Sorry this is out of sequence. We've had a difficult time finding Internet access. Tony seems puzzled by my sudden need to check Facebook compulsively and to "blog" regularly. He just doesn't understand...people want information and they want it now! If you don't count family members...there are at least 5 other people out there in the world that need Italy updates damn it! It's a tremendous responsibility, but one I am willing to bear.
We arrived late in the afternoon in Palermo, Sicily from Amsterdam. A few reflections; Amsterdam is remarkable, probably one of the easiest cities to visit if you don't speak another language (i.e. you are an American). We spent a night in Alkmarr on Saturday, where Justine is from. It's a beautiful town with a well preserved city center. Many of the homes have large picture windows without any curtains. You can look right in and see how well organized and uncluttered the houses are. Amy McCabe and I were captivated by the front window displays and felt a little ashamed of how our homes wouldn't stand up to such public scrutiny. The town is so well maintained, I didn't see ANY cars up on blocks or any blue tarps anywhere (this was a bit disorienting). I spoke with Mattjias, Justine's cousin, and he said that despite appearances, not everything is coming up roses in the land of Gouda and clogs. Mattjias dished some dirt, for starters Holland doesn't really have any "wild" animals. This is a bummer for the Dutch who love the outdoors. Holland is one of the most crowded countries in Europe. It has been settled for so long that everything has been built up and domesticated. That got me thinking...maybe exporting our raccoons and coyotes to Europe could help with America's economic recovery! Mattjias also said that the Dutch are pretty obsessed with presenting a good image to their peers (large picture windows). There is a lot of pressure to prove that they have nothing to hide. I cannot imagine Americans agreeing to be so transparent about their living conditions...but maybe this isn't such a bad idea. We could institute a "no curtain" policy in the states and that would create a huge market for back yard storage containers. Aha!...yet another ingenious economic stimulus idea.
Saturday night PAUNDY played in Alkmaar to a packed house. Despite a few technical difficulties, they played well. Some groupies drove hundreds of miles to see them again, none of them bought me a drink. I guess "Realtor Lady" hasn't made it big in their town yet.
Back to Amsterdam on Sunday for PAUNDY's last show. Three bands, including PAUNDY played at the Winston Hotel in the Red Light district. FYI, PAUNDY is a band that my husband, Tony Dattilo, plays in. He helped orchestrate a whirlwind tour for the band to coincide with his sabbatical. He and the other band members played in 4 Polish cities, 1 German city and 3 Dutch cities. Basically, it was a mid life crisis Rock and Roll tour and it was a huge success. I've never been a groupie before and I must admit, it was a LOT of fun. I enjoyed rehearsing "I'm with the band". I think I was born to rock...for at least two nights in a row. I'm not sure how I would hold up for more than that. We had friends show up for the last show in Amsterdam from Dublin, Ireland and Berlin, Germany. Lots of fun.
We were up at 5 AM on Monday to catch a flight to Milan and then on to Palermo. A good friend from Brooklyn, Amy, met us at the airport in Sicily. As a side note, nothing looks good from the highway here. Sicily is primarily rocky coastline, cactus, some vegetation in Winter and Spring and scrubby pine trees at higher altitudes. I was a little worried about spending 5 weeks here until we arrived in the older part of Cefalu, a small sea side town about an hour east of Palermo. Once in the central part of town we were charmed. We had a lovely meal featuring lots of great local seafood (sword fish, clams, calamari, sardines and shrimp). There is a big outcropping that acts as the backdrop for the town. Its called "La Rocca". La Rocca is a calfburning climb , but well worth it. On Tuesday the 2nd , we visited the 500 BC ruin of a Roman Temple dedicated to Diana, Goddess of the Hunt. I stopped and chatted with Diana about real estate. We both agreed that the real estate market is looking up and that it is more important now than ever to keep your arrows sharpened and to throw those deadbeat clients onto a burning pyre. I told her that I was never too busy for any of her referrals and she asked me to send her some business cards. She looks amazing; you can hardly tell that she's a few thousand years old.
Yesterday was "Bridget learns how much Italian she doesn't know day". I spent the morning shopping for food that I didn't know the names of. As it turns out, I will be taking cooking classes from a woman in her home. She speaks virtually no English. So, before cooking classes, I'm going to take some Italian classes.
Amy and I took a train to the nearby town of Capo d'Orlando. We went to the train station to buy a ticket to Termini and were informed in typical Italian style that not only was a train not available but that the man behind the counter didn't think that the town was worth visiting. Once on the train to the only available destination, we read in Amy's travel guide that Capo d'Orlando where we were headed wasn't worth seeing either. An hour later we arrived and wandered along the shoreline. It was quite beautiful. What's not to like about staring out at the Mediterranean on a sunny day?
As we wandered about the town, we stumbled upon a small tratorria that advertised regional cuisine. We were a bit early for lunch so we sat outside at a table and drank a glass of local Sicilian white wine and nibbled at green olives and peppers (everything is spicy here). When the chef was ready, he ushered us into the kitchen so that we could pick out our food. There was fresh broccolini, spinach, fava beans, sardines and something I didn't recognize. He cooked us a bit of everything. The "something I didn't recognize" was a local specialty called Spaghetti Con La Neonata. Neonata are the tiny little unhatched fish from a variety of different fish eggs. Yes, it does sound disgusting...and I'd eat it every day for breakfast , lunch and dinner for the rest of my life. Several bottles of wine later we stumbled back to the train station. No complaints.
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