Monday, February 4, 2013

We've arrived at The Lemon Tree...our favorite place to stay in Sicily  (now THAT sounds funny, right ? )

The drive from the western side of the island to the eastern, where we are now, was absolutely beautiful.  We've had amazing weather...58-65 degrees F every day, and no rain.
On the road, we stopped at an Autogrill and I had my favorite panino...the buffalino...mozzerella cheese, proscuitto, and arugula...yummy !  Joe had a "picante" : spicey salami and cheese on crusty bread.  Not too shabby for fast food on the road !  The road to the Lemon Tree was almost impassable two years ago, and not much has changed...in fact, part of the road is completely gone and you have to maneuver through some gravel to keep going up the mountain...Joe loves it...(Lori, you'd hate it !)

Our hosts, Karen and Diego are adorable...she's English and he's Sicilian - just like our friends Jackie and Nino...in fact, Karen and Diego are going to meet Jackie and Nino soon since they will be staying in the villa that we rented two years ago...the owners of that villa live on Long Island, and recently stayed here at the Lemon Tree...small world...you can't make this stuff up!

We got settled in, did a bit of shopping for essentials (I think we all know what that means  by now...diet pepsi anyone ?) , and Karen gave us a tour of the gardens and the new chicken coop.  There are 5 chickens, and they eat EVERYTHING that you have left over...talk about composting...they each produce an egg a day, so we're looking forward to our first Sicilian omelet soon.

Last night, we grilled burgers and potatoes under the stars...Diego cut some vine clippings for us to use...we had the best burgers ever !  I even found ketchup in the local store...only the best for this American...needless-to-say, there were some very happy chickens after our meal.

Today we went into one of the small towns here for lunch and a walk.  We wandered into the local church, and there was the most beautiful and intricate nativity scene set up - called a presepe here - small working models of village life...everything from women doing laundry to the butcher chopping up some meat.  It took up one entire side of the church, and even included sound effects.  At one point, the lights flashed, thunder sounded, and it rained - IN THE SCENE !  Wow !

Karen came to our apartment and spent about an hour with us chatting and answering questions...she's got alot of recommendations, so it looks as if it will be a busy month...tonight I'm cooking veal cutlets in lemon and white wine, pasta with pancetta and peas, and roasted cauliflower and hen of the woods mushrooms.  Why aren't you all here ??

One of the best things we've seen today is the shepherd down the road herding his flock...twice a day, he and his dogs take the sheep out onto the road to their pastures.  He's too old to walk these days, so he herds them with a Ford Fiesta...too funny !  He toots the horn in different patterns to let the dogs know what he wants them to do...now you REALLY can't make that up !

Chris and her chicken-feeding husband

P.S. Happy Birthday yesterday, Steven...we love you !!




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