We were lazy this morning and snuggled up late. May be it had to do with the two bottles of Vino Bianco we sample before and during dinner. It was raining, so we just walked a block to the same restaurant and just ordered different stuff. We were not as lucky as the night before, and my Spaghetti with Tuna Eggs was not nearly as tasty as the one with Squid Ink. Rachel's Roast beef was thin and huge, but rather tough and stringy, and we had to ask for "stuzzicadenti"(what a nice word for toothpicks) to clean up. The owner was beaming to see us there two nights and a row, and offered us a specialty of Grilled Mozzarella. We had a difficult situation there, not wanting to offend him, and not wanting to eat the damn piece of fried rubber either... So we pretended to munch a little and it slowly disappeared in a paper dowel deep into Rachel's handbag.
The weather report for the day ahead was decent, so we decided to take a day trip to the Villa Patagonia in Bagheria, which we remembered with great fondness from 38 years ago, and on to Cefalu, weather permitting:
We still managed to leave by 9:30, and first went by the Antique shops I had seen yesterday, but they were not open yet. So we programmed the GPS, which took us all around town in rush hour traffic to get us on the way to Bagheria.
The Villa Patagonia is an amazing place, and it is still exactly the way it was 38 years ago, deserted, badly maintained, but still unique and atmospheric. The grand room with the double vaulted mirrored ceiling and the walls of marble and faux marble glass mosaic is still as impressive. The bestiary of weird creatures around the walls is still as fascinating. A very special place indeed:
We drove on to Cefalu on the Autostrada, the coast being an industrial mess in this area. That is a very old town on the water with a network of very narrow streets going back to the Middle ages, and a great Norman Cathedral, unfortunately closed. We had a lunch of fresh fish on the harbor, and walked back up from there along the old fisherman houses up to the cathedral:
I photographed some great doorways, and we bought a wonderful traditionally woven palm from two kids going door to door with bucketfuls:
The weather report for the day ahead was decent, so we decided to take a day trip to the Villa Patagonia in Bagheria, which we remembered with great fondness from 38 years ago, and on to Cefalu, weather permitting:
We still managed to leave by 9:30, and first went by the Antique shops I had seen yesterday, but they were not open yet. So we programmed the GPS, which took us all around town in rush hour traffic to get us on the way to Bagheria.
The Villa Patagonia is an amazing place, and it is still exactly the way it was 38 years ago, deserted, badly maintained, but still unique and atmospheric. The grand room with the double vaulted mirrored ceiling and the walls of marble and faux marble glass mosaic is still as impressive. The bestiary of weird creatures around the walls is still as fascinating. A very special place indeed:
We drove on to Cefalu on the Autostrada, the coast being an industrial mess in this area. That is a very old town on the water with a network of very narrow streets going back to the Middle ages, and a great Norman Cathedral, unfortunately closed. We had a lunch of fresh fish on the harbor, and walked back up from there along the old fisherman houses up to the cathedral:
I photographed some great doorways, and we bought a wonderful traditionally woven palm from two kids going door to door with bucketfuls:
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