I continue my lovely daily sojourn to the Favorita with Gabriel, exploring all the little trails under Pelegrino, back and forth and around and about, looking for horses, butterflies, dogs, cats, gruffalo's, listening to the Christmas Beetles, and sometimes falling asleep, the passenger that is!
In South Africa we learn that the loud beetle sounds are from the 'Christmas Beetles' maybe? because they are most vocal in the middle of summer, Christmas time!
But when you come to Sicily, which has a lot of similarities, in terms of the climate vegetation etc, then of course the beetles sing most loudly in July and August which is not at all Christmas time.
Maybe here, the kids call them 'The Feragosta Beetles'
In fact, I think they are not even beetles, they are crickets! - which is not a dissapointment at all, if you consider that in Pinocchio, which is 100% Italian made, there is a talking cricket: Il Grillo Parlante, or 'Jiminy' as he is called in the Walt Disney film. He is Pinocchio's official conscience. So maybe this time at the Favorita is indeed fertile time! for the ever mentioned, these days, 'Things of Meaning'... and HERE .. read on read on if you can!
Here are some of our Favorita pics:
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| Having a sit down and a drink on the bench in the main park, Good for step ups if the little person happens to be sleeping! |
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"Run Mummy Run" is what I often hear now, if I start to walk. Here I am being directed,
or, we are looking for horses!
The police on horse back often have little strolls along the trails, which is hugely exciting!
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| Sleep time, perfect. Below the mountain and in the shade. Belissimo and Meraviglioso for those that have the luxury!! |
Regards the rest of my list of my ever scratching and scurrying around THINGS OF MEANING
while I have not made one ounce of practical progress or change, I think I am on the up. I hope.
At least my soul is feeling a tiny bit more hopeful.
This is what has helped and is helping:
I started trawling through the 'expats in Italy' blogs and sites that I have loved in the past, and found this newish post by a wonderful blogger in Sicily, who is also from the Southern Hemisphere as it happens! : Unwilling Expat - Coming to Sicily Reflections
And I found a bunch of others to peruse, re-peruse and get back my some of my sense of humour, wonder and gratitude for everything I have. And, to try to get some creative/chutzpha petrol running through my blood and my imagination and my being.
[Note: It is not good to start sentences with 'And' but I am doing it anyway... just to mention, for various reasons!]
I can't list them all here, but here is another one I love, by a Brit in Sicily, which really does make me chuckle:
Driving like a maniac. She's also just written a book, which I must buy! The Dangerously Truthful Diary of a Sicilian Housewife and she's written some helpful stuff on teaching English too, which is something I am supposed to be doing soon!
So that has been good. and I am trying to keep up a bit of reading and curiosity and intuition, and hopefully, a sense of investigation and opportunity. We shall see what comes up! As I go along, I am always amazed that there is more than I thought out there. I am reminded of the importance of at least some kindred souls, but you need to search and try and reach out, I remind myself. Anyway....lets see!
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Then, I have finally updated my running diary on my blog, so I have my races that I've run in 2015 listed, as well as the probable or possible ones I'll be running.
Most excitingly, I have the next 2 weekends full of awesome running, I am so excited!! and it is thanks to my dear Marito and figlio bambino: Maurizio and Gabriel Crispi.
I HAVE.... tadaa......:
This weekend: 22/23 Aug:
ECOTRAIL DELLA LUNA at Cultavuturo
Sat night 22 August - 14km running with torches
Sun morning 23 August - 16km day light
ECOTRAIL DELLA LUNA at Cultavuturo
Sat night 22 August - 14km running with torches
Sun morning 23 August - 16km day light
We are staying the night in an abbey run by nuns. Cultavuturo is beautiful.
I'm so excited! Mauri is going to take pictures, and hopefully Gabriel will have fun watching the runners at night, under the moon!
I'm so excited! Mauri is going to take pictures, and hopefully Gabriel will have fun watching the runners at night, under the moon!
Saturday 29 Aug: 6 Ore Lavellese [a 6 hour race consisting of a circuit of 1005-ish meters. So you run as many laps as you can in 6 hours]/ It starts at 3pm I think, until 9pm
It is in the town of Laveallese in Basilicata. We will drive there, and so me and Gabriel get to cross the Messina straight for the first time!
Sun 30 Aug: 8.30 am - The Levellese Marathon. I believe it uses the same circuit as the 6 hour race.
I think it will be great training for the:
100km Etna Extreme which is on the 13th of September.
That's a road race around Etna. Its brand new this year, and organised by the super awesome race organisor of Sicily, Aldo Siragusa, who organises the ECOTRAIL Circuit. It's quite a long time since I did a marathon, never mind a 6 hour race or a 100km race, so it is going to be interesting!
And especially considering that my training consists of less than 10km a day, a few days a week, with a baby jogger!
So I am excited to have my running getting some kind of spirit and structure back to it, finally. And next year, there is the Abbots Way Ultra, which is 125km in Northern Italy with 5500 m altitude climb. Its in about April May time. I ran it in 2011 and can't wait to run it again!! The route is an ancient pilgrims route, which is what drew me to it in the first place. I think we might be going!!
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As for my main list, which I think is finally [I hope!] starting to sneak out of it's shell - maybe thanks to the crickets! - who knows, this is sort of some tentative stuff...
Not very comprehensible, but stored here, perhaps mostly for my benefit:
Not very comprehensible, but stored here, perhaps mostly for my benefit:
Here are a list of things that we would like to do [on top of the running trips!]
[Not in any particular order]
1. Visit the Botanical Gardens of Palermo.
We have done it! We went yesterday - Wed 19th Aug - and it was beautiful. You can just feel the history as you walk through them. As I find in Palermo, the joy of many places is that they quite organic and natural. It's a paradox. In one way they have been left to age naturally and so they feel very accessable and real. But in another way, they can have a slight air of sadness to them because there is a sort of underlying element of decay.
Thankfully, the history and beauty of the gardens over rides the little bit of decay that creaps around. Perhaps I am just too aware of it, after having lived in the UK, where everything is so pristine and there seems to be so much money to maintain even the most obscure little findings of history you find dotted all over the UK.
I would love to go again some time perhaps at a different time of year.
So far we have been to 3 wonderful gardens together:
1. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in London - we went there twice, once when Gabriel was a Beetle, and more recently with my mom when she visited London before we came to Palermo
1. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in London - we went there twice, once when Gabriel was a Beetle, and more recently with my mom when she visited London before we came to Palermo
2. Garzoni Gardens in Tuscany - in June this year, in the town of Pinocchio. These gardens are absolutely incredible, built right up the side of a steep hill, and next to the [now vacant] mansion which was inhabitted by the Collodi family. Carlo Collodi was in fact the author of Pinocchio! There is a lot of history to the garden and although it is not what it was in it's hayday, it is still beautiful and a magical poetical experience to walk through. I can't possibly do it justice in a few sentences here!
And now 3. the Botanical Gardens of Palermo - our home town! Here are some pics:
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| Palermo is full of these beautiful ancient trees. We even have some on our road. They are incredible. But I've forgotten their name! |
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| Expansive!!! I wonder if Mauri was thinking of Tata at this time. I never realised until later, that the last time he visited the gardens was with Tata. You can read about that on his FB album post! |
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A true little boy, any chance he gets to run, he'll run run run!! Of course, mommy must run too!
Luckily, I dont mind at all!
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| These trees are like camels, they store water in the bulgy part of their trunks. They are called monkey tree's I think, and they have little spikes all over them to protect them. They also produce what looks like little bunches of cotton wool, and this has often been used as stuffing for pillows or cushions. |
back to the list....:
We shall have to find some more gardens to visit, Italy is awash with them!
I must say that one of the things that really drew me to love Italy, was watching the Monty Don Italian Gardens series on BBC back in 2011. It is incredible. You can actually buy the episodes on DVD now, maybe worth getting, even though we are actually here, in Italy, now!! but they are just beautiful, and in English. Maybe for my mom!!
2. Do a day trip to one of the Egadi islands, and/or at some point visit one or two of the Aeolian islands. To be decided and planned
3. Visit Farm Cultural Park in Agrigento.
I found out about this place when I lived in London and I really want to go and see it! It isvery much part of my 'things of meaning' theme!
4. Visit Bioparko Di Sicilia, which is near to the airport in Palermo, so easy enough to get to.
5. Visit the geological park Alcantara
This, Mauri says, is actually where one of Aldo's trail races is, so its perfect for us to link into a trail race trip. Excellent!
This, Mauri says, is actually where one of Aldo's trail races is, so its perfect for us to link into a trail race trip. Excellent!
So those are just a few things. There are also gallery visits and general exploratory and free forming jaunts! [At least until school starts and maybe some kind of job for me - all for another post!]
We have already been on a few little trips riding our bikes with Gabriel in his new funky baby seat on the back of my mountain bike. The only challenge here is that we have to go right after he's had a long sleep because otherwise within minutes he falls asleep! and there is no way of propping up his head when he's on the seat, we have to literally stop our jaunt and drink coffee or go home!
A few days ago, we went riding round the old city of Palermo and it definitely gave me some soul food, because there are a few shops selling hand made in Sicily, great stuff, not plasticy or gimicky stuff, but nice quality stuff.
I like that! There are proper makers in Palermo who sell their stuff,who I can see in real life. I shall have to go back and look a bit more properly in the shops some time.
So far, there seems far less of an online pressence here, of arstists and makers. In the UK, Etsy and the net is awash with artists actively selling, networking, promoting etc.
Here, I suspect they have different avenues, and of course, less people, smaller market. But, the playground must be somewhere, I am looking, and I guess this is a little start, I hope!
We have already been on a few little trips riding our bikes with Gabriel in his new funky baby seat on the back of my mountain bike. The only challenge here is that we have to go right after he's had a long sleep because otherwise within minutes he falls asleep! and there is no way of propping up his head when he's on the seat, we have to literally stop our jaunt and drink coffee or go home!
A few days ago, we went riding round the old city of Palermo and it definitely gave me some soul food, because there are a few shops selling hand made in Sicily, great stuff, not plasticy or gimicky stuff, but nice quality stuff.
I like that! There are proper makers in Palermo who sell their stuff,who I can see in real life. I shall have to go back and look a bit more properly in the shops some time.
So far, there seems far less of an online pressence here, of arstists and makers. In the UK, Etsy and the net is awash with artists actively selling, networking, promoting etc.
Here, I suspect they have different avenues, and of course, less people, smaller market. But, the playground must be somewhere, I am looking, and I guess this is a little start, I hope!
Here, of course, are some pics of our bicycle jaunting.
Finally, getting to the crux - my list of 'Things of Meaning' I shall not go into now.. there is not space or time or form.
Suffice to say that the cogs are turning. I feel them. slowly and quietly. I need to do some talking and thinking and planning and drinking of self confidence juice and lets see what happens.
The flame is little and needs protecting.
The flame is little and needs protecting.
I hope, in the not too distant future, to have news.
But for now:
From London days, not long before we left...
and then... along with a few other things, we do actually have these here in Palermo, brought over from London!!
[even though there is still an unknown quantity of life stuff stuck somewhere between London and Palermo with our dear trusted invisible mover! but that, too, is for another place]
and now, byby! until next time. From the Safa Brit on the beautiful island of colour expression freedom and sunshine!
Let us not forget!
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