Sperlinga, and being a Matarazzo
My memories of Sperlinga are of wildflower meadows, family connections, and a stone castle build into a mountain. Sperlinga is the mountain town in the center of the island of Sicily where my father's father, Giuseppe Matarazzo, was from. The ride to Sperlinga from Palermo was bucolic, with fields of wildflowers in purple, yellow, and red, flocks of sheep grazing, cows lazing in the shade of trees, and occasional small groves of olive trees. It's a town built on a huge rock with a castle on top and with some of the homes actually carved into the rock. There are about 900 people who probably all know each other so it was obvious that we were visitors, though tourism is increasing with the renovation of the castle. We stayed in a small, rustic house very close to the castle called, "Casa Della Nonna" (Grandmother's House) which was decorated with vintage touches. I was told by a cousin who visit...