Cameraless in Modica

Yes, I left my camera in the apartment this morning as we set out for Modica. Durn. There would have been some good photos there. Ah, well, I photographed it with my brain, I hope.

This southeastern part of Sicily is intriguing - much of it destroyed, along with 65,000 lives, in the terrible earthquake of 1693, cities, towns and villages rebuilt in grand Baroque style. I think if I had to choose, I would focus a return here - well, and Palermo, which I barely saw. And the Aeolian Islands. And...well...

Modica is not a long distance from where we are, in Cava D'Aliga - don't ask me why we're here - I'll tell you at some point - no, it's been good, although now that I've been here, I have a decent sense of this part of the coast and would pick another location next time. But the people have been really interesting - almost every Italian tourist hails from around Milan, so it's like Yankees going to Florida, I guess. The beach is fantastic and just 200 m from our apartment, and that Mass Sunday night was really all the explanation I needed for why we are here. Or were.

Ah, so Modica. We went to Scicli for a bit on Sunday afternoon and returned on that route to reach Modica. I was almost shocked by the sense I got of Modica - it's hustling, bustling, with a lot of new construction - that is actually completed, as opposed to abandoned, as I have often encountered here. Between the Modica Alta and Modica Bassa (the town is split in two - not for the same reasons as Ragusa, which was split by the earthquake), you have a great taste of Sicily on the move and historic Sicily.

We actually got there an hour before noon, which means we could squeeze a couple of churches in  - once again, I am in a rush late at night, so details will have to wait. We bought chocolate, of course - Modica is famed for its chocolate, which is still makes in the traditional way it has since Aztec methods were brought over. The resulting product is grainier than you'd be used to, as well as not nearly as sweet. There were mixed reactions - Michael ate half of his standing there on the street in front of the store, and these were not bite-sized candy bars, let me tell you -  and many samples were purchased for friends and home consumption. Of course there was a gelato break, but instead of gelato I had granita with two flavors drawn from the Mt. Etna experience - pistachios (grown around Bronte) and...something else. A berry that is grown in the area.  It was good.

And then, the traffic was gone, the doors were shuttered, so there was nothing else to do but leave. Oh, we did, stop in one store that was open, one which focuses on Sicilian products. The young man working spoke excellent English, so we talked for a while about the United States - he has never been but wants to, so we discussed good destinations for him - as well as this whole "Shut down the town between noon and four" tradition, one which he obviously didn't observe, since it was about 1:30 by this time.
 
Truth be told, any annoyance of that siesta period is wiped away by the charm of the evening. It is something unique to be in the midst of - a town emerging, doors being flung open, and the evening session of conversation and commerce, all rather relaxed and rested, beginning.

(Incidentally, my triumph of the day was finally figuring out - in a way - how to pay for pay parking spaces. There are many lining the streets which indicate you pay .60 an hour or something to park, but we could never figure out who or where to pay - until I finally went into a store right in front of where I landed today - a fair trade shop in Modica - where the English-speaking owner instructed me, pointed me to the pastry shop where I would buy the slips of paper which have scratch-off circles to indicate when your parking moment began - given to me by an elderly man who explained it in more detail in rapid Italian and congratulated me with "Brava!" every time I successfully scratched off the correct circle, as if I had picked the right numbers for the lottery)

By then it was time for our last beach session - after I did a little work.

So, Ciao Sicily:






And buenos dias.....