“I can’t bet here? What the hell happened to this place?”
She looked at him as if he’d just stumbled down from the hills. “What happened was, they either had to put in the slots or close the doors. I don’t know where you’ve been, but the province has gone casino crazy. The government has finally found a surefire way to make money. They legalized gambling.”
Ray looked around. “Look at this place.”
“We couldn’t fight ‘em so we had to join them”, the blonde said. She gestured with both hands towards the people at the slot machines, slipping coin after coin in, going faster with each losing pull. “You know what it is, don’t you?”
“On the inside, all a man thinks about is getting out. Night and day, it’s always there, like an unfulfilled promise-that always indistinct point of time somewhere in the distance when he is no longer in stir. It occupies a man’s head when he is thinking about it, and it occupies his head when it isn’t. The mental pursuit of that future moment is so powerful that he invariably forgets to consider the next question.
What to do when it finally happens.
Because being out with nothing to do and nowhere to go is not that much different from being in. The difference from being inside and being out was that on the inside, a man always has a plan. And that was to get out. Being out robbed him of that objective, and it was in looking for a brand-new objective that he usually got himself into trouble.”
Monsaraz is a brand from CARMIM a Portuguese co-operative founded in 1971 by a group of 60 wine grape growers in the Alentejo which has grown to close to 800 growers cultivating over 3,000 hectares. CARMIM is the largest winery in the Alentejo and exports wine to 34 countries.
This wine is 50% Alicante Bouschet, 30% Touriga Nacional and 20% Trincanderia and has rested 12 months in a combination of French and American oak barrels.
Aroma: You’ll detect oak here with pronounced, but not excessive, vanilla notes. You’ll also note its 15% alcohol! Blackberry, black cherry and cassis in a harmonious relationship.
Palate: Rich black fruit and creaminess with well integrated acidity creating a vibrancy not diminishing its richness. Minimal tannins. Moderate length finish with black licorice kicks to it.
Personality: I got power with a degree of precision.
Food Match: Spicy sausage or a pasta with a Putanesca sauce made with those spicy sausages.
Cellarbility: Consume by 2027-year end.
Price: $17 CDN or 7 Euros from the winery within the EU.
“The man in the mackinaw didn’t know Sonny, but he’d already decided Sonny was a stand-up guy. And it had nothing to do with his appearance, or his manner, or his reputation. It had everything to do with his money. It was a wonderful thing, Sonny thought; he’d recommend it to anyone who could swing it. Money can make an ugly woman presentable, a fat man thin, a moron a wit. And rumor had it that it made the world go around.”
The Eurostars Monte Tauro is a beacon of excellence for brutalist architecture strongly and creatively favouring concrete matching the rocky cliff it is carved into. A socialist twist to the Yugo brutalist architecture; Your balcony offers no privacy. You may be forced to converse with your fellow proletarians! Unroll your patio awning to avoid bird poop. Doves abound. All rooms offer a spectacular ocean view.
May and June compounded with the many school trips in progress in May and cruise ships make for crowded streets to the extent they can be oppressive. The occasional helicopter tours overhead are an annoyance.
Rates in peak season start at 263 Euros.
Numerous restaurants are all within walking distance. Osteria Rita is very hot with lineups preventing my attendance. The food looks fabulous and reasonably priced.
The minimalist hotel lobby is at street level on the hotel’s eighth floor. You board a glass walled elevator, with a spectacular view of the ocean, down to your room. Unfortunately, there is only one elevator with capacity for 6 guests (uncomfortably) so there can be a frustrating wait.
Superb location proximate to the main streets and adjacent to the spectacular lush and manicured Parco di Duca Cesaro.
All rooms, and the park mentioned above, have a view of the Ionian Sea and the Bay of Naxos. The balcony is an ideal location to sit and watch a sunset over the Ionian Sea with a glass of Etna Bianco or Rosso if you prefer.
Close to many locations you can take a private car service, taxi, tourist bus or local bus to such villages as Castelmora perched in the cliffs above Taormina with a stunning view of the Ionian Sea or the mountain town of Savoca (where some of “The Godfather 1” was filmed) with its churches and views of the forest and ocean below. I found the services of Taormina Car Service the most convenient way of tripping about and to the airport. If driver Alessandro is typical of its drivers, you will be in fine hands.
Southern Sicily is home to the small winding road and you have a bit of a climb from oceanfront Taormina to the hotel and its very narrow streets require precise driving ability.
Standard rooms are small.
Breakfasts are excellent particularly with a variety of croissants Sicilians are fond of. And even bacon and eggs for the Americans tourists, the majority in Taormina. Brits are in the number two position. An evening dinner was disastrous with my off-smelling fish I refused to eat and a poor attempt at an indescribable French pastry. A small bar is on the 7th floor.
The ageing bathroom was a bit treacherous with a small shower area and slippery floors when wet. Exercise caution!
Housekeeping maintained the room in pristine condition.
“You telling me your word is no good?” Sonny asked. “I thought that was a big deal to you people.”
“You got a lot of nerve,” the old man said, and he took a step towards Sonny. Sonny raised his cane instinctively. The man looked plenty strong in spite of his years.
“It’s your choice,” Sonny said and he shrugged. “Maybe you should fight it in court. You got a good lawyer? My guy’s a fucking maniac; I swear you could cut him with a chainsaw and he wouldn’t bleed.”
Aroma: Brooding yet concentrated black cherry and blackberry. Lesser notes of cactus pear and dark chocolate.
Palate: Peppery blackberry with saline influences. Tart with some fine acidity (or spiciness if you prefer that term) lending itself more for food than sipping. Tannins build in intensity with a brackish short finish.
Personality: A lean Nero D’Avola to the point. Nothing fancy. On the perky side. Excitable and vibrant.
Food Match: Sicilian Polpette Pasta.
My Polpette Siciliana at Rosmarina Restaurant in Taormina, Sicily
In Southern Sicily on 13May2025 we visited the Villa Romana Del Casale, home of some of the most superb Roman mosaics in the world recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The villa was constructed by a prominent Roman aristocrat between the third and fourth centuries. This large countryside villa represented the height of luxury. Within the remains of the original rooms are more than 40 impeccably crafted mosaic floors and walls featuring different themes. Marvelously preserved, the villa’s vast collection reveals colorful scenes of mythological heroes, wild animals, hunting, circus games, female athletes, domestic life and more. Portrayals of life were for the masters while geometric designs were for the servants’ areas.
A stone’s throw away from the villa there is Agriturismo Trinacria Pizzeria a misnomer as it is a restaurant more than a pizzeria. Lunch, after visiting the villa, consisted of a starter antipasto plate of potato omelet pieces, home made fried ricotta cheese, cheeses, olives and home cured meats. A rich caponata followed then home-made sausages and potatoes with a Cannoli filled with home prepared ricotta cheese. The wine was what you might call a “simple Primitivo” served in large pitchers. Fruit driven and smooth but with enough traction to pair simply and magnificently with the food. No fancy bottles here but home prepared and organic from demi-johns. Expressing my praise the owner was so delighted, understanding I review wine, he filled up a 1.5 liter water bottle and said enjoy!
Returning to the Eurostars Hotel in Taormina, Sicily while the better half attended an evening opera performance, I tried to become more scientific and gave the wine a formal tasting. I felt like Luca Maroni the overly generous Italian wine critic giving the wine a 94/100. My happy state enjoying it in the Sicilian countryside caused my “scientific” mind to float above the wine reverting to a perfect moment in time of an early summer rustic Sicilian lunch and then again on my hotel patio overlooking the Bay of Naxos as the sun set.
Aroma: Enormously rich if not decadent black cherry rules the roost. Black plum, licorice and cactus pear with a hint of dark chocolate.
Palate: Extreme purity. Smooth yet powerful with black cherry gripping the palate. Blackberry, espresso and demure acidity with a clean long finish.
Personality: I match perfectly with simple local fare and your state of mind enjoying it in the Sicilian countryside. Take me out of the countryside from which I came I may lose my identity and outside the environs of the villa you will never find me.
And from a water bottle! A state of mind threatening a cold and calculated rating. Gotta love it. Luca Maroni move over!
“Pete sat across the table, flopped his hat in the chair beside, and took a long drink of beer. Ray sipped at his and adjusted the ball cap on his head. Cold beer was one of the things he’d dreamed about these past two years, that and firm breasts, smooth buttocks, thick steaks and clam chowder, Scotch on the rocks. The beer in his hand was all right, but just all right. Like everything else when you got older, the getting never seemed to measure up to the anticipating.”
Perhaps visiting Rome this year with its Jubilee is not advisable (unless you are on a pilgrimage) as massive crowds clog main touristic sites whether it be the Vatican, the Spanish Steps and an out-of-control mob scene at the Pantheon and Trevi Fountain.
Just a few people at the Spanish Steps Fountain. Photo Robert K. Stephen
Americans appear to be leading the pack but all in all a truly international mix of tourists.
The restaurants in and about the main attractions and the once quiet and cool Trastevere District are clogged with tourists and what Italian wishes to commit culinary suicide at eateries offering “Happy Hour”. Sort of like a tequila cruise in Cancun!
Arriving in Rome from Catania via ITA Airways crammed in the airplane like tourists elbowing for room at the Trevi Fountain often led by tour guides with flags raised to be followed and listened to with audio devices I decided to partake of a stroll near the hotel and made it until a McDonald’s saved the day from a torrential downpour. Screen ordering was available in several languages.
A double cheeseburger, beer and fries were selected by me the gourmet and internationally recognized food critic. Who was eating here? Italians, mostly teeny boppers and young families with me about the only gringo in sight. So when it Rome do as the Romans do and eat in McDonald’s Italia. Did I just say that?
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