Trapani

Trapani, this wonderful small city located on the north west corner of Sicily has a long history. It has even been credited by many historians including the English, Butler, has being the true Ithaca of the Odyssey. Be that as it may, it is surely worth a visit.

Lonely town

Once Castellammare had a population of about 24 thousand people but with emigration and low fertility rate, it has now about 15 thousand inhabitants. In the summer, the population reaches about 80 thousand and the place really rocks. But when  the great part of the tourists leave with only a handful of more adventurous remaining and with a large part of the population living in modern elevator apartments at the outskirts, the centro storico or the old part get really lonely at times. I live in this old area and really do enjoy the peace and quiet. Of course the tourists begin to come  again back like the swallows  every spring and the place gets crazy once more,

A few more from Castellammare

The late afternoon is a magical time for photos and these are a few examples.
Have a great Wednesday / Buon mercoledi'

Back to Castellammare del Golfo

Some photos of my beloved town until I return to the archives and can post some vintage stuff.

These are of  the Piazza Europa area that has become  rather trendy. This area had  many warehouses one of which was used by my father who was a cooper  to work on  large wine barrels.

Have a nice Tuesday / Buon martedi'

Quiet streets in late afternoon

On summer afternoons, the streets get sort of quiet in Castellammare. People rest up for the evening meal. Also in the summer people do not go out until very late at night,

Afternoon delight

All these sort of add and ends photos were shot in the afternoon to capture the light.
These are all from by beloved Castellammare and are all shot with the Olympus E PL-2 with the
kit zoom lens. This camera is really capable of outstanding image quality ans as a travel camera
it's unbeatable.

San Vito lo Capo

San Vito lo Capo situated  at the western point of the golf of Castellammare, was a small fishing town known for it's tonnara or tuna fishing outfit. It slowly began to be a major tourist attraction thanks to its not very long but superb beach of a very fine white sand .I visited it on a cloudy day, yes there is an occasional cloudy day in Sicily but it was a day when in the rest of Italy it was raining severely, so a few clouds can be excused.
San Vito lo Capo was recently named as Italy's best beach by a famous American travel magazine whose name escapes me. I prefer the beach in my beloved Castellammare better but I am severely prejudiced.

Have a wonderful Thursday and thanks for visiting

Vi auguriamo uno splenido giovedi e grazie per averci visitato

Centro Culturale Peppino Caleca

Living in my beloved Castellammare del Golfo, I come into contact with many interesting people. None a dearer to me than the members of the Centro Culturale Peppino Caleca. This is an association of poets who write in Sicilian. It must be stated that Sicilian is a very poetic language and that it was Italy's first literary language in the 12th hundreds. The sonnet, was  first developed in Sicily by Lentini a port in the Court of Frederick II, stupor mundi. The members of the group range from the  92 years old Vito Sottile to the 19 years old  Angelica Ferrantelli. The reason of the photos was a visit we made to the home of the association's oldest stateman, Mr. Sottile whose energy and mental acumen stunned me. Here are some photos to sort of share the event with my dear visitors who by now realize that my love for Sicily and all that is Sicilian has no bounds.
Top two photos are L to R Mr Antonio Fontana and Mr Sottile, the third from the top is of Mr. Sottile, the fourth from the top is of Mr Fontana while the photo above is of Ms  Ferrantelly, the youngest member,
{eppino Caleca who died recently was the town chef poet in importance, followed by Vincenzo Ancona who died a few years ago.
HAVE A WONDERFUL SATURDAY / BUON SABATO

Sicilian muffin

This delicious bread is called muffulettu it's usually is made during the fall near St. Mar tin's day when as the saying goes tutto il mosto diventa vino or all the juice becomes wine.  My friend at my favorite supermarket here, bakes them all yera long but only an Saturdays so naturally I avail myself of this pleasure.  The Sicilian word muffulettu must be related to the English word muffin. There  are many English-isms in Sicilian. For example, this wonderful language, just like  English lacks the superlative. In Italian the superlative of bello is bellissimo in english in order to state this concept one must say very beautiful. In Sicilian one must say veru beddu. Interesting linguistic similarities.

At any rate, aside from the language lesson, this soft bread is made with a dough that has wild fennel seeds mixed in. One dresses it with slices of Sicilian caciocalallo similar in a way to provolone, salted sardines and olive oil. It is a wonderful snack. Ricotta may be added but then no sardines.
BTW, what in the English speaking world is known as italics, in Italian it is known as inglesismi. Go figure.

Hello from Castellammare del Golfo

There's  no place like it and when I get bored reading and eating the great food, I just take a walk with the Olympus E PL-2 and all is solved. These photos of early afternoon were shot with the 9-18mm Zuiko, a  really wonderful lens.

Castellammare del Golfo, long ago / Canon FT

Because I have to provide an exhibit  of my photos of my beloved Castellammare del Golfo for a club's anniversary, I have become re-acquainted with film and must admit that my love for film has been re- kindled. I love it's tangible quality. it's just not a string of ones and twos. What can I say.

These photos all date back from 1969 and were shot on Plus-X.