Sicily: Four Rs

What have you been up to? Where have you been? What are you doing there?

These are the questions we have been getting from friends, family and followers. Even mine host here is a tad anxious about whether we are having a good time!

Answers: Nothing. No Where. The Four Rs - Resting, Reading, (w)Riting, Reflecting

And it’s good!

View from the rooftop of our apartment this morning

After entertaining folk with tales from our first five action packed weeks, and endless reports of the ABCs

ABCs in the education sense = lots of school visits

ABCs in the tourist sense = Another Blimmin Church/Castle/Cathedral/Crypt!

we are sensing concern that we may be bored! 

Our travel plan always was to pack experiences and learning into every available moment for the first five weeks and then to come to a complete stop and reflect on what we have seen and done. We have a backlog of ‘stuff’ that we have not found time to write about over the last few months/years and we planned to create space to do this. This of course includes our current travels.

We asked a number of people for recommendations about a place in Europe that would be good for this.  Our requirements were: internet, sun, sea, peace and quiet, access to food somewhere reasonably handy - and cheap!

We had a number of suggestions but the standout was from Brian and Jean Annan who advocated for Sicily. I went online and entered our dates and stipulations into Trip Advisor and we ended up in Piana Grande, Riberia.

Corner of our apartment looking across the bay

There are no ABCs of any sort nearby, we are in an apartment on a 3 hectare section by the Mediterranean - 5km beach walk at the bottom of the cliff. Our landlord lives below us and presses tourist itineraries upon us. There is an agriculture service town 6km away, which is nothing like any town people from NZ imagine when thinking about Italy - more like an agriculture service town in the Far North of NZ.

On the roof top

We drive into town to buy fresh produce, olives, bread and meat etc and bring it home to cook. The internet comes and goes, but we have great 4G cell reception to tether our phones when needed. We do the things we came here to do. And we are very content, for these two weeks. It really does remind us of a holiday our family had in Henderson Bay in the Far North - minus the boat!

At the far end of the beach below our place

Pretty much a kiwi camping holiday - just under a roof and with internet.

If you ask us if we have done this, that or the other that people come to Sicily to see and do, the chances are quite high that the answer will be 'No'. I think you've got the picture here (literally) of what we're doing!

And the super observant will notice that the number of blog posts are multiplying every day, just not appearing at the top of the list as I am back dating them to match the timeline of when they occurred.

Pizza and Cozze

We discovered a delightful pizza place five minutes walk up the road from our home that reminded us of Luke’s Kitchen in Kuaotunu. 

Quelli di Piana Grande Pizzeria is a family run business tucked away off the road and difficult for foreigners to find. It opens about 8.30pm in the evening and sells great pizza and cozze (mussels) and seafood antipasto.

Each time we went we were the only non-Italians there and the owner’s sister came out to take our orders as the designated English speaker.

We realised here that the greatest compliment we could pay an eatery was to forgot to take a photo because we were so enjoying the food! Hence the photos here of empty plates.

Wedding in Agrigento

During lunch today at Trattoria Il Vicolo in Agrigento we were intrigued to have a bride and groom walk up the steep stairs past us - bride in a gorgeous Italian gown and groom in glamourous military uniform - followed by a crowd of paparazzi. We had no idea if this was normal for an Italian wedding, or if we were in the midst of celebrities, and had no way of finding out with our limited Italian.

They waved and smiled at us and the owners responded affirmatively to my gestures that I would like to go and join the paparazzi, so I took some pics, including the one here that deliberately includes some of the photographers.

Nice memory and we went on our way after a great lunch.

When we returned to the carpark - deserving another story and salute to Russell safely negotiating crazy building - I noticed the church next door was now covered in flowers and had a huge florist van outside. It looked like preparation for a wedding, so, after checking with the custodian, we headed on in.

The flowers were stunning and reminded us of the work done by our friend Nat, of Flora May floral design in Auckland. We could not believe how many flowers were festooned around the church. So lots of photos were taken. 

We scuttled off as soon as we heard the first guests approaching.

Add caption

Note the little containers for rice/confetti

Selfie Sticks

“Lethal Weapons” 

or 

“Weapons of Mass Destruction”

(Yup - we’ve even seen them pulled out during Mass!)

It’s been five days since we’ve seen a selfie stick! Gotta love Sicily.

On arrival in Hawaii we realised that the selfie stick was a much bigger deal in the USA than in NZ.

And we commented then that some people only seem to see the sights through the screen of their phone, But with their own face obscuring a proportion of the view!

Then landing in Europe we realised that we hadn’t seen nothin' yet! From Paris to Rome and 8 countries in between we learnt to watch out for crazy people brandishing their sticks. Something about a S-S seems to make the owners oblivious to oncoming cars, bicycles, people, hazards, animals and small children. The worst place on earth to encounter them has to be around the Trevi Fountain in Rome.

And almost without fail, people using them look like they’re having fun, or present an appearance of fun.

One of our tour guides a couple of weeks ago did a quick survey of our group and pronounced, “Good, no selfie stick users here. I can make this an interesting tour!” Then went on to make some un-PC comments about <insert>Ethnicity<insert/> people whose focal point is the end of a stick.

Negative attitudes are probably enhanced by the number of Hawkers who approach you every minute if they notice you don’t have a S-S, trying to sell you one in neon pink, green or yellow.  It leads to some pithy responses after a while.

In searching for a photo to link to above I discovered this article in the Daily Mail discussing the EU considering banning selfies at major European landmarks. So, have the oldies become a bunch of killjoys or are they really a menace?

Dining in a cafe in Paris, the waiter offered to take our photo!

I will admit that I do like the selfie sticks that telescope into a small tube AND can be turned into a sturdy tripod. That would be a useful gadget.

And to really show my status as a technophobe or late adopter, we have enjoyed moments on this trip meeting new people when either they have asked us, “Would you like us to take a nice photo of you two together?” or we have offered to do this for others.

Loving the selfie-stick free Agrigento region of Sicily.

The face of Europe

Travelling companion or stalker?

Everywhere we have gone since arriving in Europe this woman has been there before us, occupying enormous billboards in prominent places.

I have noted the billboards and never could figure quite what she was marketing. She became a game on our tour buses - a bit like counting sheep or horses - spotting how many times we saw her.

Until today, in Agrigento. The woman on the billboard was nowhere to be seen in this town, but her name was on a clothing store.

NB: the image above of the billboard is cropped!

Professionals at Work

Anyone of the teachers who have worked with me on making film and teaching children movie making skills will be in no doubt about my passionate advocacy for the simple tripod.

I was thinking of my colleagues when I took these photos (no tripod, but elbows on the railing in lieu) on the Ponte Sant'Angelo spanning the Tiber River in Rome.

Professional photographers were lining up to capture the magnificent sunset followed by the evening illuminations of Castel Sant'Angelo and other buildings.

I couldn't resist grabbing my phone and capturing this unexpected sight on our evening stroll to the Vatican.

They all had set-up tripods and I think one would feel uneasy joining their lineup without one!

Right now across our Manaiakalani schools our clever teachers are up-skilling themselves to create a movie with their learners to share on the BIG screen at the Manaiakalani Film Festival 2016. Every year we dissect the difference between the movies that are a hit with the audience - because that is the ultimate test, right? - and the rest. It is always the same answer.

Three things:

• A compelling story, to paraphrase Kevin Roberts. Engaging the audience' emotions whether through humour, pathos, sympathy, joy, adrenaline or whatever. The story is essential.
• Vision. Are we going to feel sea sick watching this? Did you use a tripod? Did you keep your back to the light source (windows, fluro lights)? These are not fancy techniques for frazzled classroom teachers. Just common sense tips.
• Sound. Consistent sound levels. Clear speech. Background music only used if needed and used well. The post production team can do a lot to improve the sound you if you keep the sound clear and consistent.

And yes, I do recognise the irony of using inferior 'snaps shots' to illustrate this piece :)

Cross posted on Manaiakalani Blog

Trevi: worth a good look

The Fontana di Trevi - or Trevi Fountain in English -is a fountain in Rome, Italy. It is the largest Baroque fountain in the city and the most beautiful in the world.

I can’t imagine going to Rome, whether for the first time or the 50th, without visiting the Trevi Fountain. It is entrancing. And this trip we were the beneficiaries of Fendi having spent millions of dollars on cleaning and restoration work. Visitors during the 18 months it was closed would have been keenly disappointed. Read more about that here.

It must be frustrating as a Roman citizen to have this stunningly beautiful taonga in your home town constantly swamped by teeming crowds. Millions of people visit every year and not only is it impossible to take in an unimpeded panoramic view, but it is so busy there is no space to sit and contemplate either.

I took a photo this time of the people rather than the fountain, and you may notice as I did that the majority actually spend most of their time with their back to the fountain. The point of the visit appears to be being recorded in a photo at it, rather than soaking it up. Even those who contribute to the 3000 Euro gathered daily by tossing a coin over their shoulder spent very little time facing it!

Click on photo to enlarge to original size