Feb. 3, 2025 - THE WEEK THAT WAS…AND THEN, A BIG SURPRISE!!
Cristina makes Caponata
Gianni Grillo shows me some of the types of wine from Marsala which has an incredible history… and he reminded me that there is no such thing as chicken marsala!
Happy Birthday Mauro…. it was the most incredible cheesecake I’ve ever had!
…and he got a birthday kiss from his girlfriend, Monica!
I actually got my first taste of Trapanese pizza. Calvino’s is a place that started in 1946…so it’s older than me! You get a room to eat your pizza and you have a time slot in which to consume it. The round pizza is cut into tiny one inch squares…only in Trapani. I could only eat half. The boys told me that the building used to be a house of ill repute!
My young friends explained to me that you need to go out late in order to enjoy the atmosphere of this town. People don’t start going out until at least eight or 9 o’clock at night and stay out till two in the morning. It’s not my usual schedule, but I’m working at it and I went out a little bit later than usual and ran into this Troubadour…
An exciting announcement from Bernunzio‘s! I wish I was there to see it
RICHIE STEARNS: A Beginner Banjo Workshop @ Bernunzio's Sunday, February 9th, 1PM,
THE WEEK THAT WAS…AND THEN, A BIG SURPRISE!!
February 3, 2025
Saluti,
I am approaching one month here, alone in Sicily. I’m conflicted as I am having a hard time making a move to leave. I become very comfortable in my little apartment and my surroundings but I certainly miss my family. I had a group call with them on Sunday and after I got off the phone I started to tear up quite a bit. I just have not taken the time to find a flight back to America…. maybe there is something to be said about that. So I try to keep busy to fight off the malaise…and busy I have certainly been. This past week I had three great interactions with local people who have become my friends. I had a cooking class with Cristina here in my apartment. She taught me her version of Sicilian Trapanese style caponata. On Thursday I went to Marsala a city south of here, famous for wine, with master teacher and guide Gianni Grillo and I finished off the week with a birthday party with my new friends.
I am working hard at getting my mind formed to go back to America. I miss my family and friends and the business that I’ve been involved with for 50 years but there’s something magical in this place…something musical in the conversations that I hear and the sounds of the language and the ringing of the bells and the wind and the sun and the aged crumbling buildings…it is the land where I came from, and I can feel the ancient ties to the land and the people and the soil, and the angst and joy of all those who have lived before me.
Cu la paci,
John Bernunzio
PS: BREAKING NEWS….Someone very special agreed to meet me here in Trapani. My own Dulcinea del Toboso…yes, Julie Schnepf and I will be together for Valentine’s Day. I am over the moon….
The gang at Calvino‘s Pizza… I cannot begin to express how much joy these young people have bought to an old man’s life. They are the future.
Some of the treasures of Marsala…escargot, wild fennel, lemons , mushrooms and carob seeds
grape vines everywhere… their history is just as gnarly as their roots and the soil in which they thrive