baroquesicily.com – Sicily Stories and Travel Tips from Jann Huizenga

Buon Natale

Jann — Thu, 24 Dec 2015 23:40:37 +0000

Merry Christmas!...

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Love & Laurels

Jann — Wed, 09 Dec 2015 16:14:36 +0000

When you get your university diploma in Italy, you are laureato (lau-ray-áh-toe), literally "crowned with laurel." ...

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Sicilian Serenade

Jann — Sat, 14 Nov 2015 17:32:00 +0000

Sometimes the headlines make me wonder: Is there any hope for us? Francesco and his mother dropped into my world by chance today to remind me that great big hearts outnumber evil ones in this world.

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I Banchi di Ciccio, Ragusa Ibla, Sicily

Jann — Sat, 24 Oct 2015 14:55:35 +0000

There's a new treasure in the neighborhood: I Banchi. Its magnetic field draws me in every single day, either for a frothy cappuccino, pasta lunch, hunk of parmigiana or half loaf of bread, take-out dinner pizza or scaccia (available by the slice), or for an evening glass of the local peppery black nero d'Avola at a table outside...

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Ouch! Beware! The Prickly Pear.

Jann — Mon, 12 Oct 2015 17:23:19 +0000

They're natives of the Americas, the mean spiky fruits. But prickly pear cacti have flourished in Sicily's climate. You have to dodge them here--they rise 20 feet tall and come at you from all directions. Lured by a poster, we decided yesterday to celebrate the fruit I fear...

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Mushroom Man

Jann — Mon, 05 Oct 2015 11:27:46 +0000

He was tramping up and down hills, at the side of a road full of twists and turns, in the mountains of Sicily. Across the wide valley rose Etna dark as a savage mystery.

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The Last Lace

Jann — Thu, 09 Jul 2015 15:58:45 +0000

I noticed the sheet, then I spied her. "Che bella linzuola, Signora!" What beautiful linen! She took a deep puff of the cigarette and smiled. "It is I who have made it."....

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Anna Has a Dream

Jann — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 19:38:35 +0000

I go to the convent gardens early in the morning. The ex-convent, actually. It's become my outdoor office. Anna brings me coffee. We are now kissing friends, and I squirm at being served. Here are the things about her that I bet you cannot guess:...

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