Finito

And that is it for me. Next time Ill be writing from the summer camp. Grazie to all the people Ive met on the way, I better not put names because Im afraid Ill forget one: all the tips I got from you, the company we kept, the beaches we found, the volcanoes we walked up to, the endless dancing nights, the endless dancing nights (is not a typo, it deserves to be said more than once). Glad I met you, hope to stay in contact. Baci to you all, ciao belli…

Last Trek

My last two days of vacation. I picked a trek taking me across most of the Ligurian Riviera, from PortVenere to Camogli, walking across Cinque Terre and the Portofino peninsula. Great trek, a little crowded at times by tourist but was able to avoid them by taking the harder trails (most tourist don’t like t sweat). Plenty of food on the way, as I walked thru vineyards and farms. Couldn’t enjoy the sunset as I hit a pretty deep valley at the time, but made sure I was there for the sunset. Slept on a cliff overlooking the Riviera and was woken up by some fishermen with their motorboats just in time to see BOB (big orange ball) come up. Pretty. My favorite part? Walking into this small village, sorrounded by 3 mountains and a open in the ocean. Nice.

Genova

Once more I am taken aback by the Italian spirit. The Republica Genoese went through a lot to get to their place today and they wear it proudly. Sons of coal workers, fishermen, ship repairmen, is what inhabits this city today, and are not ashamed to tell you, on the contrary, they made a museum about it. Nice city. Pretty good mix of renaissance and medieval style, just across the street from each other!

Siena

Jugula

Grandeur does not begin to describe Rome. You certainly get a feel of awe when walking in the streets of at one point in time used to be the center of the world (now relocated 2 blocks down from my grandparents). As I was walking down the forum I tried to imagine the old days, everybody yelling and screaming: toga, toga, toga!!!! It must have been pretty crazy.
The Vatican? I better not get started on how much they have stolen, destroyed and plundered. All of the art, all that money, all that “showing off”,why? I wonder. Some feelings of anger were brought up, but also have to admit there was some awesome art. The Rafaello room took me a bit to peel away from. In short, things that caught my emotions (this kind of work, does just catch your eye): the terror in Medusa’s eyes as Perseo is holding her head, the emotionless look in Maria as she holds her son, the contempt in Rafaello as he looks at himself drawing, the disgust and anger in Aristoteles as he argues with Platon. Wish I knew more about art…. I really like the cherub/eros small statues. They looked devilish, just the way I felt that day….

Amore Napoletano

You know how many stories and legends I know but the napoletanos have me beat. Did a tour of the subterranean city below Napoli and ended up having a personal guided tour of city as the tour guide was so excited to meet a Peruvian she took me out for a walk, of course I had to pay for the coffee. Women. Napoli is a town that grew out of space and now everything is piled on top of each other, maybe the reason why they are so friendly, they don’t have room for a bubble space, sometimes they don’t even have the space they are in at the moment, not just shoulder to shoulder contact but window sill to window sill and balcony to balcony (literally, you can walk from one to the other). Stories of war, bomb shelters, depression, survival, and plenty of myths are common place around these streets. Truly enjoy it. Oh, great pizza…

We are good

I havent heard news but ill take it as no news is good news in this case. I just heard about the quake but know that Lima i snot ready for one as it has growthn without proper planning. My cousin is pretty good at keeping up with details( he has a computer at work)but since I havent heard form him ill take it nothing has directly affected the family other than the power shortages...
On my way to a 2 day walk from 5 terre to Camogli, and thats it for this trip
Talk to you in 2 days, eill kepp you updated
thanks for the emails :-)
Ciao

Chau Sicilia

And I say farewell with a hurting heart. I have never felt so at home being so far away. And is of the Carrello Siciliano, the Cassatas, the pesci, the mare, the Puppi, the Cannoli, ahhh the cannoli, the mountains, the tango, the tarantellas and this wonderful people that I peel away.
Rafaela Carrá said it best: “para hacer bien el amor hay q venir al Sur…

Aghh, chucks! I'll stay one more day ;)
.....

Forza Palermo

Palermo may be the capital and biggest city of Sicilia but it still holds the small town flavor. Some people say you can taste it in the air (but in reality is all the fish they bring into town)
MARKETS!! Just like the one back home, eating “polpo bolito” reminded me of ceviche and the fried pork paninni was just like chicharrón, I will give my leg for some yuca frita or some camote right now uhmmmm.
And the churches are really exquisite in flavour, finesse and finish. wow, the Duomo is a mixture of all the cultures that took turns governing Sicilia, and a bus ride away: Monreale, a church that was dressed entirely in Mosaics. From all parts of every wall and even from the ceiling, the church tells you, much to its own flavour, stories of the old testament, a sight to that needs to be seen…

Cefalù

Cefalu is now a beautiful resort town. A beautiful resort town with a castle right on top of it, to fence it from any foreign army locals say. They do not mention however the enemy within. I looked and looked around, asked many many questions, but there is no trace of it now. I even tried to stay overnight at the fort but a guard caught me, I played a good foreigner but he definitely knew I It seems the Aleph flees away from my fingertips again. But do not despair, I got the next clue to the puzzle :)

For whom, tell me please....

Perlas del Barroco

Perls is what they truly are. Barroque pearls. All of them UNESCO’s Humanity Patrimony. With their beautiful palazzos, their Chiesas and Duomos, each one of them more beautiful than the prior one, and still all different:

Noto, small cozy, takes you back in time. Totally reconstructed in baroque style after the 1690 earthquake is an example of what a city was on those days. The many look-out points from any of the many churches give you an impressive view of the city, rising big to celebrate their gods. And if that isn’t good enough, a great beach is just 10 min out in the local bus. Beat that!!

Modica, capricious geography make this a spectacular town. Built on 4 hills and around two rivers that are not there any more, Modica was the old capital of Ragusa and still carries in its blood the stance of high princess.

One can just imagine the two rivers running along the city (compared in its time to Venice´s beauty) and towering above them, two Cathedrals (yes, 2, one spitting distance from the other). Pride and dignity runs in the air and the best place to see this dignity is none other than its gastronomy. Delicious “modican” dishes and chocolate uhmmmmm....

Ragusa, capital of the region under the same name, is but more candy for my eyes. I haven’t seen a more beautiful city. Imperial, majestic, words neither pictures can describe it. 5 hills surround the city and in the middle, like an island in the middle of gigantic waves, IBLA Ragusa, the downton area. And just like in an island in the middle of the ocean, its clock stopped centuries ago. Narrow streets take you nowhere, miles of uneven steps, bridges, overpasses, arches, vaults, domes, a city full of wonders at every corner. Paradise for a photographer, wish I knew one, all I could do was stay up all night at a church and stare at IBLA from the viewpoint of a church from dusk till dawn…
Feat of beauty both, the sunrise and the sunset....

Noto, Modica and Ragusa. 3 cities that grab you and make you experience awe in their 3 united, different and unique ways....

Camino a Vendicari

This idea was born thanks to a couple of siblings from Slovakia (brother and sister that get along well enough to travel together, what an idea!!) They tell me about a rastafari camp on the way to Noto. The idea is consolidated when a Sicilian we met at the beach tells me about the wonderfull city of Noto and the Natural Park of Vendicari. I’m in.
The adventure starts, of course, by missing the bus, and having to take the one to the closest town and try to catch another one from there. No biggie, I take a look around, come back and wait for the bus. 15. 30. Nothing. Then an old man offers me a ride. Sweet. Im in the car now, shooting the shit, and I tell him about the reservation, he tells me he’ll take me all the way there. Ok, I thought I’ll pay (since I had no clue where we were), but the price was just a tad to high. I’m not one for handjobs. Now it’s me and my backpack in the middle of the highway. The only thing I knew: head west. After a 15 minute walk a van pulls over and flags me in, of course I try again, the greater surprise was what I found inside: rastas!!! Now I’m in the right car. It’s one Brazilian and one Italian. I wish I had a tape recorder and tape our conversation. Everyone stuck to their own language, pretty cool. Doesn’t take long to reach the camp, I ask the lady owner about the reservation, turns out it’s just across the highway, near the ocean. Awesome, a 30 min walk puts me into the waters on this refuge (stopping point for all birds and turtles emigrating to Africa, in case you were wondering).
Next day I try to catch a lift to Noto but I couldn’t get one at the camp. Italians are very helpful as long as they don’t have to put more than 5 people in their car, rookies. So, I’m sitting on the highway handrails when a dude picks me up, yes, I don’t learn. We got to talk and turns out his dream is to go to Nepal and … Perú. Small world, so we just chatted. He was on his way to Noto to pick up his son, but right before we get there, the son calls. He’s running late, so it’s me, the old man, a couple of cannolis and some coffee and now I have a private tour guide. Noto, what a city, beautiful, but I digress…. Now, to go head back to the campsite. Of course no urban bus goes that far, and the intercity ones don’t want to stop in the middle of the highway, so I take the urban bus that takes me to the furthest beach west and start walking. I had no clue how long it was as the touristy maps have no scale, but after asking around, I got a figure between 12 and 20 kms. Not too bad, I can walk it, and I’m glad I did. What a fantastic view!
The geography makes for isolated beaches one from the other and in between there is this little hill with a cliff at the waterside to jump in the water, incredible, I saw some good spots to take your girlfriend and enjoy a day alone at the beach maybe even have some apple pie. Deep blue is the color of the water and I’m almost in a trance when I hit this beach where something was just wrong, the ratio was out of control, 200.000 men to 1 woman! I’m sorry; it’s just hard to get an accurate count when they are all naked! Some of them were even wearing makeup. I noticed it on the ones that came over and try to make small talk with me. Got out of there as quick as I could. As Im tryng to put that thought behind, I saw the Sveva Tower, the signature landmark of the Vendicari Park and right in front of it, the campsite. Goodie, almost there. By now the sun is setting, red-orange skies on my left, deep blue ocean on my right.
Im hungry and I have no food packed with me. I pick up some tunas and I get stubbed. I pick up some berries and they are sour. Hungry still but nothing can stop me from enjoying another beautifull sunset in Sicily….

Tango en Catania, Siracusa & Tremestieri

3 glorious days of tango. Missing a bus, sleeping on a bus bench waiting for the morning shuttle, breaking a shoe, running on little sleep, paying too much for a cab ride to the next town over is more than just fine when met by good live tango, good dancing and great dance partners…
Tal vez nunca hable su idioma,
Talvez nunca hable el mio,
pero a veces, y por 4 minutos, basta un abrazo, un guiño, el llanto de un bandoneón....
Cuando una mirada invita y un abrazo te da el "¿cómo estas?"
¿es acaso un traspié un te quiero?