Stop this pain inside

I like musicals. And I have a taste for the morbid. Which is probably why I absolutely loved Sweeney Todd : The Demon Barber from Fleet Street (as opposed to Imaan, who said ‘I hate this movie!’ the moment it ended, primarily due to the amount of blood spilled throughout). I must confess that I probably laughed a little too loudly at the deaths of some of the characters, or when tales of meat pies made of pussycats (and more ‘delectable’ ingredients) came to fore but the dark humour was all done rather tastefully (no pun intended), methinks. Then again, the fact that it involved the unholy trinity of Tim Burton, a Johnny Depp who could sing surprisingly well and Helena Bonham Carter might have made me a little biased in my assessment though, as I am a huge fan of all three of them.

I have been indulging myself lately with regards to musicals. I have just purchased a ticket to watch Cats, that’ll be showing in Newcastle in a couple of weeks and I caught Wicked with Sweetie a few weeks back in London. Wicked (a story about how the Wicked Witch of the West isn’t THAT wicked and how growing up is not particularly easy if you are born with green skin) was a lot better than I had expected it to be – the rather enjoyable songs and music had a slightly more modern touch to it as compared to the previous musicals I had seen (granted, all of them had been showing for a decade or more by the time I watched them).

There’s something about musicals and live performances though. One can’t help but feel a shudder of excitement when Jean Valjean sings about his ethical dilemmas in ‘Who Am I?’ or a thrill of anticipation when Elphaba sings of Defying Gravity. I do admit in immersing myself a little too much into my music at times, but if you’re not going to allow yourself to succumb to the arts, then why bother watching in the first place?

One of the nicer arts performances that I had the pleasure of catching with Sweetie recently was a performance entitled ‘Four Seasons by Candlelight’ at the Barbican. As one might expect, it was performed in a hall that was awashed with the warm glow of candlelight, and the orchestral members were all dressed up in period costumes, giving the whole experience a different degree of authenticity. The fact that they were playing music from my favourite Baroque period, including our favourite Bach and Vivaldi pieces and the heart-stoppingly beautiful Canon in D by Pachelbel just made the romantic evening one of my best impulse purchases ever.

Blast from the Past

Sicily is a rather enchanting place, with a wonderfully diverse history whose legacy still resonates throughout the island today. You can almost feel the passion in the air, in the stones of the buildings and ruins that dot the island, and even in the various gastronomic delights that are on offer. Or maybe it was just fantastic to be on a warm island after spending a couple of freezing days in Tuscany and putting one’s life at risk for shopping (although getting a nice b’day gift from the place was well worth the effort!).

Only 2 main places were visited - Palermo and Taormina. The former is just steeped in history, from its time under the control of the Romans, Carthaginians, Arabs, Normans etc (with an amazing view of the skyscape from the roof of the hotel) and the latter is a posh little hillside resort overshadowed by Europe’s most active volcano and looking over a beautifully pristine coastline.

As with most foreign lands, Palermo was best explored by foot. The weather was conducive as well, although it did drizzle towards the end of day 1, when we were let down by our newly-purchased umbrella. We covered most of the city – from the Kalsa region that was rather foreboding in its rather dishevelled state, to the market with its huge slabs of swordfish, to the various buildings and monuments that bore testament to the architectural amalgamation of the various civilisations that claimed their stake at Palermo.

We also took a day trip to the nearby village of Monreale, which featured fantastic views from a hilltop along with a rather impressive 12th century cathedral whose walls and ceiling were laid with gold mosaics, forming pictures that told stories from the bible. It also had a good seafood restaurant that filled us to the brim, but the food wasn’t as drool-inducing as the place that we went to for my birthday dinner.

The Michelin-starred Sant’andrea was housed in a very unassuming location and featured a fantastic array of local specialities. We weren’t quite able to go through the whole Italian tradition of having an antipasti, 1st course, 2nd course, dessert and coffee but the food we had was excellent and its reputation as one of the top restaurants in Sicily was well-deserved. High on the list was the seabass and squid I had that quite literally melted in my mouth, and the warm chocolate mousse that tasted so well with the icy lemon gelato, especially when the chocolate sauce starting oozing from its gooey centre.

Sigh.

The other outstanding restaurant that we went to was GranDuca in Taormina, where the seafood was again exceptional. We developed an extreme fondness for the Sicilian pasta con le sarde (pasta with sardines). The restaurant itself was a physical wonder – located in a Baroque palazzo with yet another deceptive facade. The steps led us down towards the terraces that overlooked the Ionian Sea and the nearby valley. It’s a pity the fact that we went for dinner prevented us from optimally enjoying the view.

The town of Taormina is a quaint little place with pedestrianised, cobblestoned streets that are a delight to wander around in. The streets are lined with quite a few high-end shops though, as the place is a tourist magnet and also a favourite retreat for a number of celebrities throughout the years such as Audrey Hepburn. The main attraction is the partially-ruined amphitheatre that overlooks a cliff – provides magnificent views, and apparently plays host to a number of arts festival during the warmer months. It’s a pity we missed it, but then again, we were quite fortunate to enjoy the town during a period when it was not heaving with tourists.

We left Sicily via Catania, a city that appeared almost ghetto-like in comparison to the elegance of Taormina. It did have its moments, and the Piazza Duomo that’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site is well worth a visit. But after further window shopping, another couple of gelato and whispered discussions on which member of the public might be a member of the la cosa nostra, we were ready to take things easy. We hardly covered half of what Sicily had to offer, but we’d definitely be going back.