True Dirt

island of the sun - part I

I have fallen in love with Sicily. The landscape, the cities, the people, the sweets. It was a whirlwind affair, lasting only seven days but filled with adventure, passion, and sleeplessness. The adventures encompassed a triangular tour of three cities--Palermo, Agrigento and Cefalú--that took us from one of the oldest world cities to the temples of the former Greek city of Akragas (Agrigento) and then to the little resort town of Cefalú that reminded me of Santa Cruz, California without the rollercoaster. My passion was, of course, for the landscape and the wonderfully odd plants we saw. And the sleeplessness was necessary to see as much as possible in our short visit, touristing during the hot mid-afternoons when Sicilians are eating and napping. It all began with a science conference at the University of Palermo that my traveling companion and friend, Louise Pellerin, a geophysicist, was attending (and thus the impetus for this trip and my impulsive decision to tag along). Lu graciously assented to my desire to explore archeological ruins instead of spending that time on a beach and we rented a car for Part II of our journey. So began the saga of two Americans on the loose on the Sicilian autostrada and cobbled hill towns with one Italian phrase book and a road map.

But first, Palermo. Our hotel, Albergo Athaneum, was a modest establishment in a modest residential neighborhood near the university. To get to the conference, we walked a couple of blocks through narrow cobbled streets of 3- or 4-story buildings where the laundry hung from racks over the sidewalk (a foot-wide curb of stone) and the women used small round baskets on ropes tied to the upper story balconies to retrieve groceries and other items from the street below.

The campus of the university was remarkable mostly for the flowering kapok or floss silk trees (Chorisia speciosa) that lined its paths. Standing about 20 feet high and covered with pink orchid-like flowers that littered the sidewalks, their trunks were an odd bright green and jug-shaped. I learned later from our Palermo tour guide what they were, and that Palermo had once been a center for the kapok industry supplying waterproof filling for pillows, upholstery, and life preservers (I knew the term "kapok" from WW II life jackets that my dad possessed) but which has been made obsolete by synthetic fillers.

The science conference is where I was introduced to Sicilian sweets, an incredibly diverse palette of pastries that are as fantastical, baroque and elaborate as the interiors of Sicilian churches--and heavenly tasting. In the mornings a table would be set with coffee and pastries, usually powdered sugar-coated croissant with slivered almonds and small jammy pastries. About 4pm the coffee break would be set up. Servers asked for our choice of beverage--juices, bottled water, tea and, of course, cappucchino. And laid out on the table was a feast of exquisite miniature confections often consisting of multiple layers of marzipan, chocolate, merengue, nuts, and glazed fruits. Even the biscotti looked rococo - dusted white and gleaming like marble. We were not to experience these delicacies once we left the conference since they are the domain of special bakeries that we did not have time to visit on our travels. But we got one last shot at them at the dinner which took place in Palermo's Orto Botanico, and this time it was an assortment of lavishly decorated and swooningly delicious cakes - of which I sampled three and now regret not attempting to taste them all.

My photographic expedition began with a half-day tour of the city of Palermo provided to "family members" of the conference attendees. This was a bus and walking tour with about ten of us "family," mostly women, and consisted of some of the most important churches and monuments spanning the richly layered historical periods of Palermo. I tried to capture in my photos the feel of both the island and the city in its architectural detail and its people-filled streets. My camera went with me on subsequent days to the botanical garden dinner and the farewell reception in the courtyard of the Villa Niscemi, at the foot of Mount Pelligrino by the sea.

There are many more photos of Palermo at the Flickr site (just click on any photo here) and I am working feverishly to put up the photos from Agrigento and Cefalú to complete this tiny tour of Sicily.

Posted by briggs at September 20, 2005 9:09 AM