CALTAGIRONE -- The roof terrace view, the homemade breakfast and the exuberant hospitality of Rosa Occhipinti, the proprietor of "Il Piccolo Antico" B&B, persuaded the Chippings to spend two nights in this ancient city that advertises itself as the "Ceramic Capital." A thousand years ago, Arab invaders introduced a distinctive yellow and blue terra-cotta tile displayed throughout this medieval town of 40,000 inhabitants.
There were also other factors. After a 64-kilometer ride from Palazzolo Acreide, where the Chips had spent a cool and wet previous night, Jimma and Filippo were bone-tired and sore. Both complained of irritated areas where bike saddles make contact with the human form. Spazio and Davide were for taking a day to explore Caltagirone. Dino and Bruce were for cycling on. And John DeR would graciously go with the flow.
It looked as if, for the first time, the Chippings untried dispute resolution process would be invoked. Dino proposed a straight up and down vote on the two-night proposition. Then Davide, a psychiatric social worker, suggested the Chips express their feelings and work toward a consensus. Reluctantly, grudgingly, a consensus was achieved. The Chips would stay two nights and bike on early Saturday morning for the old castle and cathedral town of Piazza Armerina.
A deciding factor, perhaps, was Signora Rosa, who responded to our request for eggs by supplying fresh ones from her own hens in the country. Rosa is an enthusiastic, loquacious, middle-aged Siciliana whose hands and face speak volumes. She'd be the idle language school home study mamma, rambling on in well-enunciated italiano specially designed for the intermediate student. She was absolutely delighted to speak italiano with John DeR and Spazio, telling us how "brutta"("ugly") English is. Only German, she said, is uglier. Geez, grazie Rosa.
Rosa has stretched the B&B experience beyond the usual. We returned from dinner last night to find our kitchen mess cleaned up and our discarded underwear arranged at sharp right angles on the beds. She accommodated Chipping squeamishness about shared matrimonial beds by setting up separate single ones. And she did Filippo's laundry. In the photo above, she is making a very emphatic point about Italian cuisine to John DeR. My cell phone shutter speed was not fast enough to freeze her hands.
The receptionist at the Lo! Hostel in Siracusa seemed less than delighted to pose with the Chippings as they set out for Palazzolo Acreide. Perche?
Davide, John DeR and Dino are all smiles after climbing 3,000 feet into Sicily's hinterland.
On a cool, soon-to-be wet afternoon in the central piazza of Palazzolo Acreide, a stray dog does tricks for Davide and Filippo.
Filippo points out a Roman votive niche depicting heroes offering a sacrifice. It was carved in the first century BC.
Despite aches, pains and soreness in private areas, Jimma punched out 64 kilometers of serious up and downhill riding on Route 124 to Caltagirone.
Unknown, at this point, is the delicacy that John DeR and Filippo discovered on a restaurant window in Caltagirone: "Hot Doo."
Location:Caltagirone, Sicilia
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