An ancient Play performed in an ancient theatre

How lucky were we????? We just happened to be in Siracusa for the time of the Ancient Greek fesitval. (yes, there is no way our planning would be that good)

So here we have the Greek amphitheatre set up to do what it was built to do well over 2000 years ago. Ok, due to some modifications made by the Romans (they really wanted to stage their navel battles here) and the intervening time, the amphitheatre no longer provides seating for the original 16000 and the acoustics require the assistance of mics and amps etc But gee golly wizz this is something else!

AND we had seats in the 3rd row only just slightly off centre... (this pic was taken afterwards from the top)

So what did we watch? We sat for three hours completely spellbound by Euripides' Phaedra...all in Italian... Yes ok, i know we've been here for a while and so should understand a fair share of Italian but in the end it wasn't the dialogue that brought meaning to the play for us. The performance was incredible. Phaedra's nurse was particularly captivating. I mean seriously, the half an hour dialogue between Phaedra and her nurse had the audience visibly drained. You really felt her anguish as she threw herself across the stage. (ok, enough of that. Lets just say 'it was situational')

Below is Phaedra (red) being held by her nurse, and the onlooking chorus, who incidentally put modern rock stars to shame with the movements they pulled off while holding their one choral note for what seemed an eternity.

And once again my impatience to learn how this programme really works has led to wrong photos and photos in the wrong place. So ignore the one below (it is correctly in a previous post too) and back to the first photo showing Hippolytis, son of Theseus, who the ladies apparently could not leave alone...and the tragedy begins. In short Hippolytis has pledged himself to the Goddess Artemis, the virgin huntress, to whom he is making the sacrifice in the first picture (you should have seen all the firefighters on standby for that one) Of course then, Aphrodite falls in love with him and is offended to the extent that only a female Greek goddess can be when our hero wont break his vow of chastity to Artemis, to be with her. In revenge, Aphrodite curses Phaedra to fall in love (um more like lust) with Hippolytis, the problem being that she is his stepmother. In complete anguish at this unrequited 'love' Phaedra confesses all to her nurse (the above picture) and a few other bits about her family too (apparently her mother had um well, relations with a bull, resulting in the Minotaur, and her sister was the object of Poseidon's 'love')

Phaedra's nurse promises a "Love Cure" (what a contrary notion) for her charge and so needs a hair from the object of her affection's head. To get the hair she confesses all to Hippolytis and, as only a Greek hero can, he gets all dramatic about this unnatural love (bare in mind the mere humans know nothing of Aphrodite's involvement at this stage) denouncing Pheadra to all who will listen. Petrified that he will reveal her secret to Theseus, her husband, Phaedra decides that the only way to save her honour is...yes, to commit suicide. Oh and of course the usual "if i'm going down, i'm taking him with me". So before hanging herself, she attaches a a tablet to her wrist accusing Hippolytis of driving her to suicide (something about improper advances he made on her hmmmm). Theseus then, of course, believes the tablet over the word of his son and banishes him all the while bringing a curse down on him courtesy of his father...Posiedon... Yes, the obliging Deity provides a seabull to frighten the young man's horse who drags said young man to his death. Finally, the elusive Artemis shows up and explains exactly what happened to the terrifying Theseus (he seriously had me shaking during his curse monologue). As a consolation prize, Artemis starts the cult of Hippolytis (lucky him)

And here we have the trouble maker herself...Aphrodite...

What an incredible evening!!!

And we finished the trip off with a typical Sicilian Granite - ice and almond cream (um and maybe some other delicious things...)

Siracusa

Another sneaky day away. This time we rented a car and went south to Siracuso, a town built by the Greeks in 734BC and a one time rival to Athens. Yes we are still in Sicily but it seems everyone has had a go at ruling the island (apparently once the breadbasket of the Rome)

There is so much history simply lying around here that the museum we accidentally came across doesnt deem it necessary to place these 'new' items behind any sort of barrier. I think this particular Madonna and Child is stunning. She has more of a proud, confident look than most others (who frankly in my opinion come across as ... well ... sappy)

There is of course the obligatory grand cathedral. We came across this one on a Saturday so of course there was the obligatory wedding in progress, car out front and all. Unfortunately not having the correct attire i did not enter, but the Captain's photos showed the interior had all the required features in their usual splendour.

The town is split into two parts. There is the island (old town) section of Ortigia, which apparently features in an Asterix, and then the 'new' section which is only a couple of millennia old.... The photo below is taken from the island with the mainland in the distance.

Nothing like having a little hedge...

And the prefect way to see an ancient city...by GoBike. Yip those clever things that you pick up and drop off all over. Perfect way to explore. hmmm you do have to spend a 'few' moments trying to to get the things onto or off their rack though...

Back to the Market

Today we open with a stunning cheesecake... It is almost time for our first charter so practise has been deemed necessary (?much to the delight of the marina staff me thinks?)
This 9 inch wonder is an American cheesecake that uses 2 POUNDS of cream cheese and demands that the twenty minutes of required whipping be done by hand. Although rated delicious by all, it has been struck from the charter list do to effort and ingredient requirements...

For all your provisioning needs we have the market, where you really can get everything...

When you look closely at this delightful butchery, just remember this is the type of store where most of the people in this 'first world country' buy their meat (Can you imagine the British accepting this???)

Their meat is delicious!

Yum yum yum.

This is the opening stall to the market. If it swims off the coast of Sicily, you will find it here.

Tuna is back in season and the Swordfish never left.

It is best to catch these guys on a not too busy day. That way, with a genuine smile (and the due respect) they might even give you an extra slice of Tuna...free... Or maybe even decide that there is no need to charge you for that bag of octopus you have just asked for.

Dont stand too near the tables though...that entire front row is alive...the least it will do is squirt some dirty water at you, the most...well, have you ever tried to disentangle yourself from an octopus desperately trying to escape...?

More about life in Palermo

Here we have yet another obstruction to traffic in Palermo. Yes, this is the main ring-road on the coastal side of the city centre but these two policemen are demonstrating their importance and power by blocking a lane of traffic during rush hour... They show three things that Sicilians deem important (by their own admission)

1) To be known to be in a position of power - thankfully this is usually shown by what you can do for someone

2) To be seen to be important - no matter who they are, Sicilians believe they are important. Even if they are penniless and jobless, they believe they are too important to ask for work (there are No dock walkers in Sicily)

3) Looking good. Apparently the most popular jobs here are those that entail the wearing of a uniform...that way you get paid to look good. (hmmm the Captain and I often fall very short on this one as we usually dont rank dressing well high on our priority list. oops)

This is a genuine two way street in the heart of Palermo. The streets are so narrow and the buildings so high that the gps doesnt work. Just when you have desperate need for it too (imagine a rabbit warren...)Some of the corners are so tight that you have to do a three point turn around them. A picture like this should leave no wonder as to the popularity of scooters here

Here we have the preparations for a demonstration. Um for what? hmmm no parla Italiano...no capito...

With the arrival of the summer sun, the fishermen have returned to their boats. We thought that some of them were definitely destined for the 'recycle bin' but lo and behold, out come the powertools, the pine planks

and the paint that someone's uncle can get for a very reasonable price off the back of someone else's truck. As usual it is a case of: one person to do the work and at least three to stand around and 'supervise'

Yay. We snuck off our route home from Trapani to see the ancient Greek ruins at Segesta.

Yes we are still in Sicily, but among many others, the Greeks once settled here.

This is the temple. If I understood the translation correctly, they are not sure who it is to as the alter was never completed. Yip, this is an unfinished temple, giving historians an idea of the process of Temple building

The panoramic quality of this pic is possible because of my amazing new camera. ha ha yay my gift to me for when i cant leave the boat due to 'serving guests'

And up we climbed. The ticket lady was shocked that we only wanted entrance tickets (fortune strikes the spontaneous - free today due to Cultural Week) and not for the bus ride up.... "but it's a 25min hike", she stammered as we left the office.

That IS the 'Unfinished Temple' from the previous photo and we ARE only half way up at this stage. But the hike was well worth it considering what we would have missed; the cooling breeze that made it more than pleasant; and of course (Mom) the fact that ALL roads up mountains are ALWAYS windy windy windy windy (hmmm, same spelling but the curvy type, not the blowing type)

And the panoramic capabilities of my wonderful camera strike again capturing the view from the top. Wine country. Ok ok so maybe i really need to 'hit the books' because i am convinced these vineyards have to be at least borderline ancient...dont they. I mean seriously, didnt the Ancient Greeks have a thing for wine...Dionysus was a pretty powerful god and all that.

And Finally. Dum da da daahThe Amphitheatre

Considerably reconstructed but impressive nevertheless and definitely worth the hike.

After all the work they've done i hope they still use it...

yes yes yes, more research needed...

Today we took our hired car to Trapani.

(Our normal car is not allowed outside Palermo - more about her later i'm sure...she's a REAL charactor!)

We were on a mission to pick up things you just cant buy in Palermo and along the way we did a bit of exploring.

WOW what a contrast!!!!!

A little research is needed because the inevitable question swung into our minds...Why oh why can Trapani be so clean and so well looked after when Palermo is literally one big rubbish heap with buildings falling apart etc

A few solutions we came up with were:

a) The people in Trapani respect their town more and so look after it more themselves... (The Palermatin penchant for throwing anything they dont need anymore into the streets has resulted in a walk through Palermo resembling a wade through a rubbish dumb...no kidding...They eat a pastry that came in a wrapper...vooooops the wrapper is floating in the breeze...old scooter that needs scrapping...well rust away right where you are... Bins overflow to the point that 3 lane roads are reduced to 2...and thats just the rubbish that made it to the bins...)

b) Palermo being the capitol etc has attracted more people and the city just cant cope

c) The buildings are older in Palermo and so more difficult / expensive to repair (The style does seem similar. Trapani buildings just seem to have plastered fronts and less crumbling...)

d) The Palermatins want to 'preserve' the buildings in the EXACT style in which they were built

e) Dare I say it: the mafia has gone into the construction industry in a BIG way.... and has a well felt presence in Palermo...

um ok i'll do research but in the mean time, you decide

mmmmm yummy Palermo

So we saved up our food budget and splashed out...

yummmy!!!! hmm um langostine (spelling?), small lobster or big prawns...pan fried in olive oil and dipped in mayo. aaaah

Back to practising making bread.

We may not be going to Greece anymore but nothing like fresh bread for lunch to keep hungry guests happy

Um the captain decided that Saturday was the day to figure out the method for the perfect espresso. 6 espressos later and he had one

with the perfect amount of foam and strong enough

to keep the teaspoon upright

Um not so PC these days

And a lot of guilt felt in this meal BUT

This tuna steak comes from a localy fished tuna (not one caught in a giant net, spotted by a helicopter etc etc) Marinated in lemon juice and

cooked for 1 min...

Cooked to perfection!

30 sec on each side

Hot but raw.

And purchased in the poorest quarter of Palermo,

Vuccurio (spelling?) Where you are definately

less likely to get ripped off than by the

Arenella fishmonger (thats guaranteed))