We Swarm Together!

Preface for today's blog: 

For interest, my friend and personal translator (thank God...) Cassandra, have decided to create a kind of Palermo/Sicily focused blog - dialogue that explores her seasoned, dare I say Palermitani perspective on gastronomy, music, culture, architecture and design, with my own observations. As a foreigner, I have no personal history in this country. I can therefore see its potential without the influence of political and economic bureaucracy. However, I am not naive. I am aware that a bureaucratic labyrinth exists and is interwoven into the fabric of Sicilian society. Like any other major social system, the mechanics are complicated. As a Californian and Silicon Valley native, I remain perpetually optimistic and maintain the belief that anything is possible! It will be interesting to see how my view of Sicilian life compares and contrasts with that of Cassandra's as this American blog adventure unfolds.

Here is Cassandra's blog link, in case you missed in the first post!

Episode 2: 

My first few days in Palermo have been really exciting! Cassandra and her partner Manlio have been exceptionally generous hosts offering me a spare bed for a couple of days to acclimatize before heading over to the Tasca Lanza farm, Saturday morning. I'm very much looking forward to meeting Fabrizia Tasca Lanza, the estates proprietor. She runs the estate as well as the acclaimed international cooking school there. And although my duties will be centered around creating a wild plant herbarium, I hope I have the opportunity of diving into the kitchen from time to time to catch a cooking lesson or two! 

Many of Fabrizia's famed recipes use a combination wild plants from around the estate, which is why there preservation is essential. I love this earthy style of cooking. A strange comment to make, perhaps, because all food should be earthy, right? Not exactly. If you have any basic knowledge of our global food system, then you know that much of what we eat is hardly homegrown or wild for that matter. Another blog entry for another day! I'll provide more details of Fabrizia, the Tasca Lanza family and the farm after I settle in over the weekend. For now I'll give you an update on Sicily's mother city, Palermo!

Palermo:

Everything about this place has that new book smell. The street food, animated flow of arterial roads, stunning piazza's, sub-tropical fauna and mix of architectural history all have the aroma of fresh pages being thumbed beneath ones nose. Yet, while the experience might be fresh to my senses, the pages certainly are not. Many of the pages are torn and unfinished, but that's part of the regions charm. Palermo is still an urban city with almost 3,000 years of history under its belt. Tucked in the creases of each page are stories of love, conquest, death and of course a great Italian icon, the Vespa!

Unfamiliar with the history of the Vespa, I conducted a thorough investigation using the most up-to-date research technology available, i.e Google. I found through very reliable sources (wikipedia) that the original Vespa design was inspired by the Pre-world War II Cushman scooter. The Cushman scooter was made by the Cushman Company in Lincoln Nebraska, as an alternative to automobiles for U.S military troops fighting abroad. 

In 1944 renowned Italian engineering company Piaggio took the Cushman scooter concept and re-sculpted its features into a sleek, polished piece of machinery that ultimately provided the Italian public with a practical means of navigating the war ruined city streets. The Italian Post World War economy and infrastructure simply could not support the automobile. Vespa would remain, forever, in the hearts and minds of Italians as a symbol of freedom.

The allure of Vespa continues today as the brand conjures images care-free bliss of romance, of young couples zipping down sun-washed cobbled streets. At least that's the scene I always had in the back of my mind, painted by decades of indie films. That is, until I witnessed the darker side of the wasp. 

Clouds of Vespa brotherhoods, swarm the streets under and over-cutting traffic from every direction, their owners, completely oblivious to any rule or law governing the road. Clearly defined road lanes don't mean much. The notorious "California Stop" pales in comparison to the Scicilian Roll. Single lanes quickly become two, sometimes three, while Vespas and motorcycles pour in from right, left and center, filling empty spaces, a symphony of micro-horns ablaze. 

Drivers play their part in the orchestra of organized chaos as well. They pay little credence to turning into the face of on-coming cars to over-take a slower vehicle, in hurried traffic, in the rain. Yes the on-coming traffic might be barreling in at 40 mph an hour, but there's time! To an Italian, there's always time! I love this about the culture. They have this uncanny ability to slow down time while simultaneously move through it at the speed of light! It's incredible.

Italian drivers are pillars of calm. What I see as outrageously risky behavior are calculations to the trained eye, their senses and reflexes tuned for precision driving. It makes perfect sense that many of the top Formula 1 race-car drivers in the world are Italian! There could be ten-thousands obstacles outside of a moving vehicle on any given day - slashing rain, black ice, mountains of slippery dog mess, clueless people, man eating plants, puppies, kittens, mortar shells, you name it, but to a steady mind, inside the cockpit of a 1989 Fiat Panda....the operatic ballads of Enrico Caruso, resound. As an American, I'm far from used to this way of life. I yearn for some semblance of order, straight lines, organization and yet I reject it at the same time, because I know that great design and great art are both born out of this chaos. I identify with the process. Palermo is a little crazy, but then, heck, so am I! In Palermo, no matter how much you resist, one eventually becomes part of the swarm. Whether you're in a car or straddling a wasp, Sicily is a family and Sicilian families, fly together!

In my next blog I will recant my first ever ride on a Vespa through the very streets I've described above. It was both the most thrilling and terrifying experience of my life! And share a bit of the delicious food and sites I've discovered so far - thanks to Cassandra. Stay tuned!