IT'S THE WEEKEND ... READY TO GRILL?

Some of the meats and prepared food available at a local butcher shop

IN A CHURCHYARD ....

Statue in a local churchyard ...

BELPASSO SNAPSHOT - ROSES

Roses in a (tiny) yard that I drive by each day on my way home from work ...

SWEETS

Some of the pastries commonly found in Sicily...

FLOWER POT

Flower pots like this cover the walls in the central part of Gangi 

RIDING DOWN THE STREET.....

Saw this on the way in to work, yesterday ...the joys of small town life ....

MESSINA CATHEDRAL MOSAICS

Forward ceiling and arch mosaics in Messina Cathedral

CHURCH DETAIL

Ventilation opening in the wall of one of the churches on Piazza Duomo in Taormina.

FROM ETNA LOOKING OUT TOWARD CATANIA

Still a little snow up on Etna ... looking out toward the south-east from the Visitor's Center

THROUGH THE DOORWAY, TAORMINA

Peeking though the gateway and out to the sea...

SETTING UP FIREWORKS

Setting up fireworks in Trecastagni    for a festival....   LOTS of fireworks!

BUNKERS

                                                Two bunkers in a farmer's field near Gela...

BALCONY IRONWORK

I love the hearts and flowers on this balcony -- 

RED WING (HOCKEY) FAN?

Detail in the central piazza of Scicli (Ragusa province) -- DH is a Red Wings fan - he liked seeing this one.

MOSAIC IN MESSINA CATHEDRAL

Mosaic showing Antonio from Messina that is in the Messina Cathedral.
The main altar is just forward of this arch. 
Antonio da Messina was a famous Sicilan painter who lived between 1429 CE and 1479 CE.

ST AGATHA and UMBERTO

St. Agatha Church and a statue of King Umberto in the center of Caltanesetta.
Through the church window, you can see part of the painting on the church ceiling.

SAN MATTEO CHURCH, SCICLI

BELPASSO ON MT. ETNA

Not the best of pictures ...but this is Belpasso, the City of Lava, on the side of Etna.

SWEETS

ANY ONE NEED A LAWYER?

Placard by a doorway ... very common to see these for all sorts of professions. 

MUSSOLINI HOUSES

A reminder of pre-WW2 -- this is one of the many Mussolini houses found on the plain of Catania. Mussolini promoted an ambious plan called "Battle for Grain" where families were to live on/near small plots of land in order to grow wheat and grains. The plots were generally too small for the large-scale production desired and the peasant relocation was never very successful. Italian law prohibits the removal or razing of buildings over 50 years old -- they are considered historical relics.

GASTRONOMIA

A small take-away restaurant, butcher and rotassarie chicken shop in Linguaglossa up on Mt. Etna...

CHANGING MY ADDRESS

In order to comply with the current rules of CitydayPhoto ... I am changing my address to belpassoandbeyond.blogspot.com .... hope to see you there.
Holly

HERE IS OUR BLESSED PALM

Palm Sunday, DH and I went over to Gangi to see the processions ... we really enjoyed it.  Each of the churches in Gangi ( and there are somewhere around 14 or 16 churches in a town that has less than 8000 residents) had a decorated palm standard in the procession accompanied by worshipers from its congregation.  Each standard included emblems associated with that specific church - so a knowledgeable  onlooker could determine which church was associated with each  standard.

Went along with tradition - bought a palm weaving from one of the vendors and had it blessed at the main cathedral... we have it displayed on the door to our living room.

FLAGS AT CALTANISSETTA CITY HALL

The flags of the European Union, Italy, Sicily (a province of Italy) and the town of Caltanissetta
(a town here on the island) all are proudly displayed from the balcony of Caltanissetta's city hall.