THE PROUD EUROPEAN CHALLENGE

"The Proud European Challenge:  Post five photos that make you proud to be European and show what that means to you."  

This was a friend's suggestion on facebook and I thought it was a good idea. Here is what I wrote and the first collage shows four of the photos I posted. In these I am in Montpellier, France in 1970 [yes, I know we joined the EU in 1973 but we were on our way in and things were already getting easier];  in Messina in 1998; on my way to Elba in 1977 and in Legnano [Milan] in 1996. 

"Freedom of movement has allowed me to study and work in several European countries, where I have been lucky enough to meet people from all over the world. If the barriers go up again, we will all be the poorer, in every sense, for it."

But of course I didn't want to stop at five photos so I'm posting some more here. Below is the Charles Bridge in Prague, which became one of my favouite haunts in that lovely city; in 2009 I am being interviewed in Buggiano [Tuscany] about my translation of the poet Antonio Lonardo's book; I have very happy memories of my 45th birthday in Modica in 1995; and Prague again with colleagues in 2003 [the 5th photo I put on facebook].

Then there is what being in Sicily means to me:  it means being in a particularly fascinating, culturally mixed, part of a country I've loved since I was 19. Sicily for me is the purple sea at Eloro, the bread arches of San Biagio Platani and having the opportunity to share a little of my own culture with Sicilians, for whom I always make Welshcakes on St David's Day. The island is also rich in the Greek heritage from which culture as we know it in the West first blossomed. When I'm feeling low, I remember Agrigento and am reminded why I am here.

Being in Sicily also means looking across the Strait of Messina to the Calabrian coast, the beginning of a journey to the New World for so many in the last two centuries. They were economic migrants trying to make a better life for themselves and their families, a perfectly natural desire that is being derided these days. They weren't caged and beaten before they left, killed on board ship for asking for a drop of water or thrown overboard when they grew weak but their journey was long and arduous, as was their path to work and acceptance at their destination.

I, too, am a migrant, albeit from choice and I am here to understand.  I want to be part of a Europe of opportunity, not a Europe of barriers and I want the country that made me to be part of that too.

SOME LIKE IT HOT

On Tuesday evening, off I trotted to Modica's annual Fiera della Contea and came back with ..... Calabrian food!  There were enormous olives, taralli biscuits in various interesting flavours and dinamite - a condiment made from chilli pepppers and other vegetables which, I can confirm, fully lives up to the promise of its packaging!  It was especially good on a fresa calabrese:

Hot, hot, hot - bring it on!

GRUMPY OLD LADY

And for once, it wasn't me! No, it was Lady Etna literally letting off steam last night, in one of the most spectacular eruptions of the past 20 years.  One "fountain of lava" from the Voragine or Central crater reached a height of over one kilometre.  Residents of Catania, Messina and even Calabria woke up to find cars, balconies and other surfaces covered in ash and Reggio Calabria airport was closed for several hours.

This comes courtesy of Corriere della Sera's Catania edition:

EASTER TIDES

Unusually, practically all the UK media are carrying the story of the 1,500 migrants saved in the Mediterranean by the Italian Navy and Coast Guard over the Easter weekend.  Here such numbers are now so common that the story has made fewer headlines, though this Easter is being dubbed La Pasqua degli sbarchi [the Easter of the Landings].

The Italian authorities were first made aware that more migrant boats were in trouble when three of the latter sent rescue requests to Rome via satellite phone from off the coast of Libya. When Italian Coast Guard vessels reached these boats, they soon spotted two other migrant boats which needed help and an Italian naval ship already in the area was also directed to the scene. The migrants were rescued and have been taken to Lampedusa, Porto Empedocle and Augusta. Fortunately there have been no reported deaths.

In addition, over 150 migrants from Somalia, Nigeria and Eritrea reached the beach of Caulonia in Calabria after their boat ran aground a few metres from it. The authorities were alerted to this landing when police found a group of about 20 of the migrants walking along a main road. They then found the rest of the boat's passengers, including around 40 women and children, some of whom were very young. The migrants say their boat left Libya one week ago and that the adults had each paid €2,000 to make the crossing. All these migrants are said to be in good health.

Sadly, Il Fatto Quotidiano is reporting tonight that a group of parents in Focà di Caulonia have blocked the entrance to a school so that the building cannot be used for initial processing and healthcare of the migrants. The Mayor of the town has said that this is the action of "a few people who are afraid" and has expressed regret over the incident.

AND NOW, FROM CALABRIA.....

I'm having a very oniony week for not only are the large, white Giarratana onions in season, but it is also time for the famous red onions of Tropea to make their appearance. These onions are grown around the beach resort town of Tropea in Vibo Valentia Province and particularly between Briatico and Capo Vaticano.  

The soil of the area makes the onions sweet and they contain vitamins C and E, iron, iodine, zinc and magnesium. A few years ago it was discovered that they also contain nitric oxide, a component of that pill for the gentlemen.  Sweets for your sweetie?

ITALY MAGAZINE ROUND-UP - 15

Here is my pick of last week's Italy Magazine articles:

First of all, I would love to attend the Pizza Chef Championship in Calabria next week, especially as the chefs are going to judge the judges! In the same article, you can find out about a gathering of traditional accordionists and a very special mushroom festival.

Our blog of the week was Livorno Daily Photo.  I enjoyed interviewing Giacomo, who certainly has an eye for the unusual!

Of the news stories, I think the whackiest was this, but I've a horrible feeling that the idea will catch on.  The Virtues of Love exhibition in Florence is one I would like to get to and I wish I could have been in Rome for this.  Of course, there had to be an "only in Italy" story and it was this one.  Does your company pay "overall time"?

For my personal column I wrote about "Bold Britons and Red Earth".  Take a look to find out about the day the world turned yellow!

Happy reading.