Photos from my favourite places.

Some places I always enjoyed at Christmas, of course Rome, Belleza Aeterna, Palermo, Sicily such charm and faded elegance, Berlin a re-born Capital. What did I enjoy, well the food, the atmosphere, often quiet in the city and neighbourhoods, the parks and the wintery flowers, the brisk air, the weather and the pleasure of walking in a city with beautiful sights. The people and the little courtesies of the Season and all the traditions which makes Europe special.

 Fireworks seen from the Tiber River, Rome. The Fireworks are on top of the Janiculum Hill. 

Pariser Platz, Berlin at the Brandenburg Gate

Teatro Massimo, Palermo, Sicily, one of the largest Opera house in the world

Warsaw old Town at the Royal Palace.

 Ottawa Christmas lights by the Rideau Canal

The Old Teacher's College on Elgin Street

Our Mayor Jim Watson, serving lunch at the Ottawa Mission, a great guy!

Garibaldi Memorial on the Janiculum Hill in Rome in the snow

For those of you who think it never snows in the Eternal City.

May you all have a wonderful Christmas wherever you may be.

The final hymn '' Puer Nobis Nascitur'' of the Lutheran Christmas Morning Mass of 1620 in Germany, by Michael Praetorius 

Lampedusa and chicken dumpling soup

Now I am sure you wonder what on earth has the Prince of Lampedusa and chicken dumpling soup in common.  Well this week in Ottawa has been terribly, unseasonably cold, nights near the freezing point and day times full of cold late fall sunshine, a certain crispiness in the air. But wait we have not arrive at the end of Summer yet that only happens after the 21 September. Well if truth be told we have not had much of a Summertime at all this year. It has been cool not hot and many days it was rather cold. So now all too soon it is Autumn, the pumpkins are out ''en force'',  so today I found a new translation of the book of Prince Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa entitled The professor and the Siren. Lampedusa a nobleman of Palermo, Sicily who wrote the famous book The Leopard which then became a famous movie with Burt Lancaster. I have never heard of the Professor and the Siren and am looking forward to reading it. It will remind me of the more temperate and warmer climes of Sicily, a place one should visit and appreciate for its beauty and very rich culture. I am very happy that we had the good fortune to visit the island by car a few years ago. What a treasure trove it was and how unknown it is to most people, maybe it is better this way, it will not be spoiled by mass tourism.

Of course the cold weather has also ignited my interests in winter dishes and in soups and other hearty meals. Will has started making dishes in the crock pot, one being his Bolognese meat sauce which is rich and unctuous. Today I discovered this recipe for Chicken dumpling soup, very easy to make and just the thing to keep you warm on those cold days. I also want to make Parmesan Biscuits, another easy recipe or Pasta al Forno which is easier to make than most think. Will has already made a very good vegetable lasagna.  Because they are still in Season barely, how about Watermelon pudding with Pistachio.

Just thinking that Nicky and Nora enjoy going out now but come Winter with ice and snow, they will not like it so much, with boots and coats to keep warm.  How I am not looking forward to it at all.

So no there is no link between Lampedusa and cooking, but it was just an easy association I made on this chilly evening.

Some nice Italian Christmas music

This video on Youtube shows European scenes at Christmas. You may recognize the Cities, Rome, Warsaw, Milan, Palermo, villages in the Dolomites and the Alps.

Enjoy!

Palermo, Massimo Opera House, French Tourists and R.C.Church

We got up late this Sunday morning, I am more tired than I imagined, I was telling Will that I feel jet lagged as if I just returned from a 20 hour flight from the Far East.

Been sleeping a lot, taking naps in the afternoon, just trying to decompress. Palermo is lovely as always, the wealth of history and tradition, the fine wines and food and the people gives the impression that you are in South America or Spain but not Italy. Sicily or Sicilians like to say that they are Sicilians and not Italians, the island joined Italy in 1860 it was ruled previously by the Spanish Bourbon Royal Family, same family who rules Spain, the colours of Palermo and Sicily are yellow and red, Spain’s colours. Today we went walking and in front of the Politeama Garibaldi theatre there were lots of people and some police officers, this being Mother’s Day lots of flower vendors. I looked around and the mix of architecture, people and uniforms and I thought I could be in Santiago Chile, Buenos Aires or Madrid but not Italy. By the museum of Archeology and the Church of Santa Maria All’Olivella, the S.S. Crocifisso ( a confraternity of the the Holy Cross has erected giant light displays spanning the piazza and streets around the neighborhood, very Mexican, it was put up for Easter and it lends a very festive air. 

Palermo also seems to have a lot of French tourists, the Normands ruled here with the Counts of Anjou for centuries and St-Louis is buried or parts of him are, believe his entrails, are entombed in the great Cathedral Mausoleum of Monreale. They as tourists are very funny especially if you understand the conversations. Yesterday these 3 people, a husband and wife and another female friend had a 20 minute discussion on what drinks to order. First lady wanted an espresso, husband wanted a beer, a blond beer not a dark beer and he wanted it on tap not in a bottle, his wife first wanted a freshly squeezed lemon juice, which is easy enough but then decided against it for no apparent reasons and then went on to ask for a mineral water but flat not with bubbles and went on to explain in French with that annoying and condescending tone to the waiter who only spoke Italian why she was ordering flat mineral water. She then picked a fight with the other lady because she wanted to sit in the sun next to her and not in the shade. We were then entertained at lunch by a French family, dad, mom and 3 kids, the eldest was probably around 13 or 14, the ungrateful age, the other child a boy was about 7 years old and the other girl around 5. Mom decided to look at the menu and order for the family, all the while going through her guide book for explanations on what the dishes were, she wanted to order only typical Sicilian dishes and needed her guide book to confirm what was typical, the waiter of course could not do that because he did not have the gravitas of a guide book. She then went on to order and also convince her oldest daughter that she would love the food, just trust me she said, it would not be like the food at a friend’s house they had recently which was apparently not very good. Dad only wanted to order a large bottle of red wine. Mom only wanted a glass, he insisted on a large bottle, I wonder why. Was she driving him to drink? I can just imagine her husband thinking, why did I ever decide I needed a wife and 3 kids on a vacation.

The Massimo Opera house is of course featured in the movie the Godfather 3, it’s a huge opera house built at a time when the King of Italy was still trying to convince the Sicilians what a good deal they had in joining Italy.

So no expenses were spared in building this great theatre and it is beautiful with good acoustics. We saw the Greek Passion by Czech composer Martinu, a powerful piece of music, it really does not leave you indifferent. The message of the opera and its connection to modern Greek history and the current refugee crisis in Southern Europe due to the upheaval in Arab countries is fascinating. The passion of course is the story of Christ but set in a Greek village around 1900, involving the powerful Village priest and the village people, the wealthy and a group of Greeks fleeing Turkish oppression. The set is spectacular and apparently several opera houses are looking at buying this production. Martinu died in 1959 and he composed this opera at a time when he would have been influenced by events in Europe. A great work in a beautiful opera house.

Afterwards we went to dinner and then took a stroll down the street passing in front of the Massimo and came face to face with a religious procession at 10 pm.

The traffic was snarled but no one honked their horns, this was a church procession with priests and banners and a marching band. Sicilians can be very respectful of such things and everyone knows how to behave, it was like a scene out of the 1930’s.

Sicily is a fascinating place.   

  

From Rome to Sicily on the M.C. Splendid

Our ferry is owned by the Grandi Navi company of Genoa. The Splendid is far from that, it must have been 10 years ago or more a very nice ferry but today it looks tired and needs refurbishment or replacement all together, maybe this ferry is coming to the end of its life, in other words it is grotty looking, this is not ferry season yet, it is still considered low winter season. The SNAV ferry company which has much newer ferries does not operate passenger service until end of May. Grimaldi Lines is also another with higher standards.

Our ferry can carry up to 2300 cars and 25 large long haul trucks (18 wheelers). It has or had a casino, a night club, several bars, cafeteria and a dining room plus pool, gymnasium and conference rooms, cinema etc. Though most of the attractions on board are either closed or paired down to the essential. It does the liaison between Rome Civitavechia, Palermo and Tunis.

We do have a fair number of Arab passengers with tons of personal belongings.

I can recognize their Magreb accented Arabic when they speak. Most are poor labourers and their families who are guests workers in Italy, they make about 1000 euros per month or $1300 USD, an average wage. Few people realize that in Italy any salary above 1600 euros per month is considered a good wage, that’s about $1900 dollars. Compared to a North American salary that would appear low but it is not. Did you know that in Italy the Director of any large important museum housing world heritage treasures makes no more than about $2000 dollars per month.

Civitavechia is the Port of Rome, it is about 60 Km from Rome itself and is reached by exiting Rome at Vatican City where the ancient Via Aurelia now the SS1 begins. Because Friday 6 May was apparently a General Strike day, I say apparently because I did not see signs of a strike anywhere and we live right in the centre of Rome at Porta Pia near Piazza Repubblica, I decided to take the G.R.A. which is the great ring road around the city, instead of trying to cross town to get to the Aurelia. From Via Salaria, another ancient road, we slowly made our way to the G.R.A. it took us about 40 minutes a distance of about 10 Km.  Via Salaria is the old salt road built by a Roman Consul about 2700 years and is still a major artery of the City, it has not been widened and in some parts is quite narrow. The Romans built it so 2 ox carts could pass each other, modern cars are wider than an ox cart. It would be difficult to modify or widen the road because of all the ancient sites, monuments, Palaces and catacombs along the way.  Once on the G.R.A. it was a fast drive out.

We had to be at the dock ready to board at 5 p.m. it takes about 2 hours to load the ferry with cars and passengers. We left the port with a 50 minutes delay. It seems we had to follow a giant 10 story cruise ship out of port.

The Port of Rome is in fact small, but most cruise ships make a day stop with little room to move around. Cargo and container ships all use Naples to the south, merchandise comes to Rome by truck on the A-1.

Once on board we went to our cabin on the top deck, the crossing down to Sicily takes about 12 hours. We then walked around exploring the ship, as I said before it needs refurbishing. The bar by the marble pool has a few sandwiches and drinks on offer at steep prices. We had a couple of drinks watching Gerry, a well known Italian TV host on the program Who wants to be a millionaire.

We then went on deck to see the departure and then to the restaurant, which according to the sign on the wall part of the Chaine des rotisseurs, though I find that hard to believe. The food was good I had to start a dish of thinly slices eggplant topped with thinly slices zucchini and lightly covered with melted smoked scamorza cheese and diced tomatoes, it was quite good. I then had a nice steak with fries. W, had a very good quality prosciuto with melon. He had the veal and on second thought he should have had the Orata fish. Our waiter was the old style Italian waiter, you are in his dining room and he makes you feel at home. Talks to everyone, has lots to say about the food and will encourage you, as he did to take the fresh fish. He was right, he had been doing this like all waiters in this country for a long time, it’s a profession, not a job.  The other waiter was in charge of water and wine, so we ordered a bottle of white Feudi San Gregorio which is nice, light and dry. Everyone orders bottled water, not that the water from the tap is not good it’s in the culture. Italy has some of the best spring water in all of Europe. We usually order agua lisha (flat), the table next to us ordered lightly sparkling water ( a few bubbles).

I like to observe diners in a restaurant, the table next to us where too elderly gentlemen, well dressed in a casual way, they were having steak and salad with a half bottle of chianti. You can tell the class of people in Italy, there is a certain formal air about people depending in which social group they belong. The older of the two gentlemen had a canny resemblance to Prince Charles. The other table where 3 gentlemen again nicely dressed in a sporty way. They had the fresh fish, they were involved in a discussion about this and that. There was another gentlemen in his 60’s having dinner on his own, he seemed to know everyone. Very well dressed in a nice suit, maybe a lawyer doing his crosswords during dinner. He too had the fish and a salad.

The large cafeteria down the hall, had all the kids at least 100 of them, must have been a school group, 14-15 years old, a mixture of people, lots of loud German speaking tourists. A group of senior bikers, people mostly in their 50’s but not the sort of bikers you would think, this is the European version, there is a certain air about them, maybe people reliving their youth or just enjoying the motorcycle ride in a vintage 1960 sort of way. The ferry also has a dining hall for truck drivers, sort of a chow line, the food is quite good but basic. The fellows are a bit rough looking, they drive their lorries all around Italy and in this case all around major cities in Sicily. Their companies pay for them to have their own dining room and food service.

We went to bed early, the ferry is very quiet. Tomorrow morning we will be docking in Palermo.

We did dock in Palermo around 8:45 am and were off the boat by 9:45 am. I was glad to get off, I would not recommend Grandi Navi to anyone.      

More of Palermo

I thought I would show a few more pictures of Palermo, of the people, the food, the streets, so picturesque and on a human size. Buildings are 5 to 6 floors high no more, pedestrians have the right of way and everything is within walking distance so no need for a car. People know their neighbours. Restaurants and shops are family owned. The big box stores are all on main street and nowhere else, no shopping malls, you shop where you live. Fresh produce markets are located in all neighbourhoods and you can get everything you need.
This is not to say that Palermo is without social problems, there is poverty and the Mafia still has a hold on business but that hold has been shaken and is not as before, young people have a different approach and think differently. Sicily is well worth a visit and a beautiful one it will be.
All photos here have been taken in Palermo, be its ancient church steeple or the market at Porta Cardini or marathoners in front of the Opera house Teatro Massimo.

Palermo, Sicily

I took a week of vacation and went south to Sicily. I learned quite a few things, for one Sicily only became part of Italy in 1860 or 150 years ago. To this day people in Sicily have their own language and speak of Italy as the other country next door. Sicily originally was part of greater Greece and populated by Greeks, legend says that many came after the fall of the City of Troy. Then other groups arrived, the North Africans from Carthage (Tunis), the Romans, the Arabs and then the Normand's with King Roger and his son William the Conqueror who invaded England in 1066. The Germans with Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen (1194 –1250) shaped the politics of Europe in his time, the French with Charles of Anjou and then the Spanish Bourbon, Lord Nelson had an Estate in Sicily, finally the Italians arrived with Garibaldi in 1860 to liberate the Island, the population did not have much of a choice. All this makes for a colorful history and wonderful culture.

Sicily being a volcanic island like Hawaii, has incredibly rich soil and produces a great variety of vegetables and fruits. It also has many exotic flora and fauna, not exactly the distorted picture Hollywood loves to present of a dirt poor desert like wind swept island, think of the Godfather movie trilogy.
The people are very nice and hospitable, the cuisine is imaginative and delicious, lots of fresh fish and seafood, they have a deep red tuna found just off the coast of Sicily which is wonderful. Palermo has the second largest Opera house, Teatro Massimo, after Paris built between 1875-97, with its mahogany panelling and hand painted water silk ceiling. It was closed for 25 years for repairs and re-opened in 1997. It still needs a lot of maintenance.
With so many great rulers having made of the island their centre of power, there are lots of monuments, churches and palaces. The Franciscans, the Dominicans and Benedictines all had great monasteries. The 3 greatest cathedrals of the middle-ages where built in Sicily, the first one in Cefalu by King Roger II in 1150, the second by his son William the Conqueror in Monreale in 1184 and the famous jewel like Capella Palatina (1130) in the Royal Normand Palace in Palermo, all in the Byzantine style. They chose this style of architecture to indicate that culturally and politically they followed Constantinople-Byzantium and not the Pope in Rome with whom they were in conflict. The mosaics are marvelous considering that the 3 buildings are 1000 year old, all kept in pristine conditions. Both the Cathedral in Cefalu and in Monreale where the great Normand rulers are buried in imposing red porphyry mausoleums are in use to this day. How these great buildings came to be built and where did the funds come from is a mystery to this day. The Cathedral of Monreale has 2 tons of solid gold in the mosaic covering the ceiling and walls.
A friend of mine had arranged for a special visit of 3 oratories in Palermo decorated by Giacomo Serpotta who in the 18th century developed a style of decoration which became associated with Sicily and all made of stucco, which is a composite of marble dust and other ingredients which turns into a paste and can be modeled like clay. His statues and putti are a meeting of the secular and the profane. I had a professor of art history who explained the history and style and how various artists were asked to contribute, Caravaggio was one but also painters of the Flemish school like Van Dyck came to Sicily to work.
Suddenly an Island best known today for the Godfather movies and the mafia appears under a totally different light, rich in European history, an important military post in the Mediterranean and producing great art and food, a centre for humanity.
I really fell in love with Sicily, a wonderful place, well worth a visit and so much on offer.

Events

Well let's see, this weekend we had a lot of fun. First was the Scotch tasting evening paired with Indian food. I am not a Scotch drinker and until very recently knew little or nothing about Scotch. However through a friend who has a wonderful website, see
www.whiskeywineandwords.com, I have learned quite a lot about Scotland and Scotch. We only drink single malt and she likes to introduce you to music and poetry to accompany the tastings, food is also a big part of it. Who knew that India is the biggest market in the world for Scotch and that Indian food is a natural to drink with a fine Scotch either neat or with a bit of water, beer is definitely not recommended with Indian cuisine despite North American popular belief.

The event was held in E.U.R. a neighborhood of Rome built from 1935 for the World Expos Rome 1942 which never took place due to the Second World War. The buildings are modern, stark and monumental surrounded by vast parks and lakes, to showcase the achievements of the Fascist Regime. Today it is a neighborhood of multinational companies and immigrants, the completion of the construction on the different buildings took place between 1955 and 1962. You past by the area on your way in from the airport.

Sunday, we went to the Rome Marathon, which covered much of central Rome, with over 15000 participants. This year is the 50th Anniversary of the Rome Summer Olympics 1960 and at those games, an Ethiopian ran barefoot and won, wearing jersey no. 11. Well this year an Ethiopian won again the Rome Marathon and he too ran barefoot. Ethiopia and Italy have a very old history in common, well over 2000 years and there is a large Ethiopian community in Rome and Italy.

We went to support our friend Vincenzo, who had prepared for months for this marathon of 42.1 Km. The route was spectacular, starting at the Colosseum crossing the Roman Forum, Piazza Venezia, along the Tiber River all the way down to the Basilica of Saint Paul outside the Walls then back along the Tiber crossing over to the Vatican and again along the Tiber and re-crossing at the Milvio Bridge along the Flaminian road passing by the Mausoleum of Emperor Augustus and the Ara Pacis (Altar of Augustean Peace) down the Corso through the Borghese gardens, Piazza Spagna and back to the Colosseum for the finish. We were tired after walking much of it and went for lunch at Valentino on Via Cavour, a family run restaurant, very good value for money. An exciting day and so much fun.

This coming week 2 days off for my birthday, I decided to have a catered dinner at home for 8. Then we have Easter which will be in Rome, our friend Jack is visiting and then off to Palermo, Sicily for a few days vacation. So much excitement!