08_06_04 when in roma bring your speedies

highlights include:
camo sound system @ the vatican (goes with the camo security cams... wondering what's in the bedrooms...)
sneaky genius thanks michael angelico.
rocks that have been made into things that were cool then got old and a little tired so decided to sit down (aka palentine).
we liked russel crowe's the gladiator best. men in skirts i hear you say?
ooooo and modigliani had a very long neck. was ace. alana spent hours.
full mooning at the colloseum
suave slick smooth talking italian men who were the epitomy of the cliche. thanks but no thanks.
riding the bus when the legs wore out.
go labia. so we did.
having a picnic on every bit of grass we came across. coz we could. (kinda like marking our teritory) mmmmmm bread and wine (when in vatican city)

05_06_06 AMALFI
why do you come to amalfi? cos its cool. cos everyone comes to amalfi. they have great tea towels and ceramics with paintings of lemons. and they have lemons.

arrived via the coolest bus ride (kinda like the rimutakas minus one lane, winding atop the cliffs above the ocean, through villages, road chocka with tour buses... going both ways... mmmm.. good views (of the adjacent bus' passengers) and good bus drivers... witnessed NO collisions (with millimeters to spare!) and fully intact wing mirrors





ended breaking out our tent for the first time (were starting to feel a little guilty)... camping @ backpackers in the lemon grove overlooking the ocean (from about 500m up...)

walked the sentiero degli dei (path of the gods)... many deserted farm houses (and many not so)... walking thru the clouds, huddling for shelter in a grotto (cave / bus shelter) in the midst of the best electrical storm... did i mention that we have developed a 2 litre / day tetra pack wine habit? we have developed a 2 litre / day tetra pack wine habit. excuses? well, it's cheaper than buying coke and juice (between $1 and $3, so what are you gonna do?). and water is over rated. so, thanks tetra pack. they also sell it in handy 250ml packs in case you have to take some in your pocket. which i do. lucky.




excuses are for addicts.

01_06_06 (here comes the beastial) FIRE? YES! YES! BURN! YES!
today we burnt. johnny cash was on high rotate. only had a dodgy ring once. but we had the wet sacs ready before the dirty ol'flames flicked their way into the middle of siclily (you might want to check the news update just in case...)

oh and to talk about the weather more because it is fascinating... thanks kerryn (she makes the weather from a secret bunker in birmingham) for sending us the ONLY rain in sicily for the next 6 months today. when we were burning. was so good! cos we had to wear our woolly jumpers and strides to prevent excess follicle combustion... was coooool as. but then kerryn forgot to turn it off. and it poured. for over 4 minutes. it felt just like home. but after that it was ok. thanks kerryn. we felt good after 12 hours of pyromania (this is how the italians say it so it is ok).

and maryann keenan was born on this day three and some of decades ago_happy goodness to you.

for those who like it complete there are befores and afters. cos i know we need to prove what good oompa loompas we are.

31_05_06 SYRACUSE

a field trip. to a field.

there were greeks in sicily. and then the carthagnanians (i might have made this up) after them maybe phoenecians. from africa. because that is really only a swim away. and then the romans busted their heads for no reason. then later on (after the normans and the spaniards) there were the tourists, but they came well after the local people who still have a strong foothold in the area. this area is designated syracuse. in syracuse there are some rocks and some holes where rocks were (with crazy acoustics) and an island that you can go undie swimming from. apparently this is what archimedes did. so i did too.



the chiesa di san paulo is from Modica. which we visited another day. when it was 39C. not that i am one to gloat. but we visited a chocolate factory AND later that same day had macchiato di modica - espresso with a dab of milk with broken up chocolate sprinkled all over................and then jon may have gone to town but alana lounged by the pool at the hotel that the american gastro tourists (whose tour we crashed - thanks ever so!) were staying at.

caffe macchiato is the new flat white













you don't get burnt in the mediteranean sun? yah_whadeva

20_05_06 INFIORATA FLOWER FESTIVALLLLLLL
one day the notoians decided to get serious about flower arranging and made a festival out of it. the biggest in the noto social callendar. lucky huh. so on friday night all the crews get together (having already made the outlines of the designs) and eat pizza and put on their special knee pads and get down to some serious infiorataing. they go hard. all night. and by morning something magical has happened. 2006 was the year of baroque potraits - god mary jesus (last year was the little mermaid).

coolest part was l'altra infiorata (the alt. infiorata) which was located in the 'old quarter' of the city - where a bunch of creative young anarchist types have moved into the older buildings and have set up a type of creative community thing... super friendly... inviting us to a concert (with ace local styles) and sharing local delacacies like parmageano (mmmm eggplant) and berry wine (mmmm berry wine)

oh yeah the guy in the photo self immolating is none other than antonnio... perhaps the coolest guy in sicily... husband of alex and father to sole, remi and gaia... they are starting a circus school on the hills above noto if anyone wants to send their kids...

funny thing happened on the way thru the orifice...
i think we unplugged the interland.
did anyone else notice?
needless to say that we have been working very hard and finding the connection... alas was not to be found in siena.

but we will be doing it over the next few days so keep watching. cos the rain is cold. right?

MARIANGELA & ALBA

we cannot thank our wwooof hosts and friends enough. Mariangela (mother) and Alba (daughter) opened up their world to us... allowing us complete freedom, yet totally involving us in their rich and compelling lives.

Over the course of our 3 week stay, Mariangela bounced between her roles of single mum, farm owner, local body political candidate, environmental activist (organising resistance to oil research plans in a natural reserve), artist (she is an accomplished portrait painter), mentor (she is at the centre of a creative community revival with young artists in Noto), friend (you cannot walk down the street without her stopping for a good chat), tourism consultant and guide (she was the local expert for a group of american gastro-tourists), cook and entertainer (dab hand on the piano accordian too). This is documentary evidence that both mariangela and alba move too fast to be captured by normal photographic technology.



Alba handled the invasion of our mono-linguistic selves with patience and decorum beyond her meager 11 years. Forever will her inquisitive phrasing of 'che cosa?' ('what?') be in my ears (mariangela would dutifully translate to alba our current conversation - of which there were many)... though Alba feigned not understanding english, she betrayed herself many times (even emerging from behind the closed bathroom door, a favourite reading haunt, at the first hint of the name 'alba' being mentioned). Alba's italian language lessons around the dinner table were our most valuable, as were the cultural exchanges (although she was horrorfied to discover that in nz we only eat pasta once or twice a week; noooo! this is impossible!). and i became her personal hero (for a couple of minutes at least) when she found out i was an 'assistant director' on lionel richie's wardrobe... i might not have tried hard enough to explain that i was only the 13th assistant director...

Mariangela invited (took) us to all of her social engagements - extended sunday lunches seemed to be a habit - introducing us to a myriad of generous and welcoming friends. The community that we experienced in Noto was as full and rich as any in New Zealand. People living their lives in pretty wholesome harmony with themselves, each other and nature. Not bad really. Unfortunately they are not typical of Sicily, where we are told corruption, nepoptism, bigotry and greed are still commonplace - they have to try pretty hard to persist with a wholesome life.



Mariangela and Alba's family is one to be envied. The fear of growing old is completely allayed after meeting Mariangela, one of the most youthful spirits i have known. At 52, she lives with such vigor and gusto that we were tired simply at the thought of her daily schedule. More significantly, her open mindedness and generosity, combined with self assuredness and satisfaction seemed to me to be a major key to maintain a youthful existence (whatever that means).

27_05_06
best pizza in the world @ moby dick's. thanks moby. thanks mariangela (again). kinda like finding the best fish'n'chips in the world @ the rongotea tavern.


28_05_06
so after visiting the beach with mariangela and alba (our exceptional hosts in noto) we lunched under the olive trees @ a friends farm - where we were introduced to the delights of the wine production shed and undie swimming (see syracuse) in fresh water pool (up the hill and round a few corners).



30_05_6 FIRE? NO!

yeah so today the wind changed. well, actually there was wind. cos today we were gonna do a guy fawkes on the back yard. had the saussies ready and the potatti foil wrapped. nuts. wasn't to be. so we wait. for calm. but i am not. thank goodness for alana's cocktail mixing skills (chamomile + lemon + honey + sambuka = alana's sweety goodness)