4/19 There were no posts on Saturday, Sunday or Monday because we stayed close to home, just walked alleys and checked out shops. The weather left a little to be desired, raining in the afternoon and evening so we entertained ourselves playing Scopa – an Italian card game.

On Jim’s early morning walks, he captured good shots of the sunrises and the rough waters, then after breakfast we walked along the ocean, checked out some of the boats and another cruise ship. Of course I had to take a photo of the flowers. I thought they were fake but nope, they were very real and so pretty.

We hit the market and as you can see my bag (graciously donated by our friend Judy Baker) was overflowing with fruit and veggies. The bag comes in very handy for my trips to the market. Thank you Judy!

We decided to go out for lunch Saturday and Jim had a yummy aperitif before we enjoyed our pizza -funny story here! I checked out the menu and it had calzones and pizza’s. I said let’s split a calzone. Ok good idea! I asked the waiter how large the calzone was and he said it’s normal size. He said you want to split it? Yes please! So I ordered the calzone with tomato, basil, ricotta and mozzarella. They put half on each plate. Now if you look at the photo of our lunch you are going to say the same thing we said. Fran is that what you ordered? I said well, if this is their version of a calzone, then yes, it’s what I ordered otherwise it looks like pizza to me. LOL! The crust is stuffed with ricotta cheese. This was by far the most delicious calzone/pizza we have had. We laughed and said no matter – it was still delicious. On the way home, someone had to have Easter candy! The Red Cross was selling these for a donation so we gave them a donation and came home with a rather large chocolate Easter Egg! Jim was very happy. Thankfully it was hollow so it really wasn’t that much chocolate.

We roamed around checking out other areas and saw the Banca di Sicilia (Bank of Sicily.) A few more photos of alleys and streets and of course the cute little car I keep finding all over the place and just love it. We believe it is an electric car.

Easter Sunday we went to Mass at the Duomo where the Archbishop celebrated the mass so there was a lot of incense and they were playing the organ which was fabulous. There were quite a few people at the service which was nice to see. There was a little girl sitting across the aisle from us and before mass she was coughing like crazy. I reached into my bag and pulled out a cough drop and showed her mom and she said “yes” so that seemed to help. I only hoped the incense didn’t set off another fit for her!

After mass we went home because it was getting cold and cloudy out so we stayed in and I made chicken cutlets, spinach and potatoes for dinner. The chicken in Italy has the most unique flavors and is super tender; the cutlets are really thin, just the way I like them. No photos of our meal – sorry! Of course dessert was – yep – chocolate Easter Egg!

Monday turned out to be chilly and wet so we did a little walking then stayed in the rest of the day. We found a couple of purse shops where the owners were the craftsmen – so of course I bought a nice leather purse at a very reasonable price. I made chicken soup for dinner and it was so good. We have some leftovers to finish up this week.

Tuesday we picked up our rental car and decided to take a road trip. The weather was beautiful, sunny, not too cool but we wore our new sweatshirts. Mine is red with blue butterflies on it and Jim’s is black with the Settebello (one of the cards from our Italian card game) on the front. We needed a sweatshirt because it gets a little chilly especially at night and you really need something to keep you warm. I guess spring is crazy everywhere! Remember, we flew over here with two medium-sized bags and did not want to carry anything extra — even a sweatshirt! But, April in Sicily is a little cooler than we expected.

We decided to drive down the coast to Portopalo di Capo Passero at the Southeastern tip of Sicily. We drove through the town of Pachino on the way but need to return as we missed most of the neat stuff and we missed Marzamemi. More on those towns, including photos, when we get back to them.

Portopalo is the Southernmost city in Sicily making it also the Southernmost town in Italy. It has some of the best fishing that the Mediterranean area has to offer because of its location, connection of the Ionian and Mediterranean Seas and its temperate climate. As for sights and history, great interest here as well. The Isola di Capo Passero is a small island within a short swim of the shores of Portopalo. The primary attraction of the island is il Fort di Capo Passero. Commissioned in 1599 by Spain, the fort lies on the highest point of the island. It was built to combat pirate activity in the Mediterranean region. It remained a highly sought after naval resource in later years as it was considered the guardian of the entrance to Europe. The island and fort are in the background; Fran and her new, red sweatshirt in the foreground!

Built in 1935, Castello Tafuri is located on a rocky cliff in Portopalo, across from the island of Capo Passero. It has been the symbol of this small fishing center for years but today is a destination for tourists and surfers. It seems a pretty nice resort hotel.

Situated just on the other side of the Castello is the Tonnara di Capo Passero, a tuna factory which has not been in operation for years. We were going to fill you in on a little of the history but it really gets complicated with how it changed hands, how it was taxed, how the construction of more modern processing factories became difficult competition, and so on. Its origins can be established during the Middle Ages, but in 1750 it began its real activity with Don Ottavio Nicolaci. It remained closed and deactivated for the whole of the 19th century. At the end of the century was it reopened by Don Pietro Bruno of Belmonte and remained active until 1969. Today it represents a splendid monument of industrial archeology. You might want to Google it for more information, to include a description of the tuna traps that were used to catch and lift up into the factory the fish. Apparently tuna was a big deal in the olden days — sort of the same now but without all the dukes and princes and dons being involved.

We also found opportunities for other photos, including an obelisk which we could not identify as the plaque had deteriorated over the years. The statue on top appears to be of the Virgin Mary. Flowers were beautiful and everywhere we looked. You’ll see more further down in this post.

As is our normal practice, we exit the superhighways, or autostrade, unless in a big hurry. This is Italy though and we love the slow life as well as the slow food! Today’s drive validated our thinking. Lots of flowers, orange groves, vineyards and more. After Portopalo, we opted to head West along the coast through Granelli and on to Pozzallo before heading back to Siracusa. The farmers are using hothouses nowadays, spreading out the harvest season a bit — good for us! And then there is the Mediterranean Sea as well as billions of flowers.

In Pozzallo, we stopped for lunch. The restaurant we initially selected no longer exists, a fact we learned after walking ten minutes to where it once stood! We ended up at a panificio where we opted for a panini. And the chef prepared it as we watched, from slicing the prosciutto and mozzarella to stacking it on the pane. In other words, it was fresh.

Back on the road again, we headed up through Ipsica and Rosalini, two towns along with Noto, to which we also need to return. At Avola, we joined the autostrada mostly because we knew it would be an easy shot getting into downtown Siracusa and we desperately wanted to avoid a lot of traffic and find a parking spot — a no fee parking spot that is. Successful in both endeavors but we did get a little “volunteer” help from some guy — looked like a fisherman who was lounging around after having put up his nets — who wanted a donation. We could tell it was a gimmick, especially when he backed down from 10 Euros to “watch” the car for two days to 5 Euros! He really was a nice guy, did help with the parking and if he’s going to be around, he’ll keep an eye on the car. We’ve seen this before so do not feel put out at all. After all, to park in a city parking lot would have cost 15 Euros a day! Okay, okay — we’ll get his picture if we see him when we take the car out next.

We stopped at an emergency pull-off just to gander at the sea. That is the Ionian Sea by the way and not the Med. As luck would have it, there was a little farm just down the berm where we saw two horses, white and black, as well as some thistle right in front of the railing – and camera lens!

We wrapped up the day with a little leftover chicken soup and a couple of games of Scopa. I have to thank Jim for all the history background. Without that you would simply see photos of buildings! We both take photos and use the best of each. I do much of the writing and of course Jim adds the history and makes sure everything sounds good. So thanks Jimmy! Ciao everyone! Off to another day of travels with more to come on another blog. Enjoy! I love the comments, keep them coming-please!