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The Sicily of today is what I remember of the Italy of 30 years ago, when I was a student here. It seems like for the most part time here has stood still. One of the first things we noticed is that everything is chiuso between approximately 1-5 pm. Try to go to the grocery store, è chiuso, how about some food for the car, è chiuso. They take their siesta seriously. At this time of year, with beautiful sunshine outside, the beaches, the beach bars, most hotels, all chiuso. We are told that Sicily is a holiday spot for the summer tourists. I can understand this mentality, where a pleasant season ends, as on Cape Cod, and a winter season begins, but here, where the temp never reaches below the upper 50′s? That would mean Florida has to close all its shutters during the winter, just when all of the snow birds go south. Lost financial opportunity! But then maybe, here they prefer the slower pace of life.
We had a road map of 1996, where the Autostrada was marked to be under construction. 15 years later, in many segments, it is still under construction. The sections, which were completed with European funds, as it is often stated by signs, are marvels, with up to 2 km long tunnels going through the center of mountains, just like in the Alpine countries.

The male driver here has not changed either, no matter how small a car he has, he has race driver blood in him. Maybe they are all trying to take the title away from Vettel, ewen though he drives a non Italian car, a Red Bull, fitted with a French Renault engine. At least they had a real idol in Schumacher, who drove a Farrari. That didn’t go over well in Germany, the country of distinquished cars. To be honest with you, I think, they all have a death wish. They pass whenever they want, have no respect for line markers or speed signs. They tend to always drive on the line between 2 lanes; I admit, this facilitates quicker acceleration for passing. The only time I really object to it though, is on the curvy mountain roads, where I am always holding on the car’s handle grip. I had always known that those handles were not attached, so that one could get in and out of cars more comfortably. I already have my hand in the air, am pointing to God, and am starting to pray for my life. I really could become real religious here.
Maybe that explains it, Italians in general tend to be quite religious. I have seen quite a few cross themselves before eating, I wonder, if this could also be a ritual before driving?
The Piago, a 3 wheel motorized cycle is still alive and well after 50 years. When we were in the Deutsches Museum in München, we saw an exhibition about the innovative things of the 50′s. Il Piago was right there, along with the Vespa. It is still used today to transport things through the narrow streets of Sicily. The island definitely seems to beat to it’s own drummer. You know what, that is what seems to make it so special. It can be oh so frustrating, when you can’t find anything open, but so rewarding, when you look into the countryside and like generations before him, a shepherd still tends his flock of sheep. Bella Sicilia!

This entry was posted on Monday, October 17th, 2011 at 12:30 pm and is filed under Italy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.