No one knows quite why some Italian towns began to celebrate the festival of Corpus Christi or Corpus Domini by creating carpets of flowers in their streets during the eighteenth century but my theory is that people were simply using what was on hand and free to create beauty in honour of the Lord.
The nearby city of Noto [Province of Siracusa] has been holding its 32nd infiorata over this weekend and I am ashamed to say that in the previous five years, something had always gone wrong to prevent my going there. This year, however, I was determined to make it and set off with friends on Saturday afternoon. When we reached Noto there was a happy, party atmosphere and people walked in a well-ordered line along either side of the 122 x 4 metre flower-petal carpet, set out under Baroque balconies in the city's via Nicolaci.
This year's theme is "The Great Masters of Twentieth Century Italy" and, with no further ado, I'll let you enjoy the photographs. [You will appreciate that I had to take some of these from awkward angles, as it is impossible to take shots from the centre of the street. I did my best!]
The honey-coloured Cathedral looked lovelier than ever in the evening sunlight and we went inside to admire the magnificent new frescoes by Russian artist Oleg Supereko. [The cupola had collapsed in 1996.]
No outing to Noto is complete without a visit to theCaffè Sicilia to partake of one of their superb ice creams and who were we to break with tradition?
First we ordered this amazing cake, containing layers of sponge so light I swear it was floating, pink grapefruit and candied red pepper. Yes, that's right - candied red pepper. You are just thinking how deliciously refreshing the grapefruit is when all of a sudden you get this after-taste of something just a little spicy and all I can say is that it was heavenly. If you don't believe me, you'll just have to go there and try some for yourselves - everyone should, at least once!
Then we ordered cedro [citron fruit] ice cream and another flavoured with almonds and saffron. These were the most zingy ice creams I think I've tasted, even in Sicily. And yes, that's an enormous cannolo you see in the background for, as my friend explained, you simply cannot visit the Caffè Sicilia without biting into a cannolo!
On my next visit to Noto I'm going back to try the bread and marmalade ice cream!
Today is International Art Day and, rather than write a story or poem, I would like to take the opportunity to celebrate the art of my dear friend, Gino. Gino has featured on this blog before and you can see a whole gallery of his work here. Tonight I would like to introduce you to two new works by Gino, both of which I like very much:
"Gone for a swim"
"Hedgehog"
Keep up the wonderful work, Gino, for you bring so much pleasure to all your friends, family and guests. I know that Gino would appreciate your comments, dear readers.
I'm a sort-of retired language teacher from Cardiff, Wales, UK, now trying to make a new life in Sicily. I'm not growing vines, making olive oil or restoring a palace stone by stone!
