Gelato !

Does anyone want some ice cream? It's about 100 degrees in the shade here in Sicilia in October, and the world is congregating around the gelato shops. Gelato is simply "ice cream." As you see, it is quite gourmet, with many different varieties, such as real cream gelato and simple fruit gelatos and "granites" which are fruit ices. An absolute NECESSITY to cool off in the middle of the day. Or at 9 in the morning, which was when I had mine. (Pisatchio, in case you're wondering.) I arrived in Palermo hopeful that I could take in some sights before heading to Piazza Armerina in central Sicilia, but it was soon quite clear that Palermo was not a good place to leave an expensive motorcycle loaded with gear for more than two minutes at a time. The place is like a huge flea market surrounded by elegant and mistreated buildings and ancient ruins. While there are some "nice" areas, I managed to wander into streets that looked like the parts of India I'd rather have forgotten about... miles of cement block hovels right up against the narrow streets, grimy and greasy. So I rode on to Piazza Armerina, a place that the Mura's in Sardegna had told me I absolutely had to see. The memory the cool gelato I'd enjoyed in Palermo that morning stayed with me as I traveled the backroads through the hot, barren landscape of middle Sicily where ancient olive groves stood stoicly in the dry brown earth. < previous | next >