MEMORIES OF MY 4 WEEKS IN MARSALA- NEXT IS TUSCANY

My good friends Giovanni and his son Dario - oh and the other guy is me

The final dinner at a place called SHIU SHIU which is known for grilled meats

You can see there are no rules on the roads in Sicily - people park in the direction that suits them!!

LA MIA CASA

Why plant any tree in the streets of Sicily - better to plant an orange tree which bears fruit

And the children can pick their snacks from the trees during recess!!!!

Passeggiata - as it is called in Italy - the walk or stroll through town. Marsala - a beautiful town with the sea in the background.

Meatball on wheels - gas runs about $9.00 a gallon and thus the reason for small cars - BUT this is taking it to far!!

In the USA I try to walk one hour a day - here is the view of my walk around Marsala for my daily routine

Beautiful architecture in the center of town

Chiesa Madre- literally means The Mother Church of town

George who every day filled the streets with his beautiful music  - Bellissimo

Typical shot of men congregating and talking

Passeggiata -Women walking arm in arm

Passeggiata -And its also common for men to walk arm in arm

Mercato di pesce - Fish market  -note the eel like creatures on top

MUSEO degli ARAZZI (TAPESTRY MUSEUM)

These exquisite tapestries depict such scenes as the capture of Jerusalem and the war fought by Titus against the Jews in a.d. 66. The tapestries are kept  in darkened rooms to avoid damage. Below you can read the history of the tapestries. They are so detailed you would think they were paintings.  You can get a better feel for the detailing if you double click on one of the pictures, then you can scroll through them at the bottom of the page.

  

Some close up shots of the tapestries

ERICE AND ITS WORLD OF PROSTITUTION

ERICE - Welcome to la citta - beautiful archways and a town of narrow cobblestone streets. Erice is surrounded by Elymian Punic walls laid out by the Eymians around 1200 B.C.!!!!! It is a lovely place to spend a day taking in the incomparable views. On a clear day they say you can see west to the Egadi Islands, east to Mt Etna and south to Africa glimpsing towards Tunsia. The cool cloud that descends on the city is known as the "Veil of Venus" because Erice's highest point, the Castello di Venere ( Castle of Venus) is where the temple of the Roman goddess of love once stood and seeing the city's towers and craggy rocks shrouded in a hazy blanket of gray is quite magical. 

THE WORLDS OLDEST PROFESSION, SANCTIFIED -Besides conquering the world, the Romans were known for all sorts of debaucheries. As they worshiped the goddess Venus from the temple, Romans flocked to the temple to offer young girls as holy slaves to the temple in gratitude of fulfilled vows. Barely pubescent, these girls underwent boot camp in the art of all things physically pleasurable. When their stances of holy slaves ended at the ripe age of 21, their careers and reputations where far from tarnished. Not only did they retire with a princely sum of money, they were the most desired bachelorettes in town. And like Venus they were not stick thin: A diet of milk and honey added to their voluptuous allure.

 

 

    

Chiesa Matrice and the campanile (bell tower )

View from Castello Pepoli

View from the city gardens

Scenery from the cable car which takes you up 2400 feet to Erice

Typical narrow street but I want to know who laid down all these stones??

Another finely crafted archway.

With Erice lurking above the clouds "The famous Veil of Venus"  rolls in as the sun sets.

Night time in la citta

Piazza Umberto  - no, there were no Umberto's Pizzerias here!!

SELINUNTE, SALT MARSHES AND SEGESTA - Sicily has tremendous historic value

SELINUNTE - These Doric temples are so ancient that they are referred to by letter. This is Temple E which was dedicated to Juno. Built around 485 b.c. it has a staggering 68 columns. The area  looks out to the sea and strolling along the various ruins it's easy to gain an impression of how large and important the city Selinunte was at its height before Hannibal destroyed it in 409 b.c.

Looking across from Temple E you can see the Acropolis which is enclosed within defensive walls and was built from the 6 th century b.c. to the 5 th centruy b.c. The Acropolis was the site of the most important public and religious buildings, and was also the residence of the town's aristocrats. The temple in the background was built in 6th century b.c. and was probably dedicated to Hercules or Apollo.

You can see the outlines of  stores that once existed in the town. Maybe this was a real estate office :-) since the land overlooked the sea!!!

SALT MARSHES - an interesting business  just outside of Marsala is the harvesting of salt. When the Carthaginians first landed in the area they understood the favorable natural and metorological conditions offered and set about to create basins from which to harvest salt. Exploiting the high level of salinity in the seawater and the wind and sun that contribute to the evaporation process, water is pumped into pans. Over several months the water is left to evaporate  and reaches a sluggish consistency. The salt is then raked and harvested. Once completely dry the salt is cleaned and packed. The history and technique has been preserved for centuries. These salt pans have been in use since antiquity and the windmills used to harvest it are centuries old. If you double click on the picture you can see several windmills in the background.

SEGESTA - Tempio di Segesta is a single amazing temple in a lonely field. Although half the size of Selinunte it is one of the best preserved ancient Doric temples in the world and the only freestanding limestone temple in all of Sicily which was built in the 5th centruy b.c. The temples rural setting also means this is a very pretty spot. The temple is part of the ruined city of Segesta. You can see the valley on the far right,

The view from Tempo di Segesta.

MARSALA IN MARSALA - for all of OENOPHILES

THE TASTING ROOM - it was as elegant as it looks here.

Cantine Florio- The Florio name remains one of the largest and most recognizable in Marsala wine production. This wealthy family also owned one of the first tuna canneries of the Egadi Islands, as well as a large fishing vessel that was one of the first to take tuna from Marsala across the Atlantic to New York.

Our tour guide stands in front of a barrel which contains 16,000 liters of Marsala wine!! Here you have a look at the actual wine cellars that  are  lined with limestone floors which is a natural way to absorb humidity from the air.

We were given 3 types of Marsala wine. They varied in ages from a 15 year old  dry wine  to a 6 year old semi dry  and the sweetest being 2 years old. The strongest wine on the left was tasted with a piece of parmigiana cheese, the second with gorgonzola cheese on toast and lastly the one that Americans are familiar (which is sweetest and youngest ), with a piece of biscotti.

The tour ends with the latest and newly designed show room. Bellissimo.

PALERMO

Teatro Massimo - is an iconic Palermo landmark. This grand neoclassical opera house took over 20 years to build. The closing scene of The Godfather III  was filmed here.

Chiesa Capitalare di San Cataldo - This 12 th century church in Arab- Norman style is one of Palermo's most striking buildings.

Fontana Pretoria - this central attraction is  a huge and ornate fountain which has flagrant nudity of provocative nymphs which the next door church prudishly dubbed it the Fountain of Shame.

Restaurant " Bye Bye Blues"  despite its name it serves very traditional Sicilian Food.  I had a rolled up white fish stuffed with breadcrumbs, pine nuts and zest from both an orange and lemon to give it a refreshing taste.

For dessert I had pineapple carpaccio with a lemon cream on top. Delizioso !!!

Palazzo dei Normanni/Cappella Palatina - Here Frederick II founded the Schola Poetica Siciliana, which marked the birth of Italian literature. The foundations of the palace date back to the Punic times in the 8th centruy b.c.. In the 9th century the Arabs built the palace for their emirs, and later under Norman domination it was eventually named Norman Palace.

Cappella Palatina - represents the pinnacle of Arab- Norman collective genius and was built by Roger II in 1135. Intended as his private house of worship, the church is dedicated to St Peter and is adorned with  Byzantine mosaics.

The royal coach.

Salon d'Ercole - one flight up are the Royal Apartments. This is currently the chamber of the Sicilian parliament.