The famous tiled stairs in Caltagirone - I'll save climbing them for another day :)
A few Saturdays ago, my friends Allison and Anna picked me up for a fun morning of shopping in Caltagirone. World famous for its majolica and terra cotta pottery, Caltagirone actually means "hill of vases" in Arabic. The town center is filled with ceramic workshops and boutiques selling tableware as well as decorative items painted with bright, beautiful patterns. Anna and I were in luck because Caltagirone is one of Allison's favorite towns and she was very knowledgeable about which shops offered the finest quality for the best price. I found a gorgeous and unique serving set as well as a few gifts, and can't wait to return to with Matt to show him some of the intricate landscapes of Sicily and Mt. Etna painted on tiles in several shops. After filling our bags and lugging them back to Allison's prime parking spot (another advantage of having an in-the-know guide), we headed to one of Anna's island finds - an agriturismo in a cave near the mountain top town of Vizzini for a delicious and relaxing lunch.
Rosy di Natale of Le Ceramiche di Rosy. She is the ceramicist of the shop where I bought my first piece of Caltagirone pottery. She wanted a picture of the piece before it left the shop and I asked if I could snap one of her, too.
Upstairs workshop at Silva Ceramica. Most of the shop proprietors were eager to show us examples of the ceramics process or photo albums of their best work. At Silva, a lady showed us a photo album of her project tiling the Dolce and Gabbana showroom in Manhattan (Dolce is a native of Sicily).
At Silva Ceramica, they even let us pose for a photo opportunity in the workshop. Here, Allison paints under the watchful eye of one of their ceramicists.
My favorite experience of the day was sorting through the stacks of hand-painted tiles at Silva Ceramica. What started as lifting a piece here and there quickly turned into a team project of methodically looking through each stack of tiles to find treasures that coordinated with each other. "Artistes!" exclaimed the amused proprietor.
When it comes to driving in Sicily, there is NEVER` a dull moment. This is a view through the back window of a dried mudslide obstructing 2/3 of the road. Faced with any obstacle, our fearless driver Allison would proclaim "Don't worry. I've got this." Showing her true Sicilian driving skill, she also informed us midway through a series of downhill S-turns that the car was in neutral.
It really isn't a drive through the Sicilian countryside unless you encounter animals in the road. This fine billy had some impressive horns.
Our delicious and artistic semifreddo dessert at an agriturismo near Vizzini - the perfect way to celebrate a successful afternoon adventure!
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