Sad Not SAD

Post-Cyclone Harry, the weather’s been terrible!

I mean: It’s been quite wet, very windy, and frankly depressing here in Modica.
Don’t get me wrong though: It’s not like we’ve been suffering from anything like “Seasonal Affective Disorder” (SAD), that type of seasonal depression people do suffer through. Y’know, typically beginning in the colder months and due to reduced sunlight and stuff?
It’s just that we didn’t expect it to be this bad. Even though we absolutely did, and of course! It is Winter here in the Northern Hemisphere, after all.
Y’see, you remain optimistic, and come to ‘expect’ endless sunshine and those clear azure skies, especially when you live on an island in the Mediterranean. You’ve seen the postcards, and know what I mean.

But then, a ‘miracle’ happened!
Albeit an entirely expected one. Around the third week of this month, things improved. I’m talking dramatically improved. The sun came out, and stayed out. All day, too!
Okay, it’s certainly still very crisp in the mornings and overnight, with the “feels like” temperatures hovering around the 6 to 8 degrees celcius mark, but still…
And no one f’sure told those uber-early Spring flowers not to come out. So, they have! Which is the icing on the (Sicilian) cake here. How can you be sad (not SAD) when that happens?
The long and short of it is: You can’t!
Still have to ask: “Mr. Blue Sky, please tell us why, you had to hide away for so long?”

Dread

Back in 2019, the “Withdrawal Agreement” was signed between the UK and the EU.

Well, that didn't happen, now did it?

This agreement legally established the terms of the UK’s ‘divorce’ from the EU. Especially, most importantly for us, it finalised the rules around guaranteeing British passport holder’s rights if they were resident in the EU prior to the end of the transition period, which was on the 31st December 2020.
Anyways, this agreement allowed us to receive the new post-Brexit “Carta di Soggiorno” (“Residence Card” or “CdS”), which could be obtained from your nearest Questura (Police HQ) and, while not obligatory then, it was very useful. Especially for easily establishing your right to reside here, and for international travel.
Back in the day, we didn’t feel the urge to get one immediately, as any new process here was bound to result in … difficulties. That’s because, of course, Italy is a byword for burocrazia (bureaucracy) come confusion, and the CdS absolutely proved no exception.
I mean: Some Questure hadn’t heard of it; others made up a process; and some simply chose to ignore it altogether! Very few got it right, and not just here, but from one end of Italy to the other.
I won’t bore you with the details, but it took us months to get ours! And, when we did, they’d been backdated to March 2021.
Why bring this up? We need 10-year cards now, as our current ones expire in March 2026.
So: “Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more...”

Saturation

We’ve reached the same point we did back in the UK.
That is: We’ve been everywhere worth a visit within an hour’s drive of where we’re living. As said, this happened when we were living in Hornchurch in London, and it’s happened here in Modica, too!
This was inevitable, of course, given we have a car and do like to get out and explore the surrounding area, and that’s been wherever we’ve been living.
So, what to do now then, you may well ask? Well, the short answer would be to revisit those places we thoroughly enjoyed visiting the first time around. Y’know: Pretty and interesting villages and towns; historic monuments; the countryside, parks, and seashore; and about everything in between.
And we’ve been doing just that!

However, we’ve now reached ‘saturation’, I’m afraid. We’ve been there, done that, and worn out the tee-shirt!
Okay, there is so much more to explore on this island of over 25,000 square kilometres (near 10,000 square miles). Sicily is, after all, the largest island in the Mediterranean.
Really, it’s because I’m not a big fan of long(er) drives. Something that does frustrate Alice. It’s not that we’ve not driven for way longer, we have, but I don’t really like it, y’see. I entirely acknowledge this is a throwback to my childhood, as I suffered (badly) from car-sickness, and I guess I’ve never gotten over that.
Deep-seated psychological problems aside, I’ll just have to take my own advice … and grow a pair!

More Soon...

Harry

The big news here at the minute, and for the foreseeable future, is “Cyclone Harry.”

It hit (especially) the east side of Sicily with terrible ferocity on the 20th and especially 21st January.
And I do mean “terrible ferocity”: I’m talking massive waves of up to 10 metres slamming the coast; howling gales; heavy and persistent rain; and even up to two metres of snow in places on Mount Etna!

We escaped lightly...

F’sure Cyclone Harry’s passage across the Mediterranean has left a massive toll. Damaging already-strained infrastructure, disrupting agricultural and other production, isolating entire areas, and leaving many seaside communities struggling.
Described as an ‘outsized’ and ‘once-in-a-hundred-year’ event, due to its intensity and duration, it particularly affected the islands of Sicily and Sardinia, and Calabria on the mainland.
According to preliminary estimates and analysis, the economic damage is uber-significant: Estimated to be around one billion euros in Sicily; half a billion in Sardinia; and somewhere between €300 to €500 million in Calabria. These figures represent essential infrastructure repairs (roads, rail, ports, and electrical and water networks), as well as the restarting of economic activities, which will likely remain closed for weeks or perhaps months.
I fear many will never reopen.
We here in inland Modica escaped ‘lightly’: High-ish winds and somewhat heavy rain. Some flooding and low-level disruptions only. However, we still can’t drink the tap water to this day!
Anyways, Ragusa province’s damage has been estimated at ‘only’ around €30 million.
So, we’ve escaped lightly … many others haven’t, unfortunately…

What’s the Fuss All About?

“Cioccolato di Modica” (“Chocolate of Modica”), is an Italian ‘Protected Geographical Indication’ (‘PGI’) speciality chocolate.

To obtain that prestigious PGI certification, the product must be traditionally, and uniquely, associated with a specific geographical region. Also, at least one of the stages of production, processing or preparation must take place in this specified area.
Hence: “Cioccolato di Modica”!
Modican chocolate meets these stringent requirements by being manufactured locally using an ancient and original recipe. One that utilises cold processing, no added cocoa butter and, as it’s only heated to around 40° Celsius, it’s not hot enough to allow the added sugar to dissolve.
Which is why it has this way-different texture than your average block of ‘Dairy Milk’! Y’see, the finished local chocolate has this grainy, rough consistency when eaten.
But it does come in different flavours: Most bars you buy about the place have added ingredients, such as spices (i.e. cinnamon, vanilla, ginger, even chili!); ground almonds or other nuts; or grated citrus peel.
So, bitter cocoa paste (or cocoa mass); granulated or cane sugar; and (optional) flavourings.
And: That’s it! It contains no other ingredients, in particular no milk, no butter, no vegetable fat, and no emulsifiers.
All that said: Do I like it?
Well … it’s f’sure an ‘acquired taste’! Not one that I’m that in love with, I’m afraid. Some of the bars I do like: The sweeter citrus-flavoured ones are alright.
The others? Not so much, I have to say.
Sorry…

Slackers!

The Modica Bassa-based “Mercato Ortofrutticolo” (“Fruit and Vegetable Market”) was closed back in early 2024.
The number of stall-holders had decreased, which was used as a pretext to close them down.
Y’see, the comune had secured around €800,000, in non-repayable funding, from the EU’s “Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza” (“National Recovery and Resilience Plan”) fund, to convert the 75-year-old market into an “Urban Park”.
Said park would see gardens, shade trees, a children’s play area, even a basketball court.

Current state...

The comune crowing that the project would be beginning “almost immediately” (April 2024).
Why am I bringing this up? Well, I thought it’d be ‘enlightening’ to follow the work’s progress during the then-projected 18-month project.
I wrote on my “All Things Modica” page that if the “almost immediately” they claimed meant what I thought it did: Then it hadn’t! In fact, nothing much of note occurred in the almost seven weeks since that claim: Bar a fence being erected about the place and a few tiles being uplifted.
Work finally began ‘in earnest’ in Summer 2024.
However, except for concrete-laying and a roof installation, I’ve only ever seen a maximum of two men working onsite. More often only one. And days would go by with no one there at all!
Then the 18-month project was extended to 22 months (3rd February). Before the comune announcing recently it’d be completed by the 31st March!
I believe I’ve made myself (somewhat) unpopular pointing this out on social media down the months…

More Soon...