Traveling is one of the things impacted the most by the pandemic.
And one of the things I miss the most.
Despite the tough period, I managed to find a way to travel safely to my country. You just need to keep your eyes a bit more open, don’t be scared and follow the rules.
And traveling will be enjoyable anyways.
What happened during the trip?
This was a trip in the trip. Together with my family and to be more safe through all the different Corona tests we took, we decided to reach Italy by car.
With a couple of breaks.
In order to reach Sicily by car, you are forced to take the ferry from Calabria and then navigate for 10 minutes.
This has always been my favorite part of the trip also when I was a child. This meant we were there, almost there.
It is summer in Sicily now. And it is already possible to swim. And the best part, because of the pandemic and because it is the beginning of the season, it is that there’s almost no one.
I decided to start my Sicilian experience with a swim, a cold swim.
I met some old suppliers and took the chance to bring with me some products that are now sold out. So that you guys don’t have to wait too much before having your favorite products back online.
I also met some new suppliers. Producers of excellent biscuits, almonds, extra virgin olive oil, or Sicilian spices. Excellent products, excellent people.
And this is what I like more and more about my job. Discover hidden parts of my land, which I think I know very well but then I don’t.
And behind territories and products I always find amazing people.
And this is what I cherish the most.
During this short trip to Sicily, of course I tasted the local delicacies like cannoli with ricotta, arancini, granita ( almonds for me, almost 100% of the cases), and pizza. And I walked a lot.
I took inspiration from the narrow streets, architecture, buildings, colors, scents. I’ll bring them with me and also try to bring some of them to the walls of la Bottega.
By coincidence, my extra virgin olive oil and scaldatelli supplier ( and friend) Sara from Spinelli Cibus was there.
We met and we spoke about the future and laughed about the past!
Another great friend of mine, Manila from Emotional Sicily, was there and we also explored new ways of working together in the future. Hopefully a near future where it will be possible to organize events soon.
Now I always have La Bottega in mind and I always think about how to decorate it, how the people will move and interact in the shop.
For sure, I would love to have an ‘art corner’ with different artists rotating with their art.
One I would love to have for sure is Casper Strietman. He is from Amsterdam and he decided to temporarily move to Ortigia for the lockdown. Funny right?
So he is now spending these months painting about Ortigia, the old market, the sea, and people. Living like a local. It was so nice meeting him in person after a few months of social media interaction.
At la Bottega, I also imagine a corner where to prepare fresh panini with my products. I went to visit one of my favorite suppliers - i Fratelli Burgio - at the old market in Ortigia and took inspiration from Andrea. He prepares panini with art, professionalism, balance.
So this trip has been intense, full, colorful, amazing. As always. You’re amazing as always my dear Sicily.
Stay tuned to see what it’s gonna happen soon!
Chiara
