Alright, it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything, but an Instagram post got me thinking of a subject. So here’s a little nonsense that’s been running through my head…
Many of you may be more familiar with the Spanish term siesta; in Italy, they’re called riposo in the north and either pisolino or pennichella in the south.
I’ve had a little experience with them while traveling before, but those were bigger cities where not everything shut down. There were always some restaurants, focused on tourists, so it was simple and not much of an adjustment; I never shopped much on vacations. But living in a small town here in Sicilia; well, EVERYTHING shuts down, and it’s taken a little getting used to. I should clarify that I don’t have to go too far to find places open; I’ve seen at least one restaurant just out of town, down by the ocean that was open the other afternoon and other towns focus more on tourism a short train ride away. But in this town, it’s kind of a ghost town.
When I was still adjusting to the time change, plus a little jet lag, I missed… I don’t know what you call it… I’ll go with the “first shift” a couple of times. This meant waiting until 5/6pm to get something to eat. Yeah, pretty damn late for the first food of the day! Now it might also be good to note that right after pisolino isn’t a time for a meal here either. But it’s pretty much perfect food for me… sandwiches, chicken, and fries are pretty much always options. But my favorites are more of rotating items; mini pizza, sfincione, focaccia, and arancina.
Food is great here though; fresh fruit/veggies, bread (oh the bread!), pizza/sfincione, sweets (cannoli/gelato!), etc. Everything is soo delicious and there 3 or 4 places for each in town, not including the supermarket. So there’s plenty of great food, I just need to make some adjustments in my schedule/habits.
Speaking of which, next is getting on the proper dinner schedule. After three weeks I don’t think I even know all the restaurants in town, and it’s not a big town. Google says 10,481 as of 2017. To be fair though Google doesn’t know all the restaurants in town either; LOL. The thing for me is that other than the quick bite and pizza places, most restaurants don’t even open until around 8/9pm. Which, even with all the espresso, feels a bit late to me to just start thinking of eating.
Ciao,
Max
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