18 THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT PALERMO

Palermo has been selected as Italian Capital of Culture 2018 so here, in no particular order, are 18 facts - some quirky, others not so - that you may not know about the city:

1.  Its Palazzo dei Normanni was, from 1130 , the seat of the Sicilian Parliament, one of the oldest in the world. (I've met a lot of Sicilians who claim that it is, in fact, the oldest.] It now houses the Sicilian Regional Assembly.

2.  In 2016 Palermo was declared the worst city in Italy for traffic congestion.

3.  Frutti di Martorana, the marzipan "fruits" you will see everywhere in Sicily in autumn, were, according to legend, first made in The Martorana Convent in Palermo.

4.  The city's most important Arab and Norman buildings, along with the Cathedrals of Cefalù and Monreale, were collectively named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015.

San Giovanni degli Eremiti, Palermo

5.  Palermo street food is legendary. Eat it first, then ask what's in it!

6.  The Palermo football team's badge has been ranked (by the British Daily Mail) as among the best in the world.

7.  The city has wide boulevards reminiscent of towns in France.

8.  The word for traditional Sicilian rice balls, arancini, is used in its feminine form, arancine there.

9.  The Catacombe dei Cappuccini (Capuchin Catacombs) are a very macabre, and often upsetting, sight but must be seen. I once decided to leave them till last on a school trip but my students, having been shown the Parliament, Cathedral and other beautiful buildings, were impatiently demanding, "Can we go and see the dead people now?" by mid-morning.

Me with students in Palermo, 1995

10. The city is second only to Naples for the number of coffee manufacturers that call it home (47 in 2011).

11. During the reign of Ruggero (Roger) II, Palermo was a city in which Muslims, Christians and Jews lived side by side in harmony. This was to come to an end, however, under Frederick II, who expelled the Muslims in 1224.

12.  In 1185 Roger's daughter and Frederick's mother Costanza d'Altavilla (Constance d'Hauteville) travelled to Germany to be married with the greatest dowry the world had ever seen. She gave birth to her son in the market square in Ancona on her way back to Sicily. You can read more about this extraordinary journey in a book I reviewed here. Costanza is buried in Palermo Cathedral.

13.  Palermo has a museum of traditional puppets  (opera dei pupi) where you can also see puppet shows at certain times of the year.  You can find out more about opera dei pupi in my post here.

Some of my own Sicilian puppets

14.  Traditional Sicilian carts vary, from province to province, in their design and size. Those from Palermo were squarer and wider than many of the others and were originally used for transporting grapes. This is a link to an article on Sicilian carts that I wrote for Italy Magazine in 2010.

15. Not strictly in the City of Palermo but in Palermo Province and a short bus ride away is Monreale, whose cathedral, begun in 1174, is one of the best preserved examples of Norman architecture anywhere. It contains Byzantine mosaics throughout. There are stunning views of Palermo from Monreale.

16. In 2014 the priests of Palermo Cathedral were much criticised for displaying a prominent WC sign in a side chapel there. I don't know about you, but when being a tourist I've often desperately needed the loo by the time I got to a city's cathedral!

17.  Palermo was named Panormus ("complete port" or possibly "well-protected bay") by the Greeks, This became Balarme under Arabic rule.

18.  To end on a sombre note, Palermo Airport, formerly known as Punta Raisi, was renamed in 1995 in honour of the anti-Mafia judges Paolo Borsellino and Giovanni Falcone who were both murdered in 1992, the latter along with his wife. The airport's full name is now L''aeroporto Internazionale Falcone e Borsellino di Palermo-Punta Raisi but it is usually referred to as aeroporto Falcone e Borsellino. Italy has been remembering the two judges in this, the 25th anniversary year of the stragi (massacres) of Capaci and via D'Amelio. We must not forget that all but one of their bodyguards died with them on those terrible days.

The candidates for Italian Capital of Culture 2020 are Agrigento, Catania, Messina, Noto, Ragusa and Siracusa. Guess which two I'll be rooting for!

City of Palermo
Coat of Arms

THE EAGLE IS BRANDED

I do not often refer to the British Daily Mail on this blog, nor do I often write about sport, neither being favourites of mine, so tonight is a little different. 

You see, those eagle-eyed journos at the Mail have ranked what they consider to be the 20 best football badges in the world and Palermo has the honour of coming seventh. It is a pretty badge, I think, though carino is probably not the first word that comes to the mind of those hunks when they don their team shirts.  [I will not risk posting a picture of the badge here for copyright reasons but it's on the Mail page - they've got more money than me to cope if they get sued - and, of course, the club one.]

The two other Italian clubs listed are Juventus in fourth place and Roma in twentieth. And the winner is...?  São Paulo. Take a look and see what you think. There is also a link on the page to the newspaper's ranking of the worst badges - I'll leave you to decide if you can face that!

THE HEART OF ITALY

If there is one thing that has not stopped over the Ferragosto period, it is the arrival of "boatloads of sorrow" carrying migrants seeking refuge and hope in Europe. Amongst so much sadness, today I can bring you a story which proves that Italy, as we all knew, has a great heart:

A few days ago, a thirteen-year-old Egyptian boy called Ahmed was found on a migrant boat and he was clutching a medical certificate wrapped in plastic as if it were a treasure. The certificate proved that his seven-year-old brother Farid, then still in Egypt, is suffering from the blood disease thrombocytopenia and Ahmed had boarded a migrant boat in order to find help for his sibling.

He spent much of his journey hidden in an animal crate - this despite a promissory note for EGP 2,000 which his uncle had handed to the traffickers -  and some of the events he had witnessed along the way are truly shocking.  He thought he would die on the journey.

Ahmed had decided to take this risk after hearing his parents and other members of his family talking about his brother's plight: Egyptian doctors had already carried out one operation and a second would cost EGP 50,000.  How could a family of date pickers find this sum?  Thus it was that Ahmed, determined to find work to pay for any medical treatment his brother might receive in Europe, made the dangerous crossing.

"I'm asking for help from doctors and hospitals in Italy but I'll work to pay for everything", he told a volunteer on Lampedusa.  "My dream is to see my little brother playing football with me."

Ahmed was transferred to Florence today and there the NPO Fondazione Careggi had already set about raising funds to help the family.  Tuscan Regional Councillor for Health Stefania Saccardi said,

"We wanted to respond to Ahmed's great gesture of love for his brother with a gesture of love of our own."

Farid and his parents will be joining Ahmed in Florence later today and the Meyer Hospital, with help from doctors at the Careggi, is standing by to treat Farid.  The Palermo Children's Hospital has also offered to help.

Well done, Italy. I'm sure my readers would wish me to express, in turn, our love for you.

PALERMO IN A JAM

Now it's official: every palermitano who drives - and that's most adults - spent 147 hours stuck in traffic during 2015. Thus the city earns the dubious honour of being the worst in Italy for traffic congestion, according to the TomTom Traffic Index. Rome comes second, Messina third, Naples fourth, Milan fifth and Catania sixth.

In the table for Europe, Palermo is fourth, after Łódź, Moscow and Bucharest and Rome is in ninth position.  

Mexico City "wins" first place for congestion in the world table and is followed by Bangkok, Łódź, Istanbul and Rio de Janeiro.  Rome is 15th, London 16th, Manchester 25th and Athens 29th.  

Dear old Cardiff, for those of you who are interested, has no world ranking - presumably because of its size - but was 121st in the "all cities" congestion index.

I'm sure you're wondering, as I am, what the palermitani do with all this time that they spend in traffic jams: Do they read their smartphones or newspapers?  Do they occasionally dart out of their stationary vehicles to consume a quick espresso? I rather think they watch each other and the world around them and indulge in the occasional good-natured shouting match. 

FEASTING AND FIREWORKS

The festive season cannot end without my showing you what I ate on Christmas Day, can it?  I was very happy to be spending the day with friends and to partake of focacce, grilled meat, fruit and perfect crème caramel prepared by Neapolitan chef Pino Mainolfi [on the left in the pictue] whom I enjoyed meeting. His blog [in Romanian] is here.  I made and took along my second Christmas cake of the season:

I spent New Year's Eve at home because I was worried about the effect the inevitable fireworks would have on Bertie-Pierrine, whose first Christmas with me this was. She didn't seem overly peturbed - I was probably more frightened than she was, for Italians do not do things by halves - but I was glad I was here with her.

A lot of town councils all over Italy had banned New Year fireworks out of respect for the environment and animals and thus it was in Palermo, Catania, Siracusa and Ragusa, but not Modica. Nevertheless, a nine-year-old child in Palermo Province had to have his hand amputated after an accident with a firecracker and there were 190 firework-related injuries in Italy as a whole on New Year's Eve.  Is it worth it? 

If I sound like Scrooge here I would just like to say that I am outclassed in that respect by Telecom Italia, who managed to send their email bills out on Christmas Day. Now, that should be illegal as well!

SOME STRONG WORDS FOR SICILY

From a singer who caused all of Italy to fall in love with her to one who has caused considerable outrage and quite a few divisions: The artist in question is Roberto Vecchioni, the singer-songwriter who won the 2011 Sanremo Festival with Chiamami ancora amore, a song he composed with a view to giving hope, particularly to young people, at the height of the global financial crisis. So what, I ask myself, has got into him? The Palermo traffic seems to be part of the answer.

Speaking at the Engineering Faculty of Palermo University last week, Roberto Vecchioni expressed his exasperation with Sicily, even going so far as to call it a "shit island". Coming in from the airport, he said, he had seen 400 out of 200 [yes, you read that right] motorcyclists riding without the obligatory helmets and there were three lines of traffic in the middle of every road, making it impossible to get through. This, he continued, shows that Sicilians have not yet understood how to live side by side. He believes that the island is ruining its own culture and cannot keep citing the fact that it has wonderful beaches as an excuse for everything. In short, Sicily is letting itself down.

As you may imagine, this caused strong reactions both inside and outside the conference hall, which many people left early. However, support for Mr Vecchioni's views has come from an unlikely source, namely Leoluca Orlando, Mayor of Palermo, who said that Roberto Vecchioni had proved himself to be a friend of Sicily in the past.  He also said that Sicily deserves much more than it has today and that Sicilians must choose the right path for the future.

Here is Roberto Vecchioni in more mellow mood:

Roberto Vecchioni - Chiamami ancora amore

AUTUMN - 2

Real, but not what they seem:

They are, as regular readers will know, frutti di Martorana.  They are made from pasta reale [almond paste]  Legend has it that the first ever batch of Martorana fruit was made on the orders of the mother superior of the Martorana Convent in Palermo. She had wanted to impress her bishop during his visit so the nuns obediently prepared the “fruit” and hung it from the cloister trees; so “real” did it look that the bishop declared that a miracle had happened, as all the fruits had appeared in the same season!  

On 2nd November, I Morti [the Day of the Dead] children receive Martorana fruit as presents from deceased relatives who still wish to watch over them. Some think that this tradition is morbid but it seems to help children to accept the transitory nature of this life.

Sadly, the Martorana Convent has long gone but the Church of Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio, of which it was a part, still stands and is often called the Martorana. It is part of this.

SUMMER SORROW - 2

The 367 migrants rescued from a boat carrying over 600 on Wednesday have been brought to Palermo along with the 25 bodies so far recovered, three of which are those of children. For the first time, a bunch of white flowers for each of the dead was placed on the quayside as a tribute. 

As the survivors speak to police, horrific and distressing accounts of their treatment are emerging and there is no reason to disbelieve them: One woman has said that the boat was so overcrowded that the migrants were clinging to any firm structure they could get close to on the journey and that throughout their ordeal, there were terrible screams from those who had been forced to travel in the hold.  The latter, it transpires, were mostly Africans because they had paid less for their journey than others and we have also learnt that passengers were ill-treated and even tortured in various ways according to their nationality and, it seems, the amount of money they had paid.  

Other survivors have said that when the boat began to take in water, they were forced to try to empty it out in buckets. When they failed in this impossible task, they tried to get back under cover, out of the burning sun, but were then made to sit on the sealed hatch so that the migrants in the hold could not get out. By the time the migrants on deck saw the rescuers, they were exhausted and thought they were about to die, so is it any wonder they surged towards them?

Many of the survivors have now been sent to centres in other parts of Italy but relatives of the dead have been allowed, upon request, to remain here for the time being.

Five men - the "crew" of the boat - have been arrested on suspicion of people trafficking and charges of homicide have not been ruled out.

There is some resentment here - and it is a viewpoint which I can undesrstand - about the amount of money and resources being poured into the Calais situation, whilst the situation in the Mediterranean is again being largely ignored. From here it appears that two rich EU countries can pool their resources and take action when they want to but are content to let a poorer country shoulder almost all the responsibility for the immense numbers of people trying to cross the Mediterranean.

Leoluca Orlando, the Mayor of Palermo, yesterday repeated his assertion that the EU will one day be found guilty of genocide because of its failure to help migrants in the Mediterranean area and I believe he is right. I also think that, when the whole truth of what these poor souls are fleeing becomes known, it will emerge, as it did with regard to the Holocaust, that there were people in high places who knew but did little or nothing. Will we never learn from history? 

Pope Francis, who does not mince his words, today told the Eucharist Youth Movement that to reject migrants fleeing violence and hunger is "an act of war".  It is also worth remembering that the EU has an obligation, under international law, to treat migrants with dignity.

CONGRATULATIONS, PALERMO

San Giovanni degli Eremiti, Palermo

Many congratulations to the city and Province of Palermo, whose most important Arab and Norman buildings were collectively named as a UNESCO World Heritage Site at a meeting in Bonn today. The Palermo buildings are: The Palazzo dei Normanni,  the Palatine Chapel,  the Church of San Giovanni degli Eremiti,  the Church of Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio [Martorana],  the Ammiraglio Bridge, San Cataldo Church, Palermo Cathedral, the Zisa Castle and The Cuba Palace. The Cathedrals of Monreale and Cefalù also form part of this new World Heritage site.

This is the 51st UNESCO World Heritage Site in Italy and the 7th in Sicily.

Duomo, Cefalù

DAMNED IF YOU LOO.....

"....and damned if you don't." Thus might the thoughts of the priests of Palermo Cathedral have run last week, when they were subjected to much criticism because of a prominent "WC" sign in a side chapel. Where is the loo in question? Directly behind the altar, a fact which has astonished locals and tourists alike.

One of the priests has said it was the only place in the cathedral where they could have put a toilet facility and that it is needed because there are no public conveniences, or other premises with toilets, nearby. He also said that the general feeling among his colleagues is that it is better to offer the facility than not and emphasised that the altar in question is not used for Mass or to store the host and wine.

What do you think? Would you expect to find a toilet in a cathedral?

SUMMER TIDES - 7

Another week brings another tragedy, this time involving a migrant boat off Al Khums [Homs], about 100 miles east of Tripoli. The Libyan Navy managed to save 22 people who were clinging to the remains of the wreckage but it is estimated that 100 are missing. So far 20 bodies have been recovered.

The boat, which was, as usual, inadequate, was carrying around 155 passengers and was heading for Italy. It is not yet known what caused it to capsize but it is thought that the passengers might have suddenly all moved to one side or that the condition of the boat led to the tragedy. Survivors say it was very old.

Over 800 African migrants arrived in Italy on Tuesday alone and of these 192, including three pregnant women, were rescued by the Italian Navy north of Libya. A petrol tanker sailing under a Bahamas flag saved 114 Somali migrants and Mare Nostrum operatives saved a further 404, including a pregnant woman and four newborn babies.  All have been taken to Puglia.

Today 95 male migrants, including 40 minors, have been saved south of Lampedusa in another Mare Nostrum operation. These migrants have been taken to Palermo and will be transferred to other centres in Italy after 48 hours [the time needed for initial identification and assessment, including medical checks].

Also today Ragusa police have arrested three men on suspicion of aiding illegal immigration - that is, of being people traffickers.

But let us end on a heartwarming note with a tale that renews one's faith in Italy: a few days ago a young woman named Naima, who had arrived in Italy on a migrant boat with her parents and husband in September 2013, went into labour at the Cara di Mineo Centre for Asylum Seekers [Catania]. She was first taken to hospital in Caltagirone, where doctors discovered that the baby was suffering from a rare and serious intestinal malformation. Naima would need surgery and time was of the essence. She was immediately transferred by helicopter to the Policlinico di Palermo and there an interdisciplinary team were able to save the baby, who is now well and basking in their attention and affection. The lead surgeon says the baby boy will not need to be in hospital for long. Naima and her husband want to stay in Italy and are waiting for documents that will allow them to do so. Meanwhile, welcome to the world, little one and well done, Caltagirone and Palermo!

IN MEMORIAM - PAOLO BORSELLINO

"Non importa dove si nasce se si combatte per le stesse idee e si crede nelle stesse cose."

"It doesn't matter where we come from if we fight for the same ideas and believe in the same things."

- Judge Paolo Borsellino

Twenty-two years ago today the antimafia Judge Paolo Borsellino was killed, along with five members of his escort, by a bomb as he rang the doorbell of his mother's apartment in Palermo. Sicily does not forget.

Strage di via D'Amelio, 19.7 92

Judge Paolo Borsellino

Agostino Catalano

Walter Eddie Cosina

Vincenzo Li Muli

Emanuela Loi

Claudio Traina

A ONE-TRACK MIND?

Trains are generally held to be unreliable in Sicily and sweeping service cuts by Trenitalia since December have not exactly restored confidence. However, the unitiated might have been impressed by the company's announcement that on the Palermo-Messina line, a train would leave Cefalù at 06.56 and arrive in Castelbuono a mere seven minutes later, while a train running in the opposite direction would leave Castelbuono at 06.53 and arrive in Cefalù at 07.00 precisely.  The only detail the planners had overlooked was the fact that this segment of the line is single-track.

Needless to say, commuters in the area are not happy and I can't help wondering what Mr Tim Parks would make of it!

ADDIO AL MAESTRO

Today the world of music mourns the conductor Claudio Abbado, who has died in Bologna at the age of 80. You may like to know that his mother, Maria Carmela Savagnone, a piano teacher and children's writer, was from Palermo and the maestro was very proud of being half Sicilian. He is fondly remembered here for bringing the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, of which he was then chief conductor, to Palermo's Teatro Massimo on the occasion of its reopening in 1997, four days before its centenary, after a 23-year closure for renovation work.

Here is Claudio Abbado at the Teatro Massimo in 2002:

G. Verdi - I Vespri Siciliani Overture: Claudio Abbado

A DAY IN THE MADONIE

On Sunday my friend Carol and I went on a trip to the Madonie Mountains in the hope of seeing some pretty little towns and breathing some fresh mountain air. We did both, although things did not go quite to plan!

Our first stop was Petralia Sottana or "Lower Petralia" [though I thought it was quite high enough at 1,039 metres above sea level!]  It is a very pleasant town and looked especially jolly on Sunday as there were ribbons everywhere in readiness for the Cordella dance, a sort of hymn to nature which is performed on the Sunday after Ferragosto. Petralia Sottana is part of the Madonie Geopark and points of geological interest are marked by fossil-like medallions on the streets.  It is possible to follow this "urban geological trail" right through the town. We visited the mostly 17th century Church of San Francesco and the Chiesa Madre dei Santi Pietro e Paolo. The "Mother Church" was built in its present form in the 17th century but its foundations were probably laid eight centuries before.

Next, we visited Petralia Soprana or "Upper Petralia" which, at 1,147 metres above sea level, is the highest town in the Madonie. I didn't think it was as pretty as Petralia Sottana but the views from it were stunning. I couldn't cope with the climb up to the churches so Carol took the photos of these for me and, as I waited below, I noticed that a small supermarket was open [which is more than you can say for Modican supermarkets on a normal Sunday]. Alas, this supermarket had no ice creams that did not come in family-sized tubs and, as no bar was open, there was no gelato consolation to be had in Petralia Soprana! [For this reason I will always prefer Petralia Sottana - not that I'm one to bear a grudge....]

After lunch we went on to nearby Polizzi Generosa for the Hazelnut Festival and, we were promised, bancarelle [stalls]. We arrived at three to find only about four bancarelle selling jewellery, shellcraft, hazelnuts and hazelnut ice cream - only the hazelnut ice cream was "arriving later", we were told. What else could we do but sit on some steps in the shade and chat until five o'clock [when the parade was due to begin]? We did just that but the presence of two blonde women, neither of whom were spring chickens, sitting on the steps seemed to generate a lot of excitement in the town's elderly males who all seemed to be out for an early passeggiata. We got the impression that not a lot goes on in Polizzi Generosa on Sundays!

We knew, of course, that "five o'clock" meant six at the earliest but at last the parade began and our hearts softened. There's nothing like the sight of Sicilian horses in their finery, drawing their brightly decorated carts, to cheer you up!

I hope you enjoy the slide show:

A Day in the Madonie - slideshow

AN AFTERNOON IN CEFALÙ

Although I've loved Sicily for over twenty years now and have lived here for eight, I had, until last Sunday, never managed to get to Cefalù. You can see Cefalù as you come down from Gibilmanna and I hadn't realised how close its main buildings are to the sea or what a compact and prettily coloured town it is.

The name Cefalù comes from a Greek word meaning "head" and refers to the massive rock beneath which the town stands. The town dates back to at least Greek times but it was the Normans who rebuilt it nearer the sea and legend has it that King Ruggero 11, having run into a dangerous storm whilst sailing to Palermo in 1131, swore that if he and his ship were spared, he would have a cathedral built where he landed. San Giorgio appeared and guided the ship to safety at Cefalù. Well, I'm going to believe it, anyway!

The narrow, winding streets reminded me of Ligurian towns like Alassio, as did the pleasant, relaxed atmosphere:

The Duomo, begun in 1131 as Ruggero had promised, was restored in 1559:

The Cristo Pantocratore above the altar reminded me of the mosaics in Monreale Cathedral, with which the building is twinned:

We'd had a very early start so decided that we now deserved lunch in the main square. A plate of antipasti  with panelle [chickpea flour fritters] at the back and fried caciotta cheese with orange on the right was just what we needed!

Polpette of beef with pinenuts and sultanas for me

and an entrecôte with more of that orange-flavoured caciotta for my friend:

Time for a wander down to the harbour:

Another view of the bay in the late afternoon light:

Finally, there had to be a stop for a slice of chocolate and coffee semifreddo and I'm happy to be able to tell you that they don't stint on helpings in Cefalù!

A MORNING IN GIBILMANNA

In Palermo Province, nestling in the Madonie at 800 metres above sea level, is the village of Gibilmanna and on Sunday a friend and I joined a trip organised by those nice people at La Terra to visit it.  

The Sanctuary of Gibilmanna is its main attraction and the original building is said to have been part of a monastery founded by Gregorio Magno [Gregory the Great] prior to his becoming Pope in 590. After the Saracen conquest of Sicily in 878 the monastery was abandoned but hermits continuued to care for the church.  Under the Normans, many churches were restored and in 1535 the Cappuccini took over the care of the church.  Brother Sebastiano Majo da Gratteri founded the convent on the site in the same year and the present church structure dates from 1623. Among the goods received by the new church from the old one was a statue of the Madonna commissioned by the Capuchin hermit Giuliano de Placia di Miselmeri in 1533.  It is thought to have been sculpted by Antonello Gagini or a member of his artistic family. The altar is a later work by Baldassarre Pampillonia and dates from around 1684.

The church also has this Assunzione, by an unknown artist, above the main altar.  It was given to the Sanctuary in 1623:

Next to the Sanctuary is a folk museum which also contains ecclesiastical objects. Looking at richly embroidered vestments is not really my thing so I concentrated on the items from everyday life and tried to imagine the people who used them:

As many of you will know, I love Sicilian carts and was glad to realise, when I looked at its sides, that the one above had had its moments of glory:

More artwork from a cart:

I like pestles and mortars too!

Oops - what's a mad Welshwoman doing here?

These instruments were used for cutting the Communion bread. They came with very precise instructions:

Local heel bar?

Gibilmanna, then, is well worth a visit.  Who can guess where we went in the afternoon?

MODICA GETS A GONG

I'm proud to say that the provinces of Ragusa and Catania have establishments that have won Best in Sicily 2013 awards from cronachedigusto.it .  

Let's start with Ragusa:  Modica's very own Caffè dell'Arte has won the "best bar" award and this is well deserved. They make delicious chocolate, ice cream, granita and pastries and you'll be pleased to know that the loo is OK, too! [In fact, when I first came to Sicily in 1992 it was about the only bar in Modica Bassa with a decent one and I used to go there just for that particular need but, of course, I'd stay on to have a pastry....]  The town of Chiaramonte Gulfi, also in Ragusa Province, wins the award for best "food and wine town".

The best wine producer award goes to Giuseppe Russo of Girolamo Russo in Passopisciaro-Castiglione di Sicilia in Catania Province while Maurizio Spinello of Santa Rita [Caltanissetta Province] has been named best baker. The best pastry shop award goes to Dolcezze delle Madonie in Calcarelli, Castellana Sicula [Palermo Province] and the best restaurant, according to the judges, is that of the Hotel Signum on Salina [Messina Province].  The best pizzeria  award has been won by La Brace di Isnello [Palermo Province] and I sure want to go there!

The awards ceremony will take place on 22nd January at Castello Utveggio in Palermo.

Let's hear it for the Caffè dell'Arte!

Thanks to my friend Carol King for pointing out this news to me.

["Gong" is British slang for an honour or military decoration.]

REMEMBERING JUDGE PAOLO BORSELLINO

Today Italy remembers anti-Mafia Judge Paolo Borsellino, killed as he was going to visit his mother in via D'Amelio, Palermo on 19th July 1992 and the five members of his escort who also died.

Rai Uno:  Paolo Borsellino - I 57 giorni [scena finale] 

In the above video clip, Luca Zingaretti plays Judge Borsellino in the last minutes of his life.  The next day, Judge Borsellino's daughter, Lucia, insists on taking a viva voce university examination even though the examiners are of course ready to excuse her.

Strage di via D'Amelio, 19.7 92

Judge Paolo Borsellino

Agostino Catalano

Walter Eddie Cosina

Vincenzo Li Muli

Emanuela Loi

Claudio Traina

"E normale che esista la paura, in ogni uomo. L'importante è che sia accompagnata dal coraggio."

" It is normal for every man to feel fear. The important thing is to also have courage." 

- Judge Paolo Borsellino

MIGRATION UPDATE - 2012

At the end of 2011 it was thought that would-be immigrants heading for Europe via Italy's southernmost ports, often travelling in unfit boats operated by people-traffickers, had been, for the most part, discouraged from beginning their perilous journeys which almost always end in loss of hope if not tragedy.

As I reported last year, many of the desperate souls who take their chances in what I call the "boatloads of sorrow" had been fleeing retribution after the "Arab spring" and had been disembarked [often forcibly] on or near the Italian island of Lampedusa where the inhabitants are not unkind but fear for their own situation and their tourist industry.

In September frustrated North Africans being held in the island's refugee centre set fire to the building to draw attention to their plight and the Port of Lampedusa, having nowhere else to accommodate them, was declared  "unsafe" for any future new arrivals.  

Now, with an improvement in the weather, it looks as if the boats are going to start arriving in large numbers again and the Mayor of Lampedusa has asked the Italian government to reopen the refugee centre urgently.  

Nearly 300 refugees were rescued from three inadequate boats off the island on Saturday and sadly five people were found dead on one of them.  A pregnant woman travelling on the same boat was airlifted to a Sicilian hospital.  

Meanwhile another near-tragedy took place in the Port of Palermo yesterday when a young Tunisian, realising that he was about to be repatriated, threw himself from the deck of a ship onto the quayside.  He suffered several fractures and has undergone surgery in one of the city's hospitals.

Aid agencies have joined in the call upon Rome to reopen the refugee centre on Lampedusa before another tragedy strikes. UNHCR estimates that 60,000 refugees landed in Italy during 2011.