't get snow. They hosted the WINTER olympics in 2006. It is just that this part of the country seldom sees much in the way of winter. People have been living in Viterbo for several thousand years, so to say that this has never happened before is probably far fetched.

I'm not terribly impressed by a foot of snow. Remember, last year at this time we had just finished up a 5 week run in Springfield which saw 5+ feet of snow. However, I took a walk around this morning and took some pictures to record the event. Those of you who have been regularly following our posts can compare with what you saw before. The few of you who have visited can compare the pictures to your memories.

The view of the garden area behind us from the kitchen window.

A palmetto. Remember, while it may not be tropical, palm trees do grow here and not just potted palms you bring in every fall.

Via Vetulonia looking in from the main road, Via Garibaldi. There is a person almost in the middle of the picture. The white blobs next to him are cars, illegally parked on our street.

Fontana Grande. It hasn't been working for months now, but the other fountains in town are all frozen over.

An interesting side note. While walking I saw a city garbage truck turn off the semi-passable main road into a side street. It got stuck about 20 meters down the road, of course, and ended up backing out. While doing so, it backed into a parked car, pulled forward, backed into the same car again, then drove away without a moment of hesitation. Hence my decision to check on our car, parked in the lot outside the walls near Porta Romana.

Portions of the walls are lit at night. Below is one of those lights which kept clear a hole through the snow as it fell.

Porta della Verita.

Via Vetulonia, looking the other direction. The high wall further up the street is the wall you can see from our bedroom window. Keep in mind, this is a fairly well traveled road. There is a whole maze of one-way streets which ultimately empty into our street and are directed out of the city. This is not a good sign that traffic will be flowing smoothly anytime soon.

I can't imagine the Italians having school for at least a week, especially with a few more centimeters forecast for the middle of the week. All of that would be wonderful except that the school is supposed to be traveling for a 10-day trip to Sicily beginning on Monday. Right now it would appear that trip, at least the beginning date, is in some doubt.

Colpo della Strega

A week ago Amy stood up and, in the process, injured her back. Don't worry. Her condition is improving rapidly and it is NOT a repeat of the spine problems she dealt with as she was leaving Derryfield a decade ago. However, it highlights both the similarities and differences in medical care between Italy and the US. She initially self-treated with anti-inflamatories, heat and rest. However, on Wednesday she mentioned her condition to the head of the school as we were standing around in the process of cancelling classes for the day and he took her under his wing to visit the physical therapist he has been working with to help with his back after he fell out of an olive tree. This doctor has done extensive work with Italian olympic teams over the past 20+ years and recently worked with their Davis Cup team. His office is conveniently located a few blocks away outside the city walls. Amy had no appointment, walked in and was seen within minutes. She was sent back to her primary care physician who gave her the requested referral for an x-ray then went to the private hospital nearby where it was taken. All within a few hours on the same afternoon. Keep in mind, this wasn't an emergency room visit, just routine care without any advance appointments. On Thursday afternoon I walked to the hospital, got her films and then we went back to the physical therapist who agreed he would work on her after she got an official referral from her primary care physician. His office was a block away and we had the referral within a few minutes. The next step is the first treatment and massage with the physical therapist on Monday. Total out of pocket expenses to date? 35 euros for the private x-ray. Even that would have been free if Amy had gone to the public hospital and waited longer. Everything else was paid for by the public medical establishment. Even there, we can actually apply for reimbursement for that from our private insurace company, but the paperwork hassle is such that we will let it ride unless the bills pile up later.

So why the title? Unlike in the US where any technician doing a test is as tight lipped as a clam and will seldom say an unnecessary word let alone offer an opinion, the technician who took Amy's x-ray offered the unsolicited diagnosis that it was a soft tissue issue which he referred to as "colpo della strega". This translates literally as "hit of the witch". I guess that is as good an explanation as any as to what happened to Amy!

Dressing for the Season

Italians have an outfit for everything. Some, like athletic clothes, are obvious. Even having a different outfit for different activities, i.e. cycling vs. running, isn't that unusual. However, the conventions do seem a bit rigid. If you are cycling then you ARE wearing a cycling outfit, no exceptions. You would never wear running shorts to cycle or sweat pants just to walk around in comfortably. Further, Italians dress by the calendar, not by the weather. On September 21st, during some of the hottest weather we had, the fall colors and styles came out. As of December 21st, every Italian in his/her right mind shrugged into their down jacket, wrapped a heavy scarf around their throat and pulled on their hat and gloves. It didn't matter that the temperature was pushing 60's on some days and was, regrettably, warmer than we heat our house to in Massachusetts. I guess they like to sweat in the name of fashion. One curious result of this obsession is that you can't look out the window and judge what you should be wearing by what you see on the street. If you dressed by what you saw you would be stifling hot. I know, I fell for it a couple of times. Now that we are half way through "winter" the end of the season sales are being held. All winter clothing is at least half off, even during this, the coldest stretch of weather we have yet had. After all, it will be spring soon and the stores must be selling spring clothes now so that you can walk out the door on March 21st properly dressed for the season. Until then, you can walk down the sidewalk dressed in your jacket, scarf, mittens and hat, talking to yourself and gesticulating wildly while drooling and nobody will look twice. However, walk around in shorts after going for a run and you are likely to be shunned as a lunatic.

All of this brings us to the last few days. An inch of snow on Wednesday morning closed the school and paralyzed the city, but was gone by noon. That was just the warm up. Snow fell all day on Friday resulting in a canceled school trip to Rome. The 4 inches of snow which fell was the storm of a generation for the Viterbese who have not had this much snow on the ground in over two decades. Snow fell in Rome, covering the ruins and providing unique picture taking opportunities if you were already there. However, no trains were running so you couldn't get there otherwise. On Saturday afternoon school was canceled for Monday, at the request of the city, with the possiblity of cancellation on Tuesday as well. I didn't bother with pictures. I have lived in buildings with 6 FEET of snow on the roof. A few inches just doesn't do it for me. The big question then becomes, what do Italians wear when it snows? Why, brightly colored snow suits and big down filled boots, of course! These are size sensitive items and, as I just indicated, this 4 inches of white stuff is a once in a lifetime snow event. Do Italians go out every fall and purchase a snow suit, just in case? I wouldn't put it past them. Hopefully, these are just their "skiing" clothes, pulled out for (gasp) double use. It remains a mystery.

White Stuff

The last week has seen a shift to colder than normal temperatures, contrasting sharply with what has been an exceptionally mild winter. The weather forecasts have even gone so far as to predict snow on several occasions. However, last night when we checked for the final time it mentioned only light rain. So it was an unexpected treat when I awoke this morning for my 6 AM, 5K walk around the city walls to discover snow! Apparently it was just cold enough above us for the light rain which had been falling to transition to a coating of heavy, wet snow.

I was simultaneously cheerful, yet sad as I made my way through the flakes in the pre-dawn darkness. Cheerful since I must admit to enjoying a little snow and the cycle of the seasons. Sad because it reminded me of the tradition I carried on for 15 years of either a run or a walk through the first snow with my Siberian Husky, Joule. Snow is transformative. It mutes the sounds and takes the edge off the hard, dark stone which defines the historic center of Viterbo. Below is a picture of the garden area behind our house, shrouded in a 1" deep layer of snow.

The other side of snow is whether or not there will be school. Conditions weren't really awful, so the decision was made to have school. However, by the time classes were to start it became evident that it just wasn't happening and the dozen or so students who made it in were sent home midway through first period.  In central and southern Italy there are no provisions for dealing with snow. They don't plow, salt or sand. When it snows it is just expected that things will grind to a halt. It is a bit annoying, to say the least, since as I write it is well above freezing, there is rain falling, the snow has become slush and it will all be gone before noon. Oh yes, the Mayor of Viterbo has already canceled school not just for today but for tomorrow as well! I fully expect that we will have school tomorrow even if the city doesn't. Finally, unlike school in the US, our school has a finite end date which can't be moved so we will not be making up any days we miss!