Our good weather bubble finally burst — for just a day. After no rain at all since May Siracusa got so much in a few hours that streets were flooding up to hubcaps. 1/4 of their annual average.

We have been intrigued by Sicily for a long time — for its food, wine and folklore. Now that we are here we are learning and experiencing a lot, and really enjoying it. Our twelve days here is taking us around the entire island, and we have traversed a lot of “country roads”.

• It has been inhabited since 12,000 BC, and around 750 BC was host to Phoenician and Greek colonies who left behind a wealth of archaeological treasures to explore.
• Sicily has been part of Italy since the unification in 1860. Like Scotland in the U.K., they have their own Parliament which has limited powers within the constitution.
• Over the years Sicily has been ruled by Pagans, Christians, Byzantines and Normans among others — and now Italy. Churches reflect all of those periods and influences.
• Their farmland is rich, enabling amazing food. 40 million olive trees with only 6 million residents. After enjoying it for more than a month now all of our future olive oil will hopefully come from Puglia or Sicily.
• The Mafia is real and part of daily life. We learned that its origin dates back several hundred years. Wealthy yet absentee landowners paid small “militia” to protect their properties. When Italy was unified there were only a few hundred people providing all of the services to remote Sicily, and the Mafia flourished by providing protection and services. Today many Mafioso have become wealthy and are now even part of the governance structure. Let’s just say that they take good care of their own.
• Pasta is really really good. So is gelato. We learned to make a number of kinds of pasta in a cooking school and got to utilize a pasta guitar. It is shown in the photo below. One puts the sheet of pasta on it, rolls it across the “guitar” wires, then strums the wire and the pasta separates into linguine. Big fun!

The next postcard will be the last from this trip. Hope everyone at home is doing well.