I came home earlier than planned from a trip, in the middle of the night. Came home silently not making any noise to avoid to wake up people in the building. Next morning chilling in my balcony, just relaxing in the sun I heard my female neighbors down stairs talking about their Straniera neighbor complaining how she (meaning me) can come and go home as she likes. And one woman added that of course she can do what she likes, her mother lives far away not keeping an eye on her.
I am 40+. LOL!
Just another day in female world of Sicily.
Svenska
Kom hem tidigare än planerat från en resa, mitt i natten. Kom hem tyst för att undvika att väcka grannarna i byggnaden. Nästa morgon när jag chillar på min balkong, kopplar av i solen, hörde jag mina kvinnliga grannar nedanför som pratade om sin Straniera-granne och klagade på hur hon (de menar mig) kan komma och gå hemma som hon vill. Och en kvinna tillade att självklart kan hon göra vad vill, hennes mamma bor långt borta utan att hålla koll på henne.
Jag är 40+. Hahahaa!
Bara en annan dag i den Sicilianska kvinnliga världen.
Every year in Italy they find the youngest grandfather in Italy, and so often Sicily wins. Like 2019 the youngest is to be found in Fiumefreddo di Sicilia. He is now 36 years old. Became a father at 17, had in total six children at 27 and became a grandfather last year.
Svenska
Varje år i Italien hittar de den yngsta farfadern i Italien, och så ofta vinner Sicilien. Liksom 2019 finns den yngsta i Fiumefreddo di Sicilia. Han är nu 36 år gammal. Blev far som 17, hade totalt sex barn vid 27 och blev farfar förra året.
For best bakery called Colazione (sweet things Sicilians eat for breakfast), and typical Sicilian fast food tavola calda. Everything super fresh and made here.
Svenska
F?r b?sta s?tsaker som kallas Colazione (s?tt som Sicilianare ?ter till frukost), och Sicilianst typisk snabbmat tavola calda. Allt superf?rskt och gjort p? plats.
Just outside Palermo you pass by one of the most horrific places historical wise in Sicily. The time when full blown mafia war between the clans and state was as at worst. But also the bravest when two people took the lead to fight these criminals, Falcone and Borsellino. Knowing they will pay for their work with their lives.
This monument by Capaci is the place where judge Falcone, his wife and body guards were killed by dynamite placed under the road 23rd of May 1992 by the Corleone mafia. Falcone worked to overthrow the power of the Sicilian Mafia building one of the most important legal cases in Italian history together with Bosellino, the Maxi Trial. The Maxi Trial was successful as 338 of 475 defendants were convicted, and 19 mafia bosses got life sentences including the most feared one Toto Riina, the Corleone boss.
This happening also lead to other legal changes. For the first time in Italy the privacy laws were changed and the guilty ones for this mass murder was found thanks to DNA in cigarettes left on the ground on significant spots for detonation. DNA connected to the Corleone clan members.
When you visit Sicily, avoid asking the locals about the Mafia and avoid being silly about the mafia. If you ave questions, ask a guide or us foreigners living here. It is a never healing wound here.
Do the Mafia still exist in Sicily? Most Sicilians says no, but yes, the Mafia exists. Not as brutal as those days, but it is a huge problem. Have I met the Mafia? Yes. You automatically do living here, but I as a foreigner do not have the same issues as a locals.
One example was my favorite restaurants by one of the offices I worked in. The owner was so kind and polite. We drank Prosecco and talked about life while waiting for my lunch to be ready. I borrowed him tools when they fixed things in their restaurant. I knew he had connections looking at all the allowances and licenses he got so easily from the municipality, while others had to work so hard to get anything done. He could create things a normal person never could. One day the restaurant was closed, the busiest month which was strange. I opened the newspaper and from many arrested faces I saw his face. Arrested for murder, extortion, drug- and weapon deals…the list was long. Do I have to be scared? No, I don’t have any business with them. Was just a neighbor ordering lunch. This is one side of Sicily!
Svenska
Strax utanf?r Palermo passerar du f?rbi en av de mest fruktansv?rda platserna historiskt p? Sicilien. Tiden d? fullbl?st maffiakrig mellan klanerna och staten var som v?rst. Men ocks? de modigaste n?r tv? personer tog ledningen f?r att bek?mpa dessa brottslingar, Falcone och Borsellino. Vetandes att de kommer att betala f?r sitt arbete med sina liv.
Detta monument vid Capaci ?r platsen d?r domaren Falcone, hans fru och livvakter d?dades av dynamit som placerats under v?gen den 23 maj 1992 av Corleone-mafifan. Falcone arbetade f?r att st?rta makten i sicilianska maffiaorganisationen som ledde till ett av de viktigaste r?ttsfallen i italiensk historia tillsammans med Bosellino, Maxi-r?tteg?ngen. Maxi-r?tteg?ngen lyckades eftersom 338 av 475 ?talade d?mdes och 19 maffiabossar fick livstidsdomar inklusive den mest fruktade Toto Riina, Corleone-bossen.
Detta ledde ocks? till andra juridiska f?r?ndringar. F?r f?rsta g?ngen i Italien ?ndrades lagarna om integritet och de skyldiga f?r detta massmord hittades tack vare DNA i cigaretter p? marken p? betydande platser f?r detoneringen. DNA anslutna till Corleone-klanmedlemmarna.
N?r du bes?ker Sicilien ska du undvika att fr?ga lokalbefolkningen om maffian och undvika att vara en idiot om maffian. Om du har fr?gor, fr?ga en guide eller oss utl?nningar som bor h?r. Det ?r ett aldrig l?kande s?r.
Finns Maffian fortfarande p? Sicilien? De flesta sicilianare s?ger nej, men ja, maffian existerar. Inte lika brutalt som de dagarna, men det ?r ett enormt problem. Har jag tr?ffat maffian? Ja. Bor du h?r ?r det per automatik, men jag som utl?nning har inte samma problem som lokalbefolkningen.
Ett exempel var ett av mina favoritrestauranger vid ett av de kontor jag arbetade p?. ?garen var s? sn?ll och artig. Vi drack Prosecco och pratade om livet medan vi v?ntade p? att min lunch skulle vara klar. Jag l?nade honom verktyg n?r de fixade saker p? sin restaurang. Jag visste att han hade f?rbindelser p.g.a. alla tillst?nd och licenser han s? enkelt fick fr?n kommunen, medan andra var tvungna att arbeta s? h?rt f?r att f? gjort n?got. Han kunde skapa saker som en normal person aldrig kunde. En dag var restaurangen som st?ngd, den livligaste m?naden som var konstigt. Jag ?ppnade tidningen och fr?n m?nga arresterade ansikten s?g jag hans ansikte. Arresterad f?r mord, utpressning, drog- och vapenhandel … listan var l?ng. M?ste jag vara r?dd? Nej, jag har inga aff?rer med dem. Var bara en granne som best?llde lunch. Detta ?r en sida av Sicilien!
From tomorrow we are free to travel to EU countries and within Italy. Basically just one thing remains, using a mask. Quite fascinating “they” could close down the whole world, put people in masks and locked in, in just couple of weeks.
It has been surreal to be locked in since beginning of March, but it has also been a great time to really think about which kind of reality I want to go back to. Made major clean ups at home, in life and in work. Now just full speed ahead and grab the bright future.
Svenska
Fr?n i morgon ?r vi fria att resa till EU-l?nder och inom Italien. I grunden kvarst?r bara en sak, anv?nda en skyddsmask. Ganska fascinerande att “de” kunde st?nga hela v?rlden, s?tta m?nniskor i masker och l?sa inne, p? bara n?gra veckor.
Det har varit surrealistiskt att vara inl?st sedan b?rjan av mars, men det har ocks? varit en bra tid att verkligen t?nka p? vilken typ av verklighet jag vill g? tillbaka till. Gjort stora rensningar hemma, i livet och med jobbet. Nu bara full fart fram?t och ta tag i den ljusa framtiden.
This is what I like about Sicily, getting everything day fresh. I do not buy everything in Supermarkets, it is nicer to go to the fish shop, to the butcher, to the vegetable and fruit vendor, to the bakery… In Catania you find them in every corner. My health has become much better during these years not buying mass produce, but from local stores the basic things you can choose yourself. Even during Lock Down we could still get some of these foods delivered home.
Svenska
Det h?r ?r vad jag gillar med Sicilien, f? allt dagsf?rskt. Jag shoppar k?per inte allt i stormarknader, det ?r trevligare att g? till fiskbutiken, till slaktaren, till gr?nsaks- och fruktf?rs?ljaren, till bageriet … I Catania hittar du dem i varje h?rn. Min h?lsa har blivit mycket b?ttre under dessa ?r d? jag inte k?er massproducerat, men fr?n lokala butiker de grundl?ggande matvarorna som du kan v?lja sj?lv. ?ven under Lock Down kunde vi fortfarande f? en del av dessa livsmedel hemlevererat.
Locked in for two months and with a small hopeful message from the Government that we can go to restaurants and bars first of June makes me dream of my favorite restaurants. Hopefully they open then! Here Putia in Giardini-Naxos. When I lived the area this raw fish entrance was just over the top!
Svenska
Inl?st i tv? m?nader och med ett litet hoppfullt meddelande fr?n regeringen att vi kan g? till restauranger och barer f?rsta juni f?r mig att dr?mma om mina favoritrestauranger. F?rhoppningsvis ?ppnar de d?! H?r Putia i Giardini-Naxos. N?r jag bodde i omr?det var denna r?a fisking?ng precis ?ver all f?rv?ntan!
Everytime I see underwear drying I can’t help thinking about a female neighbor in Catania who asked me not to dry my underwear on my balcony as her husband could see them. I lived on the fourth floor and they on the third cross the street. How he could see them must be climbing on the roof and watch inside my home.
Svenska
Varje g?ng jag ser underkl?der torka utomhus kan jag inte l?ta bli att t?nka p? en kvinnlig granne i Catania som bad mig att inte torka mina underkl?der p? min balkong eftersom hennes man kunde se dem. Jag bodde p? fj?rde v?ningen och de p? den tredje p? andra sidan gatan. Hur han kunde se dem m?ste han ha kl?ttra upp p? taket och tittat in i mitt hem.
These lovely Sicilian decorated carts and accessories for horses are originally from Greece. The ancient Greeks introduced this tradition to Sicily. They got popular in the 1920’s and are sold also as decorations made of wood all over the island. You can find the Sicilian Cart museum in Terrasini, Province of Palermo. The carts are handmade and painted by hand with images telling about Sicilian folklore and history. Horses were used in the city and plain terrain, mules and donkeys in the countryside. This beautiful craft goes as heritage from generation to generation.
Svenska
Dessa vackra sicilianska dekorerade vagnar och tillbeh?r f?r h?star kommer ursprungligen fr?n Grekland.De gamla grekerna introducerade denna tradition p? Sicilien.De blev popul?ra p? 1920-talet och s?ljs ocks? som dekorationer av tr? ?ver hela ?n.Du hittar det sicilianska vagnsmuseet i Terrasini, Palermo-provinsen.Vagnarna ?r handgjorda och m?lade f?r hand med bilder som ber?ttar om Siciliansk folklore och historia.H?star anv?ndes i staden och i platt terr?ng, mulor och ?snor p? landsbygden.Detta vackra hantverk g?r som arv fr?n generation till generation.
A beautiful thing with Sicily is that they have managed to keep handy craft and genuine produce in a world where everything is industrialized. The taste and quality of food is amazing and you can find carpenters, shoe repair shops, create and have your own furniture and home decorations done. And it is not expensive either.
Svenska
En vacker sak med Sicilien ?r att de har lyckats beh?lla hantverk och ?kta produkter i en v?rld d?r allt ?r industrialiserat.Smaken och kvaliteten p? maten ?r fantastisk och du kan hitta snickare, skoverkst?der, skapa och f? egna m?bler och heminredning gjort.Och det ?r inte heller dyrt.
