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Sicily

Villa Garibaldi


These are not tree trunks, but shoots or branches the banyan tree sends down to the ground that then root. This is not even one -third the diameter of the tree. This one happens to be the largest banyan tree on the European continent.
Filippo Basile, one of Palermo's finest architects, designed this small, square park in the Liberty style. Read More 
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Walk in the park

Crazy lamp post base in Villa Garibaldi
I just realized my last eight posts were all about food and places to get it. I've been on a diet, so I'm obsessed, I guess you could say. So today I took a walk in the park. A guided tour of the Villa Garibaldi. The cast iron fence that surrounds it and the  Read More 
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The restaurant with moral standards

The overflow crowd at lunchtime, Antica Focacceria San Francesco
The food is so good and the prices so reasonable that the crowd spills out the door a full hour before traditional Sicilian lunchtime. Not so bad, though, because across the piazza is the fabulous medieval ( 1300s) Basilica di San Francesco. To see what they serve, go to www.afsf.it for mouth-watering photos  Read More 
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Antica Focacceria San Francesco

Antica Focacceria San Francesco serves the best traditional Sicilian food at moderate prices.
I went to the focacceria today to ask fo an interview with Fabio Conticello, the brother of owner Vincenzo Conticello. Vincenzo, back in 2007, stood up in court and pointed the finger at the mafioso who came to the restaurant and demanded protection money. This was an unprecedented act of courage. Five Mafiosa went to  Read More 
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Sami

Look. I mean, really. This is Sami, from Tunisia.
I left thinking, now I know where the good-looking Sicilians get their good looks from.
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Bangla Sonar, Via Maqueda 258, Palermo, Italy

Two guys from Tunisia and Bangladesh serve bi-national fast food.
The largest foreign population of Palermo are the people from Bangladesh. Every time I walk home from the Teatro Massimo neighborhood, down Via Maqueda to the corner of Via Napoli, I pass this one fast food place, Bangla Sonar, that emits the most delicious aromas of spices unknown to me. It's a clean, well-lit  Read More 
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View from our table at Le Nespole

View from our table at Le Nespole.
What a great spot. Mythic, and I am not kidding. Those rocks in the sea are the boulders that the Cyclops threw at Ulysses when he escaped from his cave.
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Her lunch.

Spaghetti and scampi.
We sat at her favorite table at Le Nespole, her favorite restaurant. The staff never bother to bring her a menu because she orders the same dish every time, she loves this so much.
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My lunch

Swordfish rollatini
I had swordfish rollatini and grilled veggies.
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Weekend with a friend in Catania

Palmina makes a toast to us.
Spent a weekend away with my friend Palmina in Catania. She runs her own language school, GIGA, and also works for various language-school associations and is VERY busy but carved out a weekend to spend with me. She took me to one of her favorite places, Acitrezza, on the Sicilian riviera, and we listened  Read More 
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