Halloween is celebrated, mainly for the benefit of children, more than it used to be here (even when I came in 2005) but less than in countries like Britain and the USA. In my experience, the evening remains peaceful and I haven't seen flour and eggs thrown in the street or been disturbed by trick or treaters that I don't know. Long may it continue in this way - a festival which people enjoy without wasting food in a world in which, particularly this year, there are people starving, and without upsetting others.
On the jolly side, I couldn't resist buying some treats from the Liolà pasticceria in Modica:
Today is Ognissanti, All Saints' Day, and is a bank holiday. Tomorrow is I Morti, or Day of the Dead, when many people visit the graves of their loved ones and even take food. I think this is a healthy attitude to death, which after all comes to us all, and teaches children that it is part of life.
I think it's time for tea and one of those biscuits now.
