Italy and Sicily - Architecture

"Drying the Clothes on the Balcony - Ortygia, Sicily" (20"X16", Oil on Canvas, $650)

Another common scene in Ortygia is the laundry hanging from the balcony to dry it. This man seems to be checking to see if his things are dry enough to take in. Almost all the other tall green doors along the building are closed, which is unusual. Virtually every apartment in all of Italy has these small balconies with their beautiful tall doors. They also virtually all have this kind of 'bleeding' stucco that looks like a watercolor, as well as patches of it that have fallen off. The little door on the street might have been for delivery of coal at one time. Maybe it still is. I wonder if anyone uses the little deck on the roof. I bet they do, since to waste such views (this street was near the waterfront) and fresh air would be a sin. The seagulls wheeling in the sky give another hint that this is an island scene, and the short shadows tell that it's around lunchtime.

Speaking of lunchtime, some of the best simple food can be easily found in Italy and Sicily. Even things from places that you don't have much confidence in are almost always amazingly fresh and delicious, and simply prepared. Some of the best seafood I've ever had, and the best local pasta dishes you can imagine, were found in Sicily. Rome and Florence had great food, too, but Sicily had the most consistently amazing food. I highly recommend that if anyone out there is considering a vacation, that they go to Sicily. And if anyone is thinking about a trip to anywhere else in Italy, they should seriously consider Sicily instead.