Rocco Galatioto, nice photos and good food

Two spring flowers to celebrate Easter.

What impresses most first time visitors to Sicily is the friendliness of it's people. Most who come harbor some pre established stereotypical ideas that are soon dispelled. I find that the people are incredibly open, friendly and helpful. They cannot do enough for you. They are costantly giving you fruits and vegetables and if, they have olives trees, some of the most exquisite olive oil on Earth. These are some of my neighbors who live on my street.

These children live next door from me in Sicily. I shot them in open sky light in the shade.

As we were ready to depart Sicily, we decided to take a last look around the town and naturally passed by the "scaru," or market where I buy the freshest vegetables grown locally. As it doesn't freeze in Sicily, the cold weather vegetables are grown all year round. The cauliflower ended up in our suitcases, cut into three pieces as not to go over the scrupulously enforced 10 Kg limit that Ryan Air imposes. Needeless to say, the sucker got to Genova where I cooked it "affogato" in a light tomato and garlic sayce and places over pasta. Delicious.

Two more shots to show the intense colors of Sicily. These are shot from Piazza Petrolo and look toward the sea and the castle that gives Castellammare it's name.

Parma, is along with bologna, renowned for it's great food. Of course Parma is even more famous for it's affettati, cold cut's - the prosciutto di Parma- and of course, for it's parmigiano cheese. you can literally buy affettati on the streets s one photo shows. It's a lovely town with food as it's only attraction although it is the birth place of Verdi and Toscanini. Opera is takes as seriously as food here.

The Brooklyn Botanic Garden on a pleasant afternoon; nothing comes close in New York. It is always a great pleasure to go there and relax. The lens is the Nikkor 16-35 F4 G. ENJOY

Cremona, a sleepy gem of a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, was the home of Stradivari, the immortal violin maker. Today, it is a wonderful city with an important cathedral and a large pedestrian "centro storico." The food, as in any town of this region is fantastic. It is richer than the food of most other regions but it is absolutely delicious. The Olympus E PL-2 turned out to be an ideal travel camera.

All who have come to Sicily have commented at the super intense colors and flavors. From the Greeks, Romans, Arabs who absolutely loved their brief stay, to modern observers like Wolfgang Goethe, Anatole France, Guy de Maupaussant and Luigi Barzini, all have commented at the fact that Sicily is a more intense and concentrated version of Italy. This photo of Scopello where a "tonnara." where a tuna fishing fleet was lounched each year, shows the super saturated colors. This photo is an out of the camera JPEG whitout any manipulation.

Just teasing you with these freshly picked citrus fruits from Sicily whose aromas and flavors are to die for.

What can you say about the food in Italy. It is the only country in the world where it's almost impossible to have a bad meal. It is the best in the world, nothing comes close for it's healthfulness and taste. Unlike many other cuisines, it has great alimentary qualities and of course incredible flavors. Most of it is basic and simple but this magic can only be pulled off with the freshest ingredients. Italian cuisine celebrates nature according to Barzini. I have reported on the Nostromo restaurant in Rapallo, just north of Porto Fino, south of Genova in Liguria. Here lunch is an all you can eat affair and the food comes our in the order that the kitchen is preparing it. It usually begins with the frittelle, followed by pasta al pesto and pasta with tomato sauce and it ends with cheese, fruits, a proprietary liqueur and, of course espresso. This is a musu eat place and the price is reasonable. Buon appetito!

A canal with gondolas, very typical for Venice.

Italy is presently celebrating the 159th anniversary of it's unification so there's an unusual display of the colors.