fine wines and long nights

I just finished a day in Montepulciano where I sampled some Rosso, Vino Nobile and Brunello as well as Vin Santo, Grappa and the rest of the works. It was quiet and sleepy like all of Italia in the off-season. But the weather was beautiful again.

I'm in for some long days of travel. Tonight/tomorrow I head to Milano then Brescia (which is the closest city of any size to Salò). Then I leave the next morning to celebrate Karneval in Cologne. And back a few days later to move in and start work. It will be nice to have a place to call home and not live my life out of a backpack.

But tonight, it's Juve v. Inter in the quarters for the Coppa Italia. FORZA LA JUVE!!!

did i mention the catacombs??

They're in Palermo... and creepy. Here are the wonderful virgins:

art in the city

Just like a million other places in Italy, San Gimignano is known for its well-preserved medieval center full of narrow, winding streets, authentic boutiques, enotecas, and of course art and architecture. 14 medieval towers rise from various buildings within the town’s walls and statues, wells, frescos, and other pieces of medieval and Renaissance art dot the small village.

But San Gimignano has something I’ve rarely seen in Italy, let alone in a tiny town of just over 7,000. There are quite a few modern art pieces tastefully placed throughout the city.

This piece by Luciano Fabro (L’Italia all’asta) hangs off the side of theinner courtyard at the Palazzo Comunale or town hall. Another huge installation of a steel beam and metal sphere balances on the remains of the fortress walls. And most amazingly, this one is actually on the façade of the Chiesa di Sant’Agostino.


Nowhere else in Italy have I seen a town so openly embrace modern art. And blend it so well and beautifully, and a little discretely, among the rest of the ancient city. I have never heard of suspending a modern art piece on the outside walls of a courtyard filled with ancient frescos.

There is also a small modern art museum filled with local artist (who I’ve never heard of) but I really enjoyed it. Apparently the town of San Gimignano had quite a legacy with a few of these artists which in turn attracted their artist friends creating a decent collection. And this paved the way for modern installations placed around the city in 1994.

After all that I helped celebrate Carnevale with the bambini.

siena

Probably my favorite place in the world. The weather is gorgeous. The facade of the Duomo is uncovered to reveal all its glory and splendor. I met up with some old Italian friends (one of which I'm staying with) and some new Americans in the study abroad program here. I'm showing a few around Siena to all my favorite places.

Charlie's Pizza. San Paolo. Chianti Classico. SOBS.

Everything amazing that exists here. I saw Silvia, my old site director, and her new baby girl. I bought some absolute necessities from the Kappa store... all of which were an amazing deal. And besides, I'm not paying for a room for like 4 nights so it's pretty much like those things bought themselves and just showed up in my hands.

And yes, I finally broke down and I know have a cell phone. Without which, much of the aforementioned meetings with old and new friends could not of happened. Country code 39 and number 339 466 5257. You figure out the rest from where ever you are.

I'm staying away from the Tavernello this time around but Il Campo is just as amazing as ever. I could spend another 4 to 20 months here. More favorite spots to visit... bars, cafès, restaurants, pizzerias, sites, buildings, monuments, people, vino.

And I even visited my old house... now inhabited by 4 girls in the program. The TV still gets CNN and BBC World (I hadn't heard English news in weeks) and of course MTV and AllMusic plus EuroSport and Daffy Duck cartoons. My old dictionary was on the shelf with the rest of the books. It still works.

simply stunning

Taormina is one of the most amazing places I have ever been in my life. The Greek theater here is the most spectacular single thing I have ever seen. It sits on a natural terrace above the sea. Looking west you see snow-covered Mt. Etna and the ocean. To the east is mainland Italia. And you're sitting right in the middle of an ancient Greek theater from the 3rd century BC.

In my opinion, it is more impressive than the Colosseum in Roma or just about anything else I've ever seen. The natural, dramatic background of glistening blue and green ocean, the even brighter blue sky, and the white snow of Europe's largest active volcano... it is just beyond words. I spent a couple hours just sitting in the theater and of course, the sky was cloudless and the sun so bright and directly in my face that it ruined just about every photo I took. Oh well, you really just have to see it for yourself.

Today I hiked up 5 km or so of hillside to view the valley and city from above. Sitting inside a ruined medieval castle in Castelmola I could see a panoramic view of everything in the area. The weather has been gorgeous and sunny, and it is off-season so I am practically alone in all of these stunning places. I sat up there and read for hours before hiking down.

I'm back to mainland Italia tomorrow, and I don't think I'm ready for any cold weather or rain. It is almost to surreal to think that it is the middle of winter, and today I wished that I had a pair of shorts.

street food

I ate some pretty weird food from street vendors today. I started with a panino filled what I was told was "salsiccia." But I'm pretty sure it was "pani cu'la mensa" or sautèed beef spleen with red onions, which were sprinkled with salt and doused in lemon juice.

Following that I tried some kind of potato and herb patty that was deep-fried and then put in a panino bun along with hot sauce, lettuce and other veggies. That was accompanied by a crappy Italian beer with a fake German name and inscription. FORST: Spezialbier-Brauerei. It came in a bottle the size of my head and with two tiny, Dixie-sized plastic glasses. I shared it with the non-sense babbling, occasionally yelling Palermitano grandpa who continually hung around the stand and smoked cigarettes. Each of these items costs me a staggering 1,50 €... and each was filling and delicious.

Speaking of Italian deleciaties, the wine bar served me appetizers last night that included common things like pizzettas (mini-pizzas), small prosciutto and cheese sandwiches, chips, peanuts and of course wurstel (really just a plain hot dog) in a roll. Italiano autentico.

And tomorrow I'll be surrounded by pink shirts and flags watching Palermo (most likely) soundly defeat Siena. It's okay though because Siena's team is terrible and facing relegation, just like they are every season. I'll be in the curva.

agrigento

Today I stumbled through even more impressive Greek ruins... huge temples, altars and ruins that rival the size of the Parthenon or others in Greece or Turkey. One of them was almost completely intact... utterly amazing. It's called La Valle dei Templi (The Valley of the Temples) but it actually rests on top of the hill large hill that looks out to the southern Mediterranean Sea. I stuck around until sunset so I could get some pictures of the temples atmospherically lit up at night.

Tomorrow I'm off Palermo and then back along the northern and eastern coasts of Sicilia before heading back to the mainland.

greek theaters and volcanos

Finally some visuals!!! Today I hiked around the Greek ruins of Siracusa and saw some amazing stuff. Besides the above theater, there was a massive quarry where they extracted their stones and in turn created some huge grottoes and catacombs where they held prisoners. One of them was so big it was surreal to think that they could've done that in the 5th century BC let alone today.

This is from the inside of the Orecchio di Dionigi (Dionysus's ear) where it went back around a corner into complete darkness.

Here's a link to a brief film of Stromboli erupting. It erupts every 20 to 30 minutes, sometimes quite large while other times the lava just trickles out over the edge of the crater. The big eruptions were preceded by a huge grumble from inside the mountain and then the lava shot into the air. This film really doesn't do it justice... you just gotta go there to experience it yourself.

I'm off to Noto tomorrow and then on to Agrigento before heading back up north to Palermo. More photos to come... eventually. Ciao a tutti!

what i did today...

Celebrated about this. But seriously, there's no way you could ever find American football in Italia. I was in Catania last night as they drew 1-1 with Juventus to my chagrin.

I'm now in Siracusa, Sicilia by the ocean and will check out the massive Greek ruins just minutes away. The weather is amazing as usual (although it did rain quite hard last night for pretty much the first time since I've been traveling). Ciao ragazzi.

where have i been?!?!?

After New Years and a few days in Roma, I traveled south to Atrani on the Amalfi coast. It actually just walking distance from the city of Amalfi, but it's smaller and quiter and less touristy... and amazing. A few days on the coast there and then I headed for Sicilia. Got on a train that headed south where the train got on a boat and went across the ocean and then the train got off and continued on across northern Sicilia.

I got off in Milazzo and got on a boat the next morning for the Aeolian Islands. I stayed in Lìpari, hiked down to the crater of a volcano on Vulcano, and saw another volcano on Stromboli spew lava in the pitch black darkness of the night sky... absolutely amazing and terrifying all at once... especially as you could hear it growl from inside the earth as it shot lava into the air.

Now I'm in Catania, back on mainland Sicilia, and will be here for another day before I head further south to Siracusa. Having a blast as the weather has been gorgeous the entire time... but I think it might rain for the first time tomorrow. Spero di no... ciao ragazzi. Ci sentiamo.