Sunday, June 11, 2006

MODICA DI NOTTE




At night the town is softly and subtly lit and the effect is quite magical, especially when seen from the highest point. Nearby Ragusa is lit in a similar way.

Yesterday friends Giancarlo and Laura called to suggest we all go out for a pizza in the evening. So off we went to the "Irish Pub" in Modica Bassa and I must say they serve very good pizza there. [I can only ever manage about half of the enormous pizze they serve here, though.] Afterwards we strolled up to the Caffè dell'Arte for delicious cannoli; it was very pleasant and cool sitting at an outside table placed in the charming little street to the side of the café.

I love the animated atmosphere of Italian towns at night. In Modica the Corso Umberto [the main street in Modica Bassa] is closed to traffic from about 8pm to 10.30pm on Saturdays. This is not, as in some UK city centres [Cardiff being one of them], because the place is full of drunken yobs and "yobettes", but so that everyone can do the passeggiata - the walk up and down to see and be seen - in safety.

In Britain if you saw a large group of youths coming towards you, especially on a Saturday night, you would feel quite threatened. Here, they are out simply to socialise with each other and to have a good time innocently, so buon divertimento to them. [You would, of course, have to be more on your guard in larger towns all over Italy, particularly around tourist attractions.]

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