Acireale and Sicilian Food

It's hard for tourists to understand all the cultural subtleties encountered each day. Here some puzzling aspects we are still sorting through. To highlight our confusion, gripes are given a disproportionate amount of attention. Please don't misunderstand... we love Sicily and could easily make it our home. 

Sicilians are food lovers.
The quality of produce in shops shows that Sicilians are most particular in their selection of food. Bread is uniformly excellent... having seen the struggles others countries endure to get a decent slice of bread,  excellence should not be taken lightly. The same can be said for cheese, ham and tomatoes. Combine these ingredients for a lunchtime sandwich and you have a taste sensation.
Wines in Sicily have a history of fortification... probably reflecting an island industry that has only recently faced the complexity of international markets. The locals point to some newer vineyards now producing subtle flavours.
But here comes the gripe. Joye and I live on the tourist strip... not venturing into swanky restaurants. Down here on the tourist strip, the variety of food is limited... spaghetti and pizzas... dressed up in all sorts of names... but essentially, a carbohydrate base with vegetable and seafood flavouring. Compare the variety seen in a stroll down any street in Hong Kong with Syracusa. If Italians are food lovers, why isn't there a Chinese, Thai, Mexican and (god forbid) English restaurant  on the street corners of Syracusa?

Sicilians are proud of their history.
Their history is very special... it is hard to think of other parts of Europe offering more colour... more excitement... and better preserved... than that offered by Sicily. Sicily's 'latinisation' only gained momentum in the last 500 years... out of its human history spanning 8,000 years... all through the Roman Empire, Sicily remained predominantly Greek speaking... local dialects have had a strong base right up to recent times. Many locals would claim to be Sicilian first and Italian by compulsion rather than choice.
Now for the gripe. All too often, rubbish is littered outside the national monument. People entering and exiting these sites just toss rubbish anywhere... as they do elsewhere in Italy. Arguably, people proud of their historic heritage would keep these sites looking their best.
Sicily has many residential areas with heritage appeal. The location, building architecture and history make such places special... and yet, all too often, these areas appear to be in a state of gradual decay. No doubt, the state of the buildings reflects the relative poverty of the owners... they simply can't afford to renovate or even maintain the building. Arguably, a community that is proud of its history would find a way to better protect these important buildings. Every now and again you get a glance behind the street gate... and see the tender care taken with private property.. in contrast with the lack of care taken with property on the public side of the fence. 

Sicilians are charming people

Every day we have met people who exude charm of the most beguiling kind. People serving behind counters... restaurant staff... toll both attendants... all going about their daily activities in a way that brightens your day. We need to seek help with directions quite often. Rarely are we ignored when asking for help. Often the person responds by going out of their way to help us solve our problem. Sometimes we are left laughing at the humour shared by our helper. There is no shortage of charm in Sicily. 

Now for the gripe. Put a Sicilian behind the wheel of a car and some Sicilians experience personality changes. Half of Sicilian drivers could be classed as 'normal'. One quarter use the 'invisibility' mode. Your car becomes invisible. They will meander across lanes and intersections without a care in the world. Beware of your invisibility! There are 12.5% of drivers who are blockers. They watch you approaching and move their vehicle to block your overtaking or turning or whatever activity may interrupt their sense of well being. The final 12.5% are the intimidating drivers. For their own amusement, they will drive into your path and force you to take evasive action. In effect, some one-half of Sicilian drivers do not show the charm seen in face-to-face encounters. Similarly with queuing. There is some one-half of the Sicilian population prepared to play games in order to push into a queue. Where is the charm in that? 

These comments have become boorish and academic. Most of the comments can be applied just as easily to many other communities. Thank you for persisting in slogging through to the end. Any help offered in enlightening our views of Sicily would be much appreciated.