Christmas in Rocella

The Family!

For Christmas we were invited to our friend Larry's festivities. 

Larry was born in Thunder Bay,Canada but are from Roccella Jonica.   His family moved to Canada in the 60s, had their children ( Larry and 2 brothers) and moved back to Roccella when Larry was 3.    He kept up his English, as did his mother and brothers.   The family owns a huge villa in town here and its split up;  with cousins, his mom, brothers and children all living together but in completely different/separate apartments.   Not like slum landlord apts:-)  but beautiful places,  built out of this old villa, views of the sea, the castles, stone balconies with old Roman busts and situated around the corner from the main plaza square....very lovely.  

Back to Christmas.
Larry picked us up Christmas day around noon, off we went to another town called Siderno,  his wife's family lives there and that is where we were to have Christmas dinner and boxing day lunch. 
Not just the family is invited but cousins, in laws, friends and Canadians are all welcome.  We had never met anyone but Larry,  yet his entire family made us feel like we were old comfortable friends.  It did not matter that we spoke limited Italian and them no English (ok besides Larry, his son and brother in law spoke and understood enough English to make everybody comfortable) we had a fantastic time. 

Just like in the movies,  15 people all talking and laughing at once,  eating plate after plate of food and drinking wine regardless of age:-)   Each plate had one item on it,  for instance there were 2 lasagna ( I couldn't tell the difference) and each were served separately because you could not mix them.   Pickled vegetables, cold meats, cheese and bread,  Lasagna, 3 kinds of meat ( rabbit, pork and goat), then a big bowl of fresh fennel is passes around to chew on,  salad and 2nd helpings of anything.   Then desserts, tiramisu,  4 layered creme cake, grappa, liqueurs, cassata cake and opening of presents.

Lisa and Mom

Santa handing out gifts

The presents were distributed just the same as when we were  kids.   A Santa ( the brother in law, who has a carnival business was the Santa, he was hilarious,  we could just see him working the Italian crowds) picked a present from under the tree, read out who it was for and from, made comments as to what it might be, a joke or 2 and then everyone watched and waited for the gift to be opened, looked at and sometimes put on. 
We got gifts too,  how nice for us and totally unexpected.  Bath stuff (soap and cream, which is great since we buy the cheapest or use soap from the bathrooms soap dispenser..sometimes) wine and fantastic pickled vegetables, like eggplant, olives and mushrooms, plus a pesto made of sundried tomatoes, capers and mushrooms, yum!

Tombola cards

Italians here, play Tombola on Christmas.   Bingo for us English folk but play for money, each card costs 50 cents and the winners get money from the pot.   Lots of fun, laughing, money to be made and it doesn't matter how many people play as there is always room for more.
Boxing day we again went to Siderno and did the entire thing again but with no presents:-)

Branko and his chestnuts

Besides Larry's festivities we ( the Swiss couple, the American guy and us) celebrated 1 Sunday in advent, having brunch, drinking wine, playing Mexican train and bolles on the beach.

 The winter solstice,  Dec 21st we made a bonfire on the beach;  watched the sunset, roasted Italian sausages, drank wine ate roasting marshmallows (unbelievable but found marshmallows but no candy canes) fun and nice to finally celebrate the solstice in some pagan style.

Happy Winter Solstice!

On New years eve we rode our borrowed bikes to Roccella, along the beach boardwalk to celebrate with Larry and the usual suspects.  Basically more fun, food and drinks. We had a view from his balconies to watch all the fireworks.

Next day, new years day we were back to Larry's for more eating, drinking and a few rounds of Bingo.

Just beginning to recuperate, mostly from all the food, as we drank sparingly, no room for liquids.

The very (belated) best wishes for you this new year.

Bay of Naples

Street scene, Naples

Hand painted tambourines

Rocella Ionica, Calabria, Italy
March 2016

The four of us rented a car from a company at the Reggio Calabria airport for only 7€ per day.  We took it for 10 days and made a trip to Naples (Napoli).  From our location here in Roccella Ionica it's a 500km drive on scenic highways through the mountains of southern Italy and along the Tyrrhenian Sea, with spectacular views all along the way.

We stayed in Herculaneum, a town at the base of Mt. Vesuvius and about 20km away from Naples.  There are two now famous towns that were buried by ash when Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D.: Pompeii and Herculaneum.  A short walk from our B&B brought us to the excavation in Herculaneum.

The chariots just went by.

Original wall painting, colours too

It was buried in 60 feet of ash, which has turned to rock, and was discovered slowly as a result of wells and tunnels dug into the town. The first excavation took place in the 1700's. Seventy five percent of the ancient city is still buried under the present day town of Ercolano.

See the modern city above Ercolano?

Roadside restaurant, help yourself!

This is what is still under Ercolano.

What sets it apart from Pompeii is that, while the actual site is smaller, it is much better preserved.  Three story buildings still stand and in some cases the original wood lintels in the doors and windows exist, now charred in appearance due to the extreme heat of the eruption and ensuing pyroclastic surge of gas and ash.  There are grim reminders of the catastrophe in the form of fossilized skeletons of victims that were instantly killed by the fury of the volcano. When you stand in the present-day town and look over at the distant Vesuvius, it is hard to imagine the violence of the eruption that erased the towns between it and the sea.

Branko made me take this.

Check out the floor.

That was on the first day when we arrived.  The next saw us take the circumvesuvio train to Naples, which is only a 20-30 minute ride.  The station is near the historical centre of town and we hoofed directly to it.  Naples is one of the bigger cities in Italy, and like most of them, has wonderful sights.  We love to traipse through the various neighbourhoods, climb through narrow alleyways and up to vantage points to get the best views, and to chat with folks and see how they live.

Duomo ceiling, Naples

Gateway to old Naples

The famous steps

 Naples does not disappoint.  There are the requisite beautiful cathedrals, historical buildings, castles, forts, and museums, but what I liked best was the view from the hilltop at the north end of the city. An arduous set of stairs lead up to the castle, now a museum, atop the hill.  From there you see Naples lying at the top of the Bay of Naples, the sea to your right and the sleeping volcano brooding away in the distance.  The descent takes you down to the port and the massive four-cornered castle that once guarded the port.

We spent two days walking all over Naples and each night we all came back tired and grimy to our digs - called Vesuvius Smiling - to take a shower (pups too cause they were filthy walking so close to the ground) and rest.  I was also on a mission while in Naples to have my guitar (thanks Gayle and Jeff) refretted because I actually wore ruts into the top three from playing so much and using a capo.

Branko, his fixed guitar and new friends.

On Via San Sebastione there are several excellent music stores and one special luther's shop called Anema e Corde on a side street called Port'Alba. They carefully repaired the frets for me on the same day and gave me a tour of the shop.  If I had 3000€ I would have bought one of their guitars even though they specialize in Italian mandolins and restorations.

On the drive back we took a route through the rugged mountains of Calabria to see the spectacular scenery and the mountain towns.  Before there were cars and roads, these places were remote and often if you were born in one of those villages, you likely never left it.  No problem for us, though, except for the poor condition of some the roads and the torturous, twisting turns.

Selfie 

What next they ask?

We had the car for a few more days, so we made a trip back to the Tyrrhenina Sea to visit the town of Tropea along with new friends Tracy and Mike from Rio Luna. I realized when we arrived to this beautiful sea-side town that I was starting to take for granted all the beautiful things to see in Italy.  Here we were strolling through a picturesque and popular resort town with a beautiful beach set in the rolling hillside and I wasn't overly impressed.

Caulonia Superior

Back road to Stilo

Tropea, from the sandcastle

Tropea again

Festa in Caulonia

Winding roads

When we eventually leave the Med, we will pass through the Messina straights and visit more of the Tyrrhenian coast of Italy.  I will promise to be more impressed.

Branko

Smoked Eggplant

Building the smoker (and fireplace)

Branko has been busy this winter, preserving food. 

It started last year with fermenting cabbage to make sauerkraut and morphed into smoking eggplants and hot peppers.  To clarify, Branko wasn't "smoking" eggplants but smoking them to eat, using his wood stove as the smoker.

He came up with the brilliant idea to use a bamboo steamer,  which is made of interlocking trays with perforated bottoms that stack one on top of the other. The whole basket is placed over the chimney so the smoke  rises through the layers,  curing and smoking the food.  

Bamboo racks

Bamboo steamer

The eggplants are peeled, sliced, salted and left for an hour or so,  allowing the salt to draw out the moisture.
After wiping the excess moisture from the eggplants, they are placed in the steamer trays.

Ready to get 'smoked'

Twigs seem to be the best for this stove.
The steamer is placed on top of the Charlie Noble (top of the chimney)
Moisture is still created from the vegetables and smoke, so the eggplants need to dry in the air/sun after a few hours of smoking. 
Depending on the thickness of the slices, the smoking process can take a couple of days.

Chimney with Charlie on top

Bamboo steamer added

Finished product

Because of the curing process the eggplants and hot peppers are preserved, needing no refrigeration.   Branko made babaganosh and smokey eggplant oil ( using olive oil.)  The hot peppers were made into siraccha sauce, but also left as is (smoked and dried) for added flavor in any meal.

Next up orange and lemon marmalade.
Sue Chef,
Marg
(I know it's not spelled "Sue")