Porticello, Sicily
38°5'10" N, 13°32'5" E
Setting the scene:
Krystal’s great aunt Janet remembered a name: Emma Gioia. A quick search revealed the matching ship manifest for a vessel named Dante Alighieri (yes, that Dante) arriving in the United States on August 9, 1919 from S. Flavia. Krystal found the manifest while we were in Berlin, so we immediately knew that we had to spend some time rummaging through the archives in Santa Flavia. The privilege and opportunity to choose to walk the same path as our ancestors is never wasted on us. We deeply understand the importance of this work. In seeking, the Universe met us every step of the way. We called the Villa Edera home in the small fishing village of Porticello. An older gentleman brought a chair out to the street each morning with a half-smoked cigar and provided us ample opportunities to practice saying “Buongiorno.” It was the first time in a while that we truly felt like we were home.
On our first full day an organization called Pro Loco Santa Flavia was offering a free tour of the Punic Necropolis and ancient ruins of Solunto. The advertisement for the event said we would go “by car” to the sites...we definitely did not have a car. Krystal sent a message and organized a ride with the tour leader for the day and got the okay to use Google Translate to understand the tour. It was time to trust the Universe and it was the best decision we have ever made!
Upon arrival we met Antonella, David, and Rikard and our lives have been changed forever! Antonella is a brilliant archeologist, educator, and life-long resident of Porticello. Her knowledge of the history of Sicily and her kindness are a welcomed gift on this adventure. David and Rikard were fellow participants on the tour. Rikard has been the dentist in town for 30 years and David is his partner. They are from Sweden and England respectively, each speak several languages, and provided much support when Google Translate made up sentences. We started at the recently opened Punic Necropolis that dates from the Hellenistic period between the Greek and Roman rule (323 BC - 32 BC). In Sicily death is a part of life and crawling down into the tombs was a welcomed activity. Very hesitantly we ventured down the steps and also had a beautiful moment of cultural reckoning. Why is death so weird in the United States?
We hopped into the car with Antonella and sped up the mountain to the ancient Phoenician city of Solunto. Krystal’s DNA traces to the Levant area (present day Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq) and so do the Phoenicians, so, for context, we are talking about walking in some absolute ancient ancestral footsteps. There are no words for the complexity, beauty, and accessibility of the ruins. Antonella’s knowledge and storytelling brought the streets of this archaic city to life. While standing on the bluff overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea, Antonella pointed to a rock outcrop and offered to take us out to the lighthouse if we had time after lunch. Absolutely!
At 16:00 we met up with Antonella in front of the Church of Saint Mary del Lume. Legend has it that the painting of the Madonna hanging in the church washed up in the surf and Madonna del Lume protects all of the fishermen of Porticello, Sicily’s second largest fishing port. We hopped into her little car and headed out on a tour of Punta Santa Nicolicchia, Caletta Sant'Elia, the recently community-restored Madonna Del Lume, and a gorgeous cliff-side walk out to the Capo Zafferano Lighthouse. To meet someone who loves a place and to have the opportunity to see through their eyes for a brief moment is truly the greatest gift of being alive. We went to sleep absolutely in love with this part of the world.
You may recall from our time in Palermo the works of artist Tutto e Niente. They surrounded our walks through the Ballarò and to our absolute joy the works also adorned our days in Porticello and our walks through Santa Flavia. The group of girls peering into the distance was just down the street from our home and the work adorns the door of an old cobbler shop. The red shoe somehow tells us that there’s no place like home. Just up the street stands an abandoned building steadily holding the name “Orfanotrofio Pezzillo.” Family legend paired with the ship manifest indicated that Emma Gioia, Krystal’s great grandmother, may have spent some of her days in this very building. Directly across the street rests a Piaggio with another incredible painting by our favorite street artist. We are including the post that goes with this work for your contemplation:
“La sua ape con cui fa sbarazzi e si vusca u pane! se sei perso puoi trovare nuove direzioni...sai cosa vuol dire resistere e soffrire? È facile parlare di vivere e morire!vivo per sta robba, vuoi comprende il motivo? Manca ossigeno al cervello solo se non dipingo...tengo in testa l'obbiettivo dedico la vita a lei unico motivo.”
“If you get lost you can find new directions...do you know what it means to resist and suffer? It's easy to talk about living and dying! I live for this stuff, do you know why? My brain lacks oxygen without painting...goal in mind dedicate my life to her only reason.”
Krystal sent fan mail, because we really, truly were moved by the work. We received a response and look forward to connecting in the future.
Antonella invited us on one more adventure. She teaches in Palermo and had a little time to take us up to see Santuario di Santa Rosalia on, or in, Mount Pellegrino. The bones of Santa Rosalia were found in the cave in 1624 and shortly after their discovery a plague ravaging the area subsided. Every year the people of Palermo make a pilgrimage up the mountain to make offerings to Santa Rosalia. The view of Palermo from the mountain is stunning and the church itself is set inside of a cave. We finished off the day with a multo buono lunch of polpette alla acciughe (anchovy meatballs), pasta al pesce spada (pasta with swordfish), insalata di bollito (salad of boiled meat and anchovies), and caponata di melanzane (eggplant magic sauce) at Trattoria Bersagliere in the Ballarò.
We wanted to make sure we gave the local produce, butcher, and bakery in Porticello a shout out. Even the tiny grocery store had everything we could dream of. Our days were filled with oyster mushrooms the size of our head, the best tomatoes we have ever eaten, and so many incredible oranges! In fact, we learned that there are so many varieties of oranges in Sicily you get to choose if you want sweet, sour, for juicing, for eating. Who knew the world of oranges could be so delicious and varied?
Bagheria was historically home to many villas outside of the city of Palermo. Many of them are still standing and you can go check them out. Bagheria is also a quick walk up the street from Porticello or a 2 minute train ride. We learned after a few days that the train isn’t really worth the trouble and our feet got us there just fine. When Mary found the Villa Palagonia, known as the Villa of Monsters, we had to go. A cash only entrance fee that rivaled some of the incredible museums in Palermo ushered us into a ramshackled old villa adorned with an absolute ton of really creepy statues.
Some of our days were filled with drinks at the local bar Tosto Chiosco with our dear new friends David and Rikard. We had the fortune of meeting many of the incredible folks from the area. We had another absolutely stunning meal at Trattoria Buttitta in Bagheria where we learned that home-brewed limoncello will absolutely send you flying into another dimension! On our final night, dear Antonella made us all the best home-cooked Sicilian meal! We joined her at her home for pasta al forno (pasta from the oven - only this was an absolute labor of love that hit Krystal deep in her bones. Her family would make a similar dish with Velveeta cheese and canned tomatoes when she was a kid, but this, this was otherworldly!), involtini (a magical roll of meat stuffed with a melody of incredible ingredients), insalata di finocchi e arance (fennel, orange, and anchovy salad), and home-made tiramisu that was - wow, just wow. We washed it all down with Sicilian red wine and amaro del mare. Grazie mille to Antonella for cooking all night and blessing us with leftovers for our travels. Grazie mille to our friends in Porticello. We are already plotting our return and we will be there before anyone notices we have left. Grazie mille to Krystal’s ancestors who left just enough of a paper trail to be found.
