Sicily - Chapters 4: Olives & Oil and 5. Ragusa and Baroquo-co-co-co-co!

Buongiorno!

Our journey on this day, took us south from Catania down to a lovely farm near the town of Scigli for a different kind of adventure - olive oil tasting!

Scigli, Sicily

Our guide, Massimo (front left), the team from Fidone Farm, Mirko and Angela

Fidone Farms Extra Virgin Olive (EVO) oil philosophy.

The Fidone EVO oil comes only from locally-grown olives and is cold-extracted exclusively. The hills around Scigli provide ideal growing conditions: it is clay soil and silty, and is exposed to the sun for just the right amount of time. The location has a unique mix of being the right distance from the coast and sea, as well as being at the correct altitude.

Century old olive tree at Fidone Farms

Olive Oil Production Facility

Left: Once the olives are harvested by hand, they are brought immediately to the production facility. This machine transfers the incoming baskets of olives to the hopper

Right (above): The hopper sends the olives up the conveyor to the de-stemming and grinding bin

The olives drop into this big dish, the stems are removed and then everything is ground

The crushed olives are placed in layers in the pressing bin above and the circular matts below separate the layers

This is the pressing machine. The bin containing layers of crushed olives is rolled into place. The metal tube is placed in the centre of the bin and is threaded into the presser which comes down from above

The pressed oil is passed through the blue machine below and further "cold" processed before it is ready for bottling.

And now for the taste-testing. It looks like serious business, doesn't it!

Mirko and Angela (translator) brought out 4 types of olive oil to try. 3 were Fidone products all made in the traditional fashion (hand-picked, cold-pressed, etc.) and one commercially processed oil that claimed it had the same properties as the traditional method. We had to turn our backs to the table while the various oils were poured into the tasting cups. We then had to pick which of the 4 was the commercial product. Pressure was on! Could we pass the test?

YES! In fact, we thought the 3 Fidone oils were cleaner tasting and MUCH clearer in colour. So, the moral of the story is that, even though the commercial oils might make certain claims, there really is no comparison to something that is lovingly hand-made!

How much fun was that? Now, how about a few pics from our drive back north to Ragusa?

Here we see the ancient city of Ragusa from a distance. In this shot, you can make out the 2 regions of the city. In the valley, is Ragusa - Ibla. It is the oldest part of the city and contains the Centro Storico. On top of the hill to the right, is Ragusa Superiore (Upper Ragusa). It was built after a major earthquake in 1693. The city is known for its many Baroque-style buildings

Isn't this just a beautiful view? Look at all those steps! Pedestrians are advised that these can be "Pericoloso" - dangerous!

Street scene from Ragusa

This was our hotel, the Villa Del Lauro

The next day, our Savour Italy buddies organized a walking tour for us in Ragusa Ibla. It began here, in the oldest part of the city

This gate is all that remains of the Antica Chiesa after the devastating earthquake of 1693. This part of the building is called the Gate of San Giorgio, and was the city's busiest. Note the Moorish (Arab) influences above the doorway.

The picture below is a visualization of what the old church looked like before the quake.

This is the Giardino Ibleo, built in 1859. It is a park right in the centre of the Centro Storico and contains no less than three churches San Domenico with its maiolica-tiled bell tower, San Giacomo, a baroque gem, and the Capucini convent with the Diocese museum.

Convento dei Capucini

Beautiful gardens

This is a view from the top of the Giardino. It is the site of a former river that used to flow to the Mediterranean Sea. It provided a vital means of transportation to support trade with the rest of the world.

The river dried up over the centuries but the valley that remained is notable in more modern times, for providing a path for the Allied forces (including Canadians) seeking to take Sicily from the Axis powers.

Our guide, Ivana, showed us this map of the Allied plan for the invasion of Sicily which ran from July 9 to August 17, 1943. British and Canadian troops followed the yellow line north through Ragusa. Canadian forces captured the airfield at Pacchino and then headed northwest to meet the American forces at Ragusa.

As I looked out over the valley, I could hardly imagine asking foot soldiers to walk this route - including countless mountains and valleys.

Here, Ivana stands in front of this sign to illustrate all the cheeses produced in Ragusa and to show a picture of how they are hung during the production process.

Here's an unobstructed view of the poster

Street view of Centro Storico in Ragusa Ibla. Note how much wider the streets are than in some of the other cities we've visited. That's because the opportunity was taken to widen streets of Ragusa Ibla after it was totally rebuilt after the 1693 earthquake - just like Catania after the Etna eruption in 1669.

Now we're getting into the real Ragusa! Baroquo-co-co-co-co!!

This is Chiesa San Giuseppe. This version of the church was rebuilt post earthquake from 1756-1796.

This is the Palazzo Arezzo Di Donnafugata. In the 19th century, a famous Sicilian politician, Corrado Arezzo, completed renovations to the original structure which dated back to 1648.

It includes the "guilty" balcony, which is the one that is enclosed. Ivana relayed a great story about this. Apparently, Signora Arezzo would use the balcony to monitor the movements of her unfaithful husband as he would come and go from the "Circulo Conversazione" which is right next door!

This is it - a club where members could meet to eat, drink, talk business and... ...entertain their mistresses!

This is the Duomo di San Giorgio. For me, it is the epitome of the Baroque Style. It was completed in 1775. Note the unusual position of the Duomo relative to the piazza. This was angled purposely to include a view of the cupola in behind.

Duomo piazzas are good for all sorts of things... a meeting of the Veteran's Car Club, including motorcycles... or...

... the Boys & Girls Scouts watching street theatre!!

Climbing the steps of the Duomo

According to Ivana, this metal bar had a very real purpose. After long, traditional masses in the duomo, men needing to relieve themselves often made use of little corners around the exterior of the church. In an effort to discourage this practice, obstacles were placed in the corner!

Ivana used this small courtyard of houses to illustrate the density of living in very old cities. There are actually 5 families that live there! "It's not so easy to live here", she said.

Ivana was a very interesting guide. She was extremely well-prepared and had lots and lots of stories about real and mythical people. They're the kinds of things that make history fun and provide very real insights into how Sicily became what it is today.

She even shared a few stories about her own family. For example, she was able to introduce her daughter and husband to us because they were taking part in the Scouts meeting. Along the route we told her about our visit to the Fidone Olive Oil Farm the day before. This prompted a discussion about how much olive oil means to Italians. She revealed that she uses 1 litre of olive oil per week!

This Palazzo La Rocco, built in 1760. It is famous for its 8 Baroque balconies

Each balcony has a different set of faces that tell humorous stories. In this case, on the top row, the guy on the left wants more wine. The host of the party (in the middle) says no and last guy on the right "flips him the bird"!

This is the pattern of ceramic and tile used in the Palazzo flooring. All pieces were sourced locally except for the black. These came from the lava rock of Mount Etna

Isn't this exquisite? It's made from Murano glass.

Palazzo La Rocco

Wall decorations, Palazzo La Rocco

Here are two ceramic faces that can be found in all shapes and sizes, in tourist shops and as adornments of buildings all across Sicily. They are called "The Arab" and "The Princess". Here's one version of the myth told by our guide, Ivana:

The story originates c.900, when the Moors (Arabs) were wealthy conquerors of Sicily. A rich Moor merchant saw a beautiful young Sicilian woman tending her balcony garden. He fell in love with her and wooed his way into her heart and bed. The woman soon learned of the merchant's plans to return to his wife and children in his home country. On their last night together, she waited until he slept, then cut off his head and put it on her balcony. She planted basil seeds in the skull and the resulting beautiful plant became the envy of the neighbourhood!

Now, for something completely different!! Ivana arranged a visit for us with Damiano Rotello (master painter) and Biagio Castiletti (master wood carver) of the Cinnabon Carretti Vintage Cart Factory.

These were used over the centuries for merchants to carry their wares from town to town. The flashier they were, the more people they would attract. The more people resulted in more sales and, ultimately, more money!