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

Don Juan in Sicily

Jann — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 08:38:16 +0000

I pick up Signor Giovanni at the beach, on the golden shores of the Ionian...

Sicilians: Pretty in Purple

Jann — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 17:13:05 +0000

Everyone's doin' it. Wearing viola, that is. Someone up North in Milano must have recently decreed that the masses wear purple...

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Sicilians Hit the Beach

Jann — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 19:59:39 +0000

Sicilians love their mare in summer. There's been a mass exodus from inland towns; everyone's at the beach for a few months. The odd thing is that when Sicilians "go on vacation," they travel in a herd, with all their friends and neighbors...

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Restoring a Damp House in Sicily, Part 12

Jann — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 13:00:01 +0000

A working kitchen has finally emerged from the rubble like a phoenix rising. After two nail-biting years...

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Sweeping, Weeping in Sicily

Jann — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 05:41:52 +0000

The street sweepers here wear suits bright as orange rind and dance with twig brooms...

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Tonno con Cipolle: Lunch for One

Jann — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 16:22:02 +0000

I'm trying to learn the Sicilian art of slow living, so my Sicilian self often has a leisurely hot lunch at midday. Today's was exceptional. Made by moi for moi.

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Fine Fellows of Siracusa

Jann — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 08:00:02 +0000

The great thing about shooting in Sicily is that people beg to have their photo taken. Girls, this one's for you. A look at real Sicilian men...

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Death in Sicily

Jann — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 21:46:51 +0000

Assai megghiu addivintirai si a la morti pinsirai, goes an old Sicilian saying. You'll be a better person if you think about death...

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A Volcano’s Late-June Gift

Jann — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 18:25:07 +0000

Peaches grown on the lavic slopes of Etna! They're called pesche tabacchiere, and love poems should be scribbled to them.

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Shuttered Sicily

Jann — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 13:55:57 +0000

Sicily's shutters: Defenders against the brash Sicilian sun...

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Do-It-Yourself Sicily

Jann — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 09:27:40 +0000

We make up a long list—masking tape, towel racks, electric drill, olive tree, hooks—and drive through the scabby detritus of Upper Ragusa's industrial zone to Brico, a do-it-yourself Sicilian version of Home Depot...

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Dizzy in Southeast Sicily

Jann — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 04:20:26 +0000

There are rivers, cascades, torrents of steps in Sicilian hill towns...

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Sicily, and a Story of Church Chairs

Jann — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 12:43:02 +0000

"I know you," said a tall man with olive eyes as we crossed paths last week. I racked my brain. Had we met?

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All Festa’d Out

Jann — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 20:35:57 +0000

They came and took away the festa lights today. Thank goodness the fun is over. Three whole days of it...

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Restoring a Damp House in Sicily, Part 11

Jann — Sat, 29 May 2010 10:00:44 +0000

I've cooked up the idea of installing in my kitchen a tile baseboard (called battiscopa, literally hit-broom) with a floral design. It's going to be at least twice as high as a normal Sicilian baseboard. When I explain my brilliant idea to the project manager, he knits his shaggy eyebrows into a scowl and gives his head a sad shake.

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