The kids are back in school and the temps are starting to drop. I was talking with someone the other day about how much longer Charles and I would live here. I mentioned that our contract was extended until at least May of next year, at which time we'll find out whether or not there's another project for us. My acquaintance mentioned that we would get another Dutch spring, which is nice. He then tried to tell me that autumn in the Netherlands is also nice.
My humble opinion? He's wrong. Fall in the Netherlands is one thing: a depressing harbinger of Dutch winter, which itself is dark and useless. It doesn't even usually bother to get cold enough to be called proper winter.
Even if I agreed with this person that fall in the Netherlands is nice, it would still have nothing on autumn in Michigan. The leaves in peak color, the air, the light, the football, the cider mills.
Charles and I combined two of our favorite things from home last Saturday: Michigan football on the Slingbox/Replay combo (thanks again, Erik & Julie!) and doughnuts. HOMEMADE CIDER DOUGHNUTS. I didn't get my hopes up because, really, we don't have that much experience with our deep fryer. But the result? TASTY TASTY DOUGHNUTS.
Did I mention the tasty? You are jealous.
One of the problems I have with Dutch coffee is that, not only is it usually made (nowadays) in crappy Douwe Egberts or Nescafe machines with crappy little coffee pads, but that it's only sold by the tiny little cup. I miss the days of sitting down for breakfast at Cafe Zola with a whole French press pot of Kenya AA or Celebes to split with Charles or with a larger group of friends. You just don't get coffee by the pot here.
Except at the teahouse in Anserdennen in the Dwingelderveld.
We take a nice 45 minute bike ride about 9 kilometers from our house (an hour if Maui is running alongside) to this great little spot in the woods for coffee by the pot, homemade apple pie (with whipped cream - natuurlijk!) and/or a little picnic basket of cookies and breakfast cake.
It seems to be awfully quiet now that tourist season is open, but they have a few new pieces of playground equipment for Aldus to climb on, and they'll be open weekdays through the winter.
It's been a few weeks since I went through photos, so I'm playing a little catch-up. These are the earliest of the set I'm preparing, from when Merrill came to visit us for a few days in Amsterdam and then in Drenthe. If we look a little delirious, it's because these were taken after a fantastic little breakfast of coffee and various baked goods at the Bakkerswinkel. Mmm...lekker! (The breakfast, not us ladies.)
The last time Grandma and Papa visited, they brought Aldus some Graduates "biter biscuits." He got the first one last night. 
What a mess!
In preparation for the 1st birthday and Tol extravaganza that will be the month of May, I made a test batch of birthday cupcakes. 
I have some leftover ganache, though. What should I do with it? (Besides make more cupcakes. I've already done that.) Truffles? Mousse?
December 29 was our last full day in Sicily. So sad! We started the final day off right with cappuccinos and pastries near the Massimo.
Aldus made a friend with one of the baristas who treated him to a cone.
I think I've mentioned this before, but I really need to say it again because it was such a fun aspect of our whole holiday with Aldus: Sicilians love babies. It doesn't matter if they're male, female, young, old. We just couldn't get over how many people - on the street, in restaurants, in cafes, everywhere - so many people stopped to talk to Aldus, hold his hand and greet him with a cheery "Ciao ciao!" We loved it!
Anyway, Aldus liked interacting with this guy and sure did like the (ice cream-less) cone. He just gummed it and gummed it and gummed it...
...for about five minutes until it just became too soggy to hold its structural integrity, and we thought he might choke on a piece. Ew. You can see the disappointment in his eyes when we took it away.
Our first sight-seeing destination was La Martorana. We visited the piazza outside the church on our first and second days in Palermo but didn't have the chance then to go inside. Saturday was our big day!
In true Palermitan fashion, it was both impressive and gorgeous on the inside:
There were mosaics galore, of course, with plenty of gold leaf, on walls, ceilings and arches:
This mosaic of a night sky, a beautiful azure tiled backdrop for glittering gold leaf stars, was one of my favorites:
In addition to mosaics, La Martorana features beautiful frescos, as well:
After La Martorana we walked back toward Teatro Massimo to take a tour of the famous opera house.
We weren't allowed to take photos inside, but their web site offers a virtual tour. (Warning, their site "features" an audio fanfare and bells that you can't turn off. Turn down those speakers if you're at the office!)
After our tour, we met up again with Giuseppe and another friend of his. (I'm so sorry I've forgotten his name. And such a nice guy, too!) It was time for lunch, and none of us had had our fill of Palermitan street food yet, so we headed into the Capo neighborhood. Our first stop was for warm sfincione, a soft, bready pizza. Yum!
After more food and walking around the Capo, we went our separate ways for the rest of the afternoon. Charles and I were tired and needed to pick up some gifts before we left for home, so we gave up on sightseeing and headed back toward the hotel. Along the way we noticed some interesting use of English. It's nice that the mafia doesn't discriminate against girls, but they sure do start them early in Sicily:
That night we went to dinner at Il Mirto e La Rosa around the corner from the hotel. We'd asked for a recommendation for someplace casual for pizza with Aldus, but the restaurant was fairly nice. Fortunately for us, Aldus was on his absolute best behavior through dinner. He charmed all the ladies who waited on us, as well as several other diners, including an older woman at the next table who seemed initially appalled at having a baby nearby. The food itself was great, and the whole evening was an excellent way to top off the whole trip!
We started our day by picking up stamps at the main post office. (How fortunate that there was an English-Italian dictionary for sale inside so that we could look up the words for "postage" and "postcard"!) Supposedly Stalin Mussolini (I am an ignoramus) wanted the post office in Palermo to make an impression. I'd say his design was a success! 
Our first real stop for the day was at the Museo Archeologico Regionale, where the visitor is immediately welcomed by a beautiful interior courtyard and fountain surrounded by apparently the world's most extensive collection of ancient anchors. (Who knew anchor design could be so interesting? Honestly!) Still, we took plenty of photos of the courtyard and fountain, but none of the anchors.
There were also some ancient Etruscan jewelry, carvings from the Greek temples at Selinunte, Roman mosaics and beautifully carved marble sarcophagi:
Another interior courtyard and fountain, and another beautiful public place where Aldus got his diaper changed on a park bench!
I should state for the record that I am never inclined to change Aldus's diaper in public or otherwise subject strangers to the sight of his tushy (cute as it might be). But seriously, the ONLY changing table we saw in the entirety of Sicily was at the airport in Trapani. So we did what we had to do. But I digress...
After the archaeological museum, we met up again with Giuseppe and Fabrizio, a friend of his from high school. Were we in for a treat! Although they basically led us along the same route we took on our own the previous day, they led us with authentic Sicilian food in mind! We returned to the market in Vucciria (where we saw some guy lose a whole lot of his illegal fireworks when the police showed up) and wound our way back to the Piazza di San Francesco.
On the piazza we went into Antica Focacceria di San Francesco and, in spite of thronging masses, managed to find a table where we could sit and tuck into four panino con la milza - sandwiches with veal spleen cooked in lard, topped with a dollop of ricotta cheese and grated hard cheese. I didn't think I would like it, but I was willing to try. I figured it would taste a lot like liver (yuck!), but it wasn't too bad. I managed to finish the whole thing!
(And yes, Merrill and Amanda. The whole time I was there I kept thinking, "I'm The Shpleen!")
Apparently the Focacceria announced a few months ago that they were no longer going to pay money to the mafia. And so there were armed caribinieri (below to the left of Fabrizio, Giuseppe, Aldus and Charles) posted in the piazza just outside the restaurant:
After lunch, Giuseppe and Fabrizio continued our personal tour of Palermo. They told us how Giuseppe Garibaldi, as part of his unification of Italy, invaded Sicily in 1860, and all the "standard" measurements were changed to new standards. This plaque, about 6 feet wide, was on a wall in the La Kalsa neighborhood showing the equations between the old and new measurements.
We followed the same route as the day before, winding back to La Martorana and San Cataldo.
We also passed the Fountain of Shame again. Here next to the fountain is the Chiesa Santa Catarina, the dome of which you can also see from my photos from Day 8. It's such an impressive looking church from the outside. The inside is supposed to be amazing, but the church is held in trust by a small group of nuns and is closed to the public 364 days a year. We were, unfortunately, not in Palermo for the one day of the year that it is open.
We passed the Quattro Canti and meandered around the neighborhood southwest of there where Giuseppe and Fabrizio showed us their old high school. They chuckled, noting how a window had been repaired after some damage (ahem) caused several years ago (ahem ahem) under suspect (ahem ahem ahem) circumstances.
Then we went to see Palermo's cathedral. Wow! Agreed, the inside isn't as impressive as many of the brilliantly mosaiced cathedrals and chapels elsewhere in the city. But the exterior is still stunning, particularly on a sunny day.
After the cathedral, we got some brioches and beers at Bar Santoro at the Piazza Indipendenza, where Giuseppe and Fabrizio used to hang out in college. They gave us some advice on what else we should see in Palermo, then we split up for the rest of the afternoon. Charles, Aldus and I headed west out Corso Calatafimi to La Cuba, a pleasure pavilion built by William II in the 12th century, later used as army barracks and a lepers' colony. There isn't much left of it now except the shell of exterior walls, but the way it was lit up as dusk approached was really lovely.
We left La Cuba and walked back to the hotel, passing Massimo on the way. It was lit up beautifully for the Christmas holiday. (Unfortunately, my nighttime camera work leaves a little to be desired.)
We met up with Giuseppe and Fabrizio again that evening for dinner at a place near the hotel specializing in couscous.
Christmas Day! Giuseppe (Giuseppe!) came into the city and met us at our hotel. He took us out for a walk, past the Teatro Politeama, to our first stop: the Giardino Inglese (English Garden) where others like us were out for a stroll, enjoying the beautiful weather, trees and fountains.
I had the Nikon and decided to try playing around a little with some of the fountains.
From the park, Giuseppe led us to the home of the late Giovanni Falcone, prosecutor in the notorious Maxi Trial or mafia supertrials of the late 1980s. Falcone was assassinated over 15 years ago, but there was still a shrine of sorts outside his apartment building.
After our tour, we picked up the rental car and drove out to Giuseppe's parents' house a few kilometers outside of Palermo. We met his mom and dad, brother, sister-in-law, niece and baby nephew.
To no surprise at all, his family was exceptionally friendly. His mom had some more cooking to do, so we spent some time playing on the front patio with his niece.
"In Sicily, women are more dangerous than guns."
I think she and Aldus really hit it off!
He sure seemed to enjoy himself.
And then we ate! SO GOOD! I think Giuseppe's mom was embarrassed that we took this photo, but we just had to.
First there was pasta - wide noodles with a meaty tomato sauce - and seafood risotto. Even Aldus was happily eating up every little bit we would give him. He couldn't get enough! Then there was veal scaloppini and pork roast with gravy. Plus homemade bread with mushrooms, olives from Giuseppe's father's garden and homemade wine. Afterwards, espresso (cups warmed on the wood-burning stove - nice touch) and oh. my. god. the best cannoli I will probably ever have.
We sat around the table, talking for quite a while, and then took some family photos in front of the Christmas tree. In spite of Giuseppe's family's urging us to stay for more (apparently there was fish to be grilled!), we didn't want to overstay our welcome and took our leave before it got too late.
We drove back to the hotel and had drinks at the bar where we discovered that Aldus had started getting his first tooth! We hope it's an auspicious start to a lifetime of good eating.