Gary Yetter Gets His Bread II

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope yours was as, uh, interesting as mine. Let’s just say that a lot happened– for starters, my wallet, MP3 player and travel speakers were stolen, which sucked ass but made me realize how caring and important are my friends and family. I am truly fortunate to have such amazing people in my life. Noi and Tan Au Ca were able to carry my broke ass for a couple days until Pa could wire me some baht via Western Union. Thankfully, I kept my passport in our bungalow. I got drunk for the first time in over two months…that was fun dancing with a tiara on my head and later a huge Indian headress that a local Thai had crafted. I felt like Crazy Horse…Crazy Ass. Slept till 2 PM the next day, how did you do?

Christmas was nice. My friend Karen came out all the way from Motown Philly (”Boyz II Men is goin’ off, not too hard, not too soft”– you had to be into pop music in the early 90s to understand that line.) for a few weeks in the Land of Smiles. She and my companions Noi and Tan Au Ca opened our presents under a euphorb plant I found at the guesthouse. Red and green leaves made it feel just like home…except no hot buttered rum or “Rum-pum-pum-pum” (my favorite Christmas jingle). I got a book (Touching the Void), assorted pens, and a massage. We had an assortment of Thai desserts and Ritter Sport chocolate bars to keep it real. Damn, I love chocolate.

Hooked up a job in Korea. I’ll be living in Ansan City, about an hour-and-a-half from Seoul. My boss, Sun Hea Kim, is actually a friend of mine from UW. She was an exchange student and we had a class together on plant morphology. What a deal this is! Killer climbing, not far from the ski resort, awesome pay and bennies. I’ll have that pesky debt paid off in no time so long as I stick to “Thee Plan.”

I’m in Bangkok again. Been drinking a lot of fresh juices: beet, mango, strawberry, and ginger concoctions, although sometimes I change it up and trade ginger for papaya or dragonfruit. It’s really nice and makes me want to juice everyday. I’ve got one of those Juiceman juicers back in America, so’s I thinks I’ll bring it with me to the god-blessed Republic of Korea come Feburary 9th. Oh and mangosteens are in season! Do yourself a favor and try one of these amazing fruits. The Queen of England once offered anyone a fair sum of gold if they could transport a mangosteen to her in edible condition. Of course, this was long before air travel and refrigerators as we know them were available.

So I was going to train mixed martial arts at a gym in Hua Hin, Thailand, but a wrench has been thrown into my plans. I am instead flying to LA on 16 Januaray. I’ll be flying out of Seattle on 9 Feburary. I hope I can meet up with some of y’all. Until then, I am out and going to enjoy smore more of the health benefits of the mighty beet. Browse some of my recent pics if you’d like.

If you want to hear some really good hip-hop, not of the gangsta flava and not any of that mainstream candy-ass crap, check out the new album from The Coup, “Pick A Bigger Weapon.” And be thankful you’ve never had parasitic worms (I am!). Scroll down to the last two images of this post and control your urge to vomit. IF YOU HAVE A WEAK STOMACH, DO NOT SCROLL PAST THE PIC OF WAT ARUN. Peace!

Because of these gifts from God…

See what I mean?

I have so many pictures and stories since I’ve left Thailand but I think it would just be too much, so I’ve really summarized what I’ve been up to.

For the past 20 or so days, I have been trekking through the Annapurna Conservation Area alongside (well, mostly well ahead of, haha) my Vietnamese French-Canadian friend Tan Au Ca and our guide and new friend Pasang Sherpa, marvelling at some of the most magnificient scenery on the planet. Beginning in the sub-tropical lowlands at Besisahar, we journeyed through pine and fir forests into bone-chilling high deserts, literally climaxing at the mountain pass known as Thorang La. At 5,416m (17,769 ft.), Thorung La is the highest mountain pass on Earth and colder than a witch’s tit in a brass bra. The air is very thin up there (you lose 10% oxygen for every 1000m above sea leve putting as at about 45%) and the temperature stays about -10 degrees Celsius for most of the time you are hiking and all the time you are dining or sleeping. On the coldest nights, I slept with two pair of socks, long underwear, a pair of trousers, a pair of Gore-Tex Windstopper pants, an undershirt, a yak wool sweater, a sweatshirt, my fleece-lined windbreaker, a wool scarf, gloves, and stocking hat, a wool blanket, down sleeping bag, and thick blanket over all this mess, and was still cold! Plus, the high altitude messes with your sleep– I would usually go to bed around 8 PM every night and then wake up around 2 AM, just lying there thinking but not wanting to move because of the bitter cold. Then, I’d sleep again from around 4 Am until 7, when it was time to eat breakfast (usually porridge and tea). Despite this, I always felt really full of energy for the days trekking. Fortunately, I had no problems besides some mild food poisoning on the second day. Poor Tan Au Ca suffered from bad Acute Mountain Sickness for 3 days in a row before we got over Thorung La and had some of the worst blisters I had ever seen on her little feet (note to others, break your shoes in well before you go on a long trek!). But she is tough and never gave in or asked for pity, admirable qualities indeed. Our Shangri-La was reaching the village of Tatopani on Day 14 or so. What an oasis. They have hot springs where I would soak twice a day for two hours and really awesome food too. Plus, mandarin oranges grow everywhere so you always have a healthy snack. We ended up staying for 3 days.

First of many bridge crossings

Vibrant rice terraces of green, common in the hill regions at lower elevations

We encountered faces smooth…

…and lined…

…and alien

It was an ideal time to visit as most tourists are gone now due to colder weather, so for hours sometimes I would have the trail to myself. More often than not, however, we shared the trail with traders from all over Nepal and its neighbors– people of various ethnicities– and four-legged beasts such as horses, donkeys, goats, sheep, yaks, and more. This time spent away from civilization was excellent for clearing my head of rubbish and organizing my thoughts to help me decide what I would like to do over the next couple of years (of course, these plans include more traveling). The food was good too! The typical Nepali dish, eaten twice a day every day by most, is daal baht. It’s a whole lot of rice and lentil soup, plus some potato or vegetable curry, spinach, and pickles. You mix it together and eat as you please and the best part is the cook keeps on brining you more. Ah, I ate so much, yet, I managed to lose a lot of weight. I need to get back to Thailand and feast like a king again!

Blue sheep in the high desert

Daal bhat with yak curry

Most villages have prayer wheels like this which you spin for good luck

Gangapurna Lake near Manang village

There is so much I want to write, yet I don’t want to bore you, so I think I’ll let a few of my photos illustrate my journey. I am spending a few days recovering and sightseeing in Nepal’s second city, Pokhara. It’s been veryeasy to get stuck here; the food is excellent, i’ve been having great Ayurvedic massage the last couple days from a quirky old Nepali lady, and the city is fairly relaxed and situated on a great big lake. There’s a Gurkha museum that I am dying to see!

It’s one of the Chilu Peaks with some really cool fast-moving cloud formations overhead. I was at about 4,500m when I took this picture

Here we are at the congratulatory sign of Thorung La drinking some hot tea (it didn’t stay hot for long as it was very cold and windy up there

A few days after crossing the pass and before reaching the mega-village of Jomsom

Clouded peaks as we descended into the valley

The sunrise view of Dhualagiri Range from Poon Hill

Oh, and the coolest bit of new news I have received: my parents have sold the house and are coming to visit me in Thailand! My mom will finally see her family again in the Philippines after 28 years! And I have a new nephew arriving December 15th, an undoubtedly handsome specimen named Trevor.

“I’m in love with Mary Jane/She’s my main thang/She makes me feel all right/She makes my heart sing”

Happy Holidays to you all!

The time I had in Ton Sai was some of the best I’ve ever spent. I came there pretty much with the goal of lead climbing French 7a (Yosemite 5.11D) and smoking a lot of Thai stick. Having accomplished the former and indulged in the latter, I decided to aim a little higher and find a project. Luckily, I met Ben, a lovable computer programmer from the land of Oz. We chose a 7a+ called Reminiscence (established by the late Todd Skinner) and got to work one morning. After taking turns placing quickdraws and lowering off the route, we reached the crimpy, balancy crux (not my climbing forte). Ben and I both struggled, and out of frustration, I decided to try reaching the anchors by climbing a tufa to the right of the route. At the top of the tufa was a really good looking undercling. Once I got to the undercling, I visualized myself making a long reach for the anchors and completing the climb (albeit incorrectly). So I went. Placing two hands on the undercling, it felt solid. I got my feet high and began to stand up when RIIIIIIIIIPP!! I fell about 15 feet before realizing that the whole 20 pound piece of limestone had just been torn from the wall and hurled over my head. It landed just 3 meters from Diko (see previous entry). Scary fall, but scarier that I could have killed some people on the beach! On the bright side, the adrenaline from the fall relieved my fatigue and I gave the route a few more unsuccessful attempts before calling it a day. A couple days later, Ben and I came back. He led the climb and reached the anchors! This inspired me to finish as well. Ben talked me through the crux sequence and I also finished. That was our morning session. Then we came back in the evening and tried another 7a+ called La Bab, a Ton Sai classic. It was beautiful and a much different style than Reminiscence in that it was quite overhanging and pumpy, requiring more upper body strength and less footwork and balancing technique. Well, we got through it as well (with some breaks). I’d like to come back and do it totally clean (no breaks), but I’m content for now. My last day in Ton Sai found me on my first multi-pitch lead with a Kiwi girl named Leo. The climb was called Humanality (6b+) and went up about 350 feet above Ton Sai bay. The first pitch required climbing up the large roots of an old ficus tree. That was actually kind of challenging! Anyway, that was a great experience for me and the best way I could have ended my time in Paradise.

The killer hold

Ton Sai, I salute you!

Teo and Egk run a cafe on Ton Sai and make damn good hot chocolate! On my last night, I had a huge ganja cake (or “peace cake”) and about half that blunt in Teo’s mouth. Needless to say, I was well-rested for Humanality’s 5 pitches the next morning

I spent the next two days in Krabi, a relatively large Southern city. It was very mellow and comfortable and the food was amazing! As much of the population is Muslim, so this is reflected in the cuisine. Different from typical Thai but no less delicous. As I have a trip into the cold Himalayas coming up soon, I figured Krabi would be a good stating point to pack on some insulation, heh, heh. So I stuffed myself three times a day with chicken, fish, fresh veggies, rice cakes, fresh fruit, and noodles. One day, I felt like taking my motorbike for a long ride and ended up at a nice national park. I decided it would be a good day for a short hike and made my way around the park for several hours, teasing the spiders and soaking feet in the shallow river pools. I also stumbled upon an unattended juvenille elephant, which was having a gay old time ripping banana trees out of the ground. And by chance, I stumbled upon AHFX, the guy that tattooed my back last year (blogs.bootsnall.com/gary/). We had a nice time catching up at the local bar over bottles of 7-Up.

Typical Thai Muslim dish: chicken on rice with cucumbers and a spicy-sweet sauce, plus chicken broth

I found a bunch of these “mud boners” on my hike. Not sure what creates them, but I will find out

Baby Chang…little rascal

Next, I headed to Khao Lak, about 150 km NW of Krabi on the Andaman coast. Khao Lak, you may or may not recall, was the hardest-hit town in Thailand during the 2004 tsunami. A couple of my friends, Jo and Jess, of Oz live there and work for an aid organization dealing with continuing post-tsunami relief. It was nice time and I had a lot of fun with them and also exploring nearby empty beaches during the day.

An assortmnet of shells on Khao Lak beach

Nothing special, I just passed in on a ride through the country and thought it was pretty

And so, I returned to good ole Bangkok a couple days ago. For all the faults I find with it (crowds, pollution, stench of human waste), Bangkok is a pretty amzing place. So convenient, with beautiful palaces and temples and an amazing abundance of cheap eats. Holy cow, I really went for it my last days there!

A typical street eatery in Bangkok– damn, it’s some good eats!

Breakfast: pork with fried basal, deep-fried hard-boiled egg with rice on the plate; fish cake in the bowl, and a Coke for drinking. Cost: $1.50

And so I sit here in wonderful Khatmandu, Nepal after one night in Dhaka, Bangladesh. I’d only heard bad things about Bangladesh, but it wasn’t as bad as others made it out to be. Life really is your attitude. Nepal I am really stoked for! Biggest mountains on the planet (well, 8 out of 10 anyway). Tomrrow, I leave with my friend Tan Au Ca and our guide Pasan Sherpa for the Annapurna Circuit, which we will spend 22 days on heading all the way to Annapurna Base Camp. Happy to grub on some daal baht and burn the hell out of my calves. Namaste!

Well, I’m back again. Back to forgetting what day it is and wearing nothing but board shorts all the time. Well, sometimes I wear flip-flops to protect my delicate feet from the razor-sharp oysters looking to slice me up as I explore the low tide, but that’s neither here nor there (what does that mean, anyway?). But I’m just wasting your time now with this fluff. Let’s cut the crap and get down to business: I have dropped anchor on Ton Sai Beach on the Phra Nang Peninsula and have been enjoying the greatest climbing the world has to offer. I have also been enjoying excellent seafood barbecues nightly, plenty of cheap ganja, the occasional night of partying, and a regular Thai massage to keep me limber and supple. This is my paradise.

A look at Ton Sai Bay from the Southern Peninsula

Kingfish, mackeral, shark, snapper, prawns, crab, mussels….it’s all about a dollar per 100g

Noi, my friend from Bangkok, joined me for the first week here. He had never traveled with farang (foreigners) before, but had spent a lot of time talking to them over beers out on Rambuttri Rd. back in Bangkok. So he knew what we were up to exploring his amazing country, but he really hadn’t experienced it until now. Anyway, it was a good time. Noi’s a crazy dancer and a good Thai teacher and even ended up loving the treks through the rocky jungle to get from Ton Sai to Railay Beach (a more touristy bech nearby).

Noi is as Noi does

Yo working her magic

Been meeting some really cool people here. Of course, there are the locals, who are among the world’s friendliest people. Always ready to say hello with a smile and jump on the slackline or roll a J (my favorites are Teo and Eak, who run Teo’s bar next to Wee’s Climbing School). Farang that come here tend to be not your general run-of-the-mill tourist as well. Phra Nang Peninsula isn’t exactly party central– it’s a fun, fun place with good beach bars– but it ain’t close to Khao San Rd. or Koh Phan Ngan. Very basic and the electricity is only on from baout 6 PM to 10 AM.

Everyone’s favorite thieving, teeth-bearing bastards…by feeding the mokeys all the time, tourists have created little monsters

Phra Nang Beach…a good place to boulder, swim, stare at the lovelies, and eat corn on the cob

Sunset from Phra Nang Beach

Climbing’s been going well. I’ve spent a lot of time bouldering on Phra Nang Beach or Dum’s Kitchen on Ton Sai, which has been very helpful for getting me used to the style of climbing here. Got my first 7a the other day at Dum’s Kitchen on a route called The Lion King. I also got to finally experience deep-water soloing with Wee and some farang on a nearby island. That was a rush. A boat takes you to the starting point of the route. You pick a goal like a cave, stalactite, pile of bird droppings, etc. and try to climb to it. No rope, chalk at the start only, just a pair of climbing shoes. It’s amazing. My first climb though, I got up to about 20 meters (60 feet) when I realized I didn’t want to go any higher. I jumped, but as I was falling, started thinking about how long it was taking to hit the water. I ended up leaning back a little to much and back-flopping (so my neck was a little sore the next day). Anyway, the rest of the day was filled with more climbing, beach bouldering, and crab! I must have eaten a dozen crab that day alongside Diko (Andrew from Oz), whose appetite actually matched mine.

Bouldering at Phra Nang Beach. The othe tourists love it when you climb the stalactites

Working some moves out at Dum’s Kitchen

Reaching the anchors of The Lion King

Deep-water soloing…everybody up

Traversing my way to the large stalactite, my goal

It really seems high when you start looking down

I ain’t goin’ no further

Just a few seconds till whiplash

We have also been slacklining a lot. I loved this back in Portland but hadn’t been on one in a while because of my ankle injury. If you don’t know what slacklining is, it’s basically tightrope walking on a piece of webbing. Really hard to balance on until you’ve practiced a fair bit, but it’s addictive.

Slacklining singly…

…and doubly. Nuu and I on meeting in the middle for a high 5

Been spending my time with a couple Aussie blokes named Andrew and Guy. They’ve really taken an interest in climbing and I hope they keep it up. Guy left today and is heading back to Oz soon, back to the grind…soon it will be my time too. But not before I get in some more climbs, head to Nepal (November 19), and tear through some more of this excellent cusine. I’ll probably be here for another week or so and then start making my way back up to Bangkok, that crazy-ass city that I’ve grown to love.

The climbing day always starts at Teo’s bar (L to R: Ben, Diko, Guy)

Diko giving Guy a belay up The Boob Tube

Walking along Railay West to get to Ton Sai Beach

Okay, sorry for such a long delay, but I’ve been having too much fun! I’ll try to take it easy for a while.

We spent three days in the small town of Putignano, home of Pietro, one of my former roommates from Seattle. Again we were treated to large meals and plenty of wine, including a new favorite, vino primitivo, which is very strong stuff indeed. Dotting the surrounding area are cone-roofed buildings called trulli (trullo, singular) that, according to Pietro, are only found here and in parts of Sardinia. Not far is the town of Alberobello, a UNESCO World Heritage site, which is chock full of these strange buildings. They function as homes, businesses, and churches, and some of them are painted with strange symbols from the distant past.

Trulli in Alberobello

We were also treated to a free guided tour of the most fascinating cave I’ve ever visited, located in Puglia. It was HUGE and full of amazing geological formations, including eneryone’s favorite: the giant dick. Such formations are worshipped ’round the world to bring fertility.

You make me feel so inadequate

This was the last room on the 1.5 km walk through the cave…nice way to finish

Next stop: Rome. What a place! Here we took a break from staying with my friends and did the classic stay-in-the-dingy-hostel-and-get-drunk-with-the-other-foreigners thang. It was fun and the hostel was actually a lot nicer than I expected (and fairly cheap; I negotiated our beds down to 17.50 euro per night). We had full access to the kitchen which saved us a bit of dough as I could cook or, as it turned out, have other guests cook occasionally. You MUST visit Rome before you die if you have not already!! The incredible sites are made so much more so when you are standing before them. Of course, I loved the coloseum being a fan of fighting and fight history, but my favorite place in the city was the Roman Forum. Ruins everywhere, so many that it was a bit overwhelming for me because my eyes wanted to look all over the place at the same time.

Vive Italia!

The Roman Forum. I could spend hours here just gazing

Home of the gladiators

The Vatican City

Heh, heh…I like your style fellas, very festive

Leaving Rome, we ventured north to Frankfurt, Germany. We stayed with my friend Anita, whom I met climbing in Southern Thailand, in nearby Russelsheim and had a nice time seeing German wine country and eating liverwurst. We spent a day bouldering on some nice sandstone and then began our climbing-centered road trip.

Heading south into Switzerland, my first goal was to find St. Joder, from where my surname ‘Yetter’ originates. We drove late into the night and camped under the stars on a remote rural road in beautiful Swiss cow country. Turns out we were just a few kilometers from St. Joder! Not much left there, just a church and a couple houses, but it is set in the most vibrant rolling hills of green and home to probably the most beautiful cows in the world (I know I mention the cows a lot. Can’t help it; I just think they’re cool). Of course, having so many beautiful cows brings many beautiful cheeses, and we certainly had our fill (along with lots of bread and sausage, and of course, red wine…Anita HAS to have it nightly!).

My Swiss miss…a looker and a grazer

Greener than green around St. Joder

Ticino is located in the South, near the Swiss-Italian border. Here I got to experience one the best bouldering areas I’ve ever seen. I first became familiar with this place from the rock climbing/bouldering documentary Dosage Volume 3. Dave Graham spent a long time in Ticino bouldering hard lines and setting a new 5.15 route. The scenery was amazing…all of these beautiful boulders near a rushing river of bright blue water teeming with trout. Many of the homesteads were made of stone and like in St. Joder, the greens were really, really green. In the distance, craggy mountain peaks towered above us. We lived under a big overhanging boulder and cooked pasta and vegetables, or ate muesli and bread and cheese. The boudering was…sick. I have to return to Ticino.

Our “house” in Ticino

An old abandoned homestead in the main bouldering area

A freshly victorious Anita above a nice highball problem

Best…river…ever…

On a hike we did in the Alps

We set sail for France next, staying near Chamonix our first night. The famous Mont Blanc is right there, and yet another gorgeous site. It, or one other mountains next to it, is home to Europe’s largest glacier. As we drove on, I noticed a crag with some kids climbing, so we dropped our socks and grabbed some rocks as well. It was a nice warm-up for the climbing we’d be doing over the next several days in the south of France, plus we had those pretty snow-covered mountains right behind us.

The view from Chamonix

Unfortunately, when we reached the south, Aaron received news of a family emergency back in Nevada and flew back immediately. It’s too bad his trip was cut short, but he’ll be back on the trail again soon, I reckon. Anita and I rolled on to Les Calanques, a geological wonder right on the Meditarranean coast. Limestone, beautiful overhanging walls and towers of finger-friendly limestone, stretched for miles and miles, awaiting our ascents. Anita and I wasted no time. Needless to say, the climbing was fantastic and I feel that I’ve been bitten by the climbing bug again. Next stop, Phra Nang Peninsula!

Les Calanques

Bread!

Big danke schön to Anita for making the trip so cool (and possible), leading the routes (she’s a much better climber than me!), and introducing me to the joy of liverwurst. Don’t forget, girl: “Je ne veux pas travailler/ Je ne veux pas dejeuner/ Je veux seulement oublier/ Et puis, je fume.”

A little tired, but still kicking. We left Rome for Frankfurt a couple weeks ago and have been making tracks through Germany, Switzerland, and now France, cooking, camping, climbing, and taking in the sights. I found the “village” of St. Joder, where my surname originates, along with the purtiest moo cows I’ve ever seen. Pics and detiled descriptions to follow.

Not long had I been makin’ m’ rounds through the warm azure waters of the Mediterranean Sea when I come across Him gracefully slidin’ over the rocky bottom. I had done encountered a handsome specimen o’ octopus, Prince of the Cephalopods, and was plumb puffin’ with enthusiasm and fascination at His noble form. Our eyes met and I foated motionless, whilst He began a-camouflagin’ Hisself by changin’ skin tones to match His buff-hued surroundings. There we remained, just a-studyin’ one another when a blastin’ jolt of pain instantly snapped me out of this state o’ tranquility. I knowed immediately what done it and began kickin’ m’ fins powerfully, headed for shore faster than a raped ape, not wantin’ to risk another lickin.’ That there was the most painful of jellyfish stings I had received, the low-down, home-wreckin,’ no-sense-born, son of a sea-rat! “Mars Aaron, fetch me a cup a water, would ya? An’ Miss Rosa, could ya squirt a lil’ vinegar on m’ wounds? Ah, that’s the ticket!” And I was back a-swimmin’ with the fishies before you could say “panang curry.”

Medusa’s caress had me frowning like a sad clown

But a once-over at the ‘bare assets’ offered here in Sicilia quickly remedied that

Trapani, a port city on the Mediterranean seaside with a population around 80,000, is known best for its tuna and its salt. Folk here eat everything derived of tuna, including salami, organs, sperm, eggs, and flesh. Can’t say I cared for the sperm too much, but Aaron seemed to like it just fine . The city is a nice break from the chaotic traffic and omnipresent noise pollution of Palermo, plus they have temple ruins (at Segesta), old castles (at Erice), mountains, a large natural reserve on the sea, and a beautiful, historic, and car-free city center. Surrounding Trapani are several small sea towns such as San Vito, where we filled our gullets with cous cous during the annual cous cous festival. Did I mention the beaches here? They are incredible!

Trapani from the roof of our apartment building

Ruins of a large temple at Segesta

Aaron lectures on the importance of brushing one’s tongue at the theatre ruins at Segesta

Man of the Olives

Old Trapani from near one of the two surviving city towers (there were orginally five towers)

Yesterday, we paid a visit to the medieval town of Erice, high upon the hill above Trapani. Narrow stone streets and buildings dating back 700 years or more surrounded us, and the fog brought in by the morning storm added to the charm. After a stroll around the town, we once again fattened ourselves on pastries and gooey cups of hot chocolate in a charming old hotel.

The old cathedral in Erice where Rossella’s parents were married

I love this old abandoned castle

Sunset at the salt fields

Shortly, we will be on a 12-hour bus ride bound for ‘The Boot’ to visit my friend Pietro near the city of Bari, just across the Adriatic Sea from Greece. Pietro is one whacky dude and always a barrel of laughs, but he just got a job as an engineering manager for Fiat and is in the process of moving to Torino, so I hope we don’t create too much of a hassle.

GRACIE MILLE to Rossella and her family for giving us everything we needed and more!!!

We spent three days in the apartment of Rossella’s brother, Dario, who was back at the family casa in Trapani. Palermo offers many historical sites at which to gaze between feedings, including a couple of old theatres, grand cathedrals, a huge botanical garden, and many a fountain dispersed throughout the city. There’s also a large university there, which brings plenty of youthful energy and a healthy nightlife.

Huge cathedral, name I can’t recall

Courtyard of the old library

A scene from Piazza della Vergogna (Plaza of Shame, so named because the statues are naked)

I dub thee the “Fountain Pimp,” swooping up the guys and the dolls (Piazza della Vergogna)…definitely a frontrunner for Mack of the Year

I should make special mention of my visit to the catacombs, where I saw more dead people than I’ve ever seen in my life, some just skeletons in robes looking like the Grim Reaper, others still wrapped in their papery skin. Priests, soldiers, professors, entire families, even infants could be found on display in this eerie place. Understandably, photography was prohibited out of respect for the dead, although there was quite the assortment of postcards available for purchase upstairs for 25 cents each (I know one Seattleite who will appreciate receiving one of these).

San Giovanni degli Eremiti—the only surviving mosque in Palermo was converted to a church after the Christians gained power

One of the two large theatres in Palermo

Impressive ficus specimen at the l’orto botanico

Traffic in Palermo is pretty bad much of the time and Rossella is a crazy driver, like many Sicilians, so getting around was never a bore. They don’t paint lines on the city streets, so cars just clog up the lanes and fight for space. As chaotic as it is, it’s a system that works out just fine.

Zowie, I’m powerful spent…anyone for a big cuppa jo?

Common pastime of the elderly

Keep honking, I’m reloading….

Well, we out one night in search of getting our crunk and smoke on. We found both in a crazy little area in the old part of the city. After buying some Birra Morreti at a bar, I returned to ask the guy where I might find some “fumo” (ganja). He hooked me up with some hash sticks, but before leaving we got to talking about America and his home country Morocco. Next thing you know I’m sucking down drinks what’s been lit afire. It was rad. Mostly it was sambuca shots (a liquor made from anise), but we also had another strange concoction, the ingredients of which I don’t recall, all I know is he poured to kinds of liquor into a martini glass of falming sambuca and I slurped the whole affair through a green straw. Awesome drinks, but the hash here is weak. But hey, I can’t complain.

I’m dreaming of a White Christmas…

Well, the server crashed so my two previous entries are gone. We’ll start fresh with Italy.

Skinny is sooooo two years ago– a plump midsection is all the rage now. And what better place to train for a bulging waistline than here in beautiful Sicilia! After being deprived of decent cheap eats for nearly a week in pricy London, Aaron and I have found ourselves in a land of cheap (and mostly free for us) culinary delights. Luckily, we are blessed to have a local taking care of us in Miss Rossella Onorati, my Italian mistress whom I met in Seattle while she was a visiting scholar at the University of Washington. We spent three days in Palermo, Sicily’s largest and most historically important city, taking in the sights and of course, the FOOD! This entry is dedicated to some of the treats we done grubbed on while in Palermo.

Selections in an outdoor panineria in central Palermo

Typical panino (sandwich)…I cold tore this bitch up

Between checking out various sights, we mostly stopped in little paninerias (sandwich shops) or bakeries for snacks. One food item that is supposedly best eaten in Palermo is called arancine bomba (”orange bomb”). It should be called “fat bomb”. I encountered two choices and tried them both. One was filled with meat and peas and the other ham and cheese. This filling is rolled in saffron rice (hence the orange hue) and shaped into a ball about the size of a softball. The whole affair is then deep-fried and ready for tasty consumption. Well, just one of these was enough to stop me for a few hours. Tasty, but a person with a normal appetite may just want to split one with a friend.

Our little fat bombs…they will put the pounds on you

Cross-section of a ham and cheese arancine bomba

Rossella prepared our dinners for the first two nights which was fantastic. She is most hospitable and hooked us up with all sorts of tasties: roasted chicken, sausages, hamburger patties (Sicilian style– full of herbs and cheese), mushrooms and peas, and rice pilaf. On our final night in Palermo, we drove about half an hour to a quaint seaside town called Sferracavallo where we had THEE seafood feast. The cost was 23 euro and included antipasto (appetizers), primo (first dishes), secondo (second dishes), and lemon sorbet to cap it off (and to tame the fish breath). It was amazing! I thought I had eaten so much that I would pop if I shifted too suddenly. I won’t describe every item, but there must have been ten different appetizers including calamari, oysters, fried mini-fish, smoked tuna, bread, and so on…a plate of steamed mussels and three different seafood pasta dishes for the primo…and two kinds of large shrimp, spiny lobster, barbecued whitefish and swordfish fillets for the secondo. Yes, I was very full at the end of the meal…and still made room for a double ice cream cone an hour later while strolling along the Tirreno Sea in nearby Mondello.

Antipasto

Primo

Secondo

Not another bite…

Holy hell, is the gelato spectacular! I can’t get enough of the stuff. It whoops anything I’ve tried back home. They have every flavor under the sun and everything is so rich and delicious. In fact, I think I’m gonna go for a nice bowl of cioccolata once I get done here.

For the last few days, we have been staying in the Onorati household here in Trapani, a beautiful little city on the west coast of Sicily. Rossella’s mother, Francesca, has been whipping up all sorts of eats for us. The amount of food is almost overwhelming, but I simply can’t say no to a woman’s home-cooked meals. Last night we had sea urchin that Rossella’s father, Augusto, collected from the sea earlier in the day. It is eaten with vinegar– you either scoop it up with a spoon and eat it alone or use a piece of bread. Tonight’s dinner was exquisite. The primo was fresh pasta stuffed with salmon and cooked with small shrimp tails and one large whole shrimp to top it off. Next came boiled octopus, eaten with vinegar and olive oil. The third dish was small octopuses (or octopi, take your pick) cooked in tomato sauce. Accompanying these dishes were the typical servings of bread, olives, small pickled onions, and mushrooms in spicy oil, plus beer and red wine. Aaron and I are being spoiled for sure.

Salmon-stuffed pasta with shrimp

Boiled octopus

‘Pus in sauce

Next entry will be the sights of Palermo.