Assettati

 One of the things that I was hoping would happen when we got settled was finding great little restaurants, away from the main tourist thoroughfare. We tend to not eat in the Piazza Duomo very often, although the vibe up there is pretty cool. One night we stumbled into a little place around the corner from our apartment, and about a hundred feet from La Sirenella. It's called Assettati (which is sort of Italian/Sicilian for "you sit"). As it turned it, it had just been purchased by a guy name Salvatore, who grew up here in Terrasini, but then twenty years working in and running restaurants in Philadelphia of all places. It may not have been our intention, but Assettati quickly has become our go-to place (and we'd eat there more if Janet was playing the responsible party and directing us to other restaurants or eating at home - which is clearly crazy talk). Anyway, it's absolutely wonderful, and I think we've eaten there six times (it will be seven in a couple hours) in the six weeks we've been here. Highly recommended.

Too Many Sunset Pictures

 Yeah, I need to stop posting so many sunset pictures, but, seriously, one of the advantages of living in this sleepy little beach town is amazing sunsets every night. We're moving into our new apartment tomorrow, and even though we won't be right on the water any more, we'll at least have a balcony to sit, enjoy a homemade Aperol Spritz, and revel in this beautiful world.

Those two jagged rocks, which I've carefully and clumsily centered to capture the sun, are an iconic image of Terrasini.

Movies in 2026 246

 

La tete d'un homme (Julien Duvivier, 1935)

At least I was able to finish out on a good movie, Julien Duvivier's 1935 film Un tete d'un homme. 

Movies in 2026 245

 

Cemetery Man (Michele Saovi, 1994)

Sadly, this experiment is coming to an end. The Criterion Channel, acting oddly corporate, has decided that since I'm travelling overseas I can no longer access the website. The lockdown is so complete I couldn't even get into my account to check my status or to send an email asking for assistance, which led to me searching for an email address where I could send them a note - and cancel my subscription. This pains me because I've been a member of the Criterion Channel for years, and I'd hate to think how many thousands of dollars I've spent at the Criterion Collection, but it's hard to justify paying for a subscription that is blocked. I guess the Criterion Channel was to good to be true in a grossly corporatized America. I guess I've have to start conveying my DVDs over on my next trip home.

Another Path

 Here's a picture of my lovely wifey. I don't need any other reason that that to post it, but it's also a nice shot of the path that runs from the area around La Sirenetta up to our Via Trento, the street of our current apartment. We almost always take the more direct trek along the road, but then we remember that if you go around the other way you get a lovely view of the ocean.

And, yes, we're definitely taking a different trek.

Something Like a Change of Season

 Yesterday I mentioned that the weather had broken a tad here, replacing the endless and tortuous days of blazing heat, wilting humidity, and a particular cruel sun with days that are a little more livable. Part of that relates to a few rain showers, which, again, is the first rain that Sicily has seen since early May. When we woke up to rain one morning, Janet and I walked down to La Sirenetta simply to drink coffee and watch it rain. We've also seen the arrival of some clouds, which were a no show for the first month+ of our time here. We may actually survive after all.

Here's a picture I snapped from inside La Sirenetta, just sitting and watching the rain as if I'd never seen it before. When I taught in Abu Dhabi I don't think it rains for a year straight, and the professors would talk about a time when it actually rained and the students ran outside en masse simply to stand in the rain. I felt just about like that the other day.

I took this picture one night on our passegietta along the longomare. It was so creepy. What looks to be buildings or rock formations or giant cacti or robots in the background were clouds. All hell broke loose in the middle of the night in a wild storm.

I don't normally post (or take) pictures of clouds, but their appearance after weeks of cloudless skies is almost disconcerting. 

A Worthy Subject for a Dominic Starnone Novel

 Janet snapped this picture the other evening when we were out for our nightly passegiata. Normally, I do my best to eliminate every picture that she takes of me, but I couldn't find any reason to complain about this one. 

My brother Eric opined that I looked awfully happy, and I could only respond that we were on our way in search of pizza - how could I not be happy.

Oh, and I recently read the wonderful Dominic Starnone novel, The Old Man By the Sea.