News from Sicily-FRANA, SAGRA DI MANDORLE, SATIRO DANZANTE
Yesterday we took a break from cleaning and unpacking and went out in the beautiful sunny weather to ride to Agrigento about 75 miles away for a look at the almond trees next to the Greek temples there. It was a gorgeous day and the festival celebrating the blossoming of the trees, the Sagra di Mandorle, with its accompanying world folk dance festival, was just about over. Hundreds of dancers from all over the world had come and danced and pledged friendship with the folks of Agrigento in the Valley of the Temples. We have only seen it on TV because the weather has almost always been rainy and windy for these poor dancers, and besides, the TV coverage is usually excellent. The blossoms were not as prolific as other years, or else lots of people helped themselves to branches. But it was still a very charming sight. Then for pranzo, our favourite fish restaurant, Il Molo, was as good as ever to its promise of 10 antipasti and 3 pasta/rice dishes, plus water, bread and wine for one low price. Yum!
On the way out, we saw close up the worsening of the damage that had been done to our main road while we were gone. Cold and rains had made the frana, the collapse of Contrada San Marco, much worse. At the point of the frana, the road goes down a hill and around a curve, and it is a very picturesque spot. Since a traffic light had been installed so that there is only one way traffic, I got to get up close and take pictures. The funny thing about this traffic light is that there are very few of them in this town of almost 50,000 people, and this must be the only spare. We think this because we saw a TV article about the main traffic light on Via Cappuccino being off, again because of water damage to the wiring, and a delay of months before the $10,000 euro repair can be made-there just is no money in the town budget for it. In the meantime, the TV reporter assured viewers that the problem would solve itself once things warmed and dried up.
Also making news here is the flap over the transfer of the famous Satiro Danzante, the incredible bronze torso depicting a dancing figure from ancient times, brought up from the waters of the Sicilian channel near here that I wrote about earlier last September. It was housed in its own museum and was a figure of great pride for the people of Mazara Del Vallo after they had finally gotten it back (after five years!) from the archaeologists and restorers last summer. Well, an invitation arrived on the mainland and it was decided by the powers that be that it would make a great figure to be the main attraction of Expo 2005 in Japan this year. So before it was in its new home for even a year, off it went again. But not without demonstrations, protests, and finally, a failed physical confrontation between the truck that was carrying it out of town and the protesters to the action. Some of the protesters were town and provincial councilmen, and they were among the half dozen injured, along with some of the press. It seems that the building of a new distillery near the museum and the lack of Sicilian representation with the delegation to Japan were also part of the protest. In any case, this action seems to takes civic pride to an extreme quite unknown in the US.
On the way out, we saw close up the worsening of the damage that had been done to our main road while we were gone. Cold and rains had made the frana, the collapse of Contrada San Marco, much worse. At the point of the frana, the road goes down a hill and around a curve, and it is a very picturesque spot. Since a traffic light had been installed so that there is only one way traffic, I got to get up close and take pictures. The funny thing about this traffic light is that there are very few of them in this town of almost 50,000 people, and this must be the only spare. We think this because we saw a TV article about the main traffic light on Via Cappuccino being off, again because of water damage to the wiring, and a delay of months before the $10,000 euro repair can be made-there just is no money in the town budget for it. In the meantime, the TV reporter assured viewers that the problem would solve itself once things warmed and dried up.
Also making news here is the flap over the transfer of the famous Satiro Danzante, the incredible bronze torso depicting a dancing figure from ancient times, brought up from the waters of the Sicilian channel near here that I wrote about earlier last September. It was housed in its own museum and was a figure of great pride for the people of Mazara Del Vallo after they had finally gotten it back (after five years!) from the archaeologists and restorers last summer. Well, an invitation arrived on the mainland and it was decided by the powers that be that it would make a great figure to be the main attraction of Expo 2005 in Japan this year. So before it was in its new home for even a year, off it went again. But not without demonstrations, protests, and finally, a failed physical confrontation between the truck that was carrying it out of town and the protesters to the action. Some of the protesters were town and provincial councilmen, and they were among the half dozen injured, along with some of the press. It seems that the building of a new distillery near the museum and the lack of Sicilian representation with the delegation to Japan were also part of the protest. In any case, this action seems to takes civic pride to an extreme quite unknown in the US.
posted by Sicilian Mama at 5:09 AM
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