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| The weather is a bit overcast this morning......today we are heading out for a expedition to visit the locations of two movies--The Godfather and La Terra Trema. Before we leave town, we head over to the Hotel Monte Tauro where I am going to exchange a commission check that they sent me in Euros for cash....it is very expensive to have an American bank cash a check in Euros. The exchange goes smoothly and I tell the hotel staff that I much prefer to pick up Italian hotel commissions in person.
We drive north along the coast road, going through several beach communities--some set in picturesque harbors and other strung out along a beach. The mountains come right down to the coast here making for some dramatic vistas. We climb up to the town of Forza d'Agro, where parts of the wedding scene from Part One of The Godfather were shot. It is a picturesque town with beautiful views over the sea and the mountains...today the views are limited due to the clouds. There are two buses in the town parking lot....both are day excursions from a cruise ship that is in the harbor below Taormina today. We stroll around the town but it starts raining so we retreat to the car. (Other scenes from Godfather--Part One were shot in a nearby town Savoca; we plan to visit that village in the future.) We head south on the autostrada towards Catania....we want to visit Aci Trezza, which was the location for Luchino Visconti"s 1948 movie La Terra Trema. This film was based on the novel I Malavoglia by G. Verga and tells the story of a Sicilian fishing village and the struggle of some of the fishermen to form a cooperative and break the monopoly of the rich merchants who control the fishing trade. It was shot with non-professionals...mostly local residents...and they speak in Sicilian dialect, which can't be understood by most Italian speakers. We have seen the movie several times and are eager to see the actual location. We start driving down the coast from Aci Castello...this town has big castle set on top of gigantic rock in the harbor. We reach Aci Trezza--the harbor has very distinctive and dramatic rock formations; they are the Rocks of the Cyclops from the Odyssey. We are looking for a place to eat lunch before it starts raining and none of our books have any suggestions. We park and chose the restaurant called I Malavoglia...because of the name and because the covered outside patio is filled with people. The choice was very good....we have one of the best meals of our trip to date. The "head waiter" speaks some English and helps us with our order--I have three huge local oysters which are very good....one of them is equivalent in size to about three average Chesapeake oysters. I have a wonderful large dish of "sauteed shellfish"--a mix of clams and mussels in a wonderful garlic sauce. Diana has dish of fettucine with a spectacular lobster sauce--both delicate and full flavored, all at once. We share a fantastic grilled fish--an orata--which is perfectly cooked and perfectly delicious. We have a half liter of the local white and finish with strawberries....a fantastic feast. The weather has not improved at all during lunch...we spend a little time looking around the town and the harbor, before heading back to Taormina for a rest and to wait out the nasty weather. We get a message on the computer from a Slow Talk message board member who happens to also be in Taormina, so we make arrangements to have dinner with Tom (Tomasso) and Nancy Neglia. They are Taormina regulars and we meet them at their favorite restaurant, Trattoria Rosticepi. On the way to dinner, Diana is bewitched by a store selling silk scarves and joins in the favorite Taormina pastime--shopping. We have a very pleasant dinner with Tom and Nancy.....swapping Italy stories and drinking a nice Sicilian red wine. A short walk back and we are at our hotel......hoping for better weather tomorrow. |
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