Viaggio in Sicilia / 7: 20 giugno 2024 – giovedì
My 74th is on Jove’s day, by Jove! Wonder what to make of that as we are immersed here in a marble sea of Jove’s ancient domain! During our jaunt around Salvo Montalbano’s southwestern Sicilian stomping grounds, we tried to remember where we were on the various June 20ths that are strung across the landscape of my becoming. We never got very far. A curious thing, something, maybe, not so becoming of me.
So, yes, a country jaunt first, to the Castello di Donnafugata, Punta Secca, Donnalucata, Scicli, Modica, then back to Ragusa for a 5-star birthday meal at Ciccio Sultano’s Il Duomo, where we feasted on the imaginative culinary chefs d’oeuvre created by this high-profile top rated chef.
The Castello di Donnafugata gave us yet another entry into 19th century Sicilian upper-class living while it exposed once again this social class’s decay. Augusta was drawn especially to the exhibit of high fashion, mannequins festooned with colorful dresses, handsome suits, elegant hats and gloves, lustrous shoes, shining jewelry and all the plumes needed for showing off how the Sicilian Rothschilds and Vanderbilts impressed each other from the 18th century through the 19th and on to the roaring 20s. The clothing and accoutrements were all tastefully showcased in a succession of rooms, in somewhat cinematographic style.
Punta Secca had the feel of unreality that I have experienced in other reel-life locations converted into movie sets, in realities packaged as fictions: Salvo Montalban’s house, where night after night for nearly a year now we have watched Luca Zingaretti and Michele Riondino swim those emerald green waters, stand on their balcony, find corpses or encounter members of their team –Fazio, Mimì– on the beach, or Kiss Livio off to Boccadasse… it all struck me just like the bell tower in San Juan Battista that I visted shortly after seeing Hitchcock’s Vertigo or Bodega Bay after seeing The Birds. Experiences that sensitizes us to the magical realism inherent in cinema. Most of all, I was surprised by myself, following the stars as I was doing. Never thought of myself as much of a stargazer, having grown up totally indifferent to –indeed, ignorant of– the Avenue of the Stars (Sunset Blvd) that 30 minutes from home. Only now am I able to truly realize how one is able to reflect deeply on the intersection of fact and fantasy that is essential and distinctive in film and photography and that is so deeply intertwined with the question of location.
We took a walk to Enzo’s restaurant then drove to Donnalucata for a salad lunch, one of the best of our trip. Donnalucata is a charming if not unassuming seaside resort that might beckon for an occasional seaside R&R if we didn’t have the mighty Ischia in our back pocket. Then on to Scicli and Modica.
Wow! Scicli and Modica! At Scicli we took the trenino tour around the old city. In Modica we parked on the main square and meandered a bit. It was hot and we were tired, but still able to enjoy the world’s very best cannolo (no exaggeration!) in Scicli and Modica’s famous (good, but no the best) chocolate. And the Baroque! A feast for the eyes…
But not at the same level as Noto’s! That’s for tomorrow.
Back to birthday number 74: the meal at Ciccio Sultano’s was a dizzying spectacle in the best sense, as such meals tend to be. I was so touched by Augusta’s loving thoughtfulness by surprising me with this reservation. We fully enjoyed the care and quality of the preparation and presentation, and the originality of so many delectables that we devoured with our eyes and palates. But I think that we both came away from this 2nd Michelin-star-studded meal (the first being Dani Maison in Ischia for her 70th) feeling that, well, just that: that we’ve experienced it and savor the memory.
Photo album available on Flickr at: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBBMTH
