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Gia-Gina Across the Pond

So I've decided to follow my husband to his native Italy. Follow our adventures as we eat, drink, travel, adapt to and explore this remarkable country. Part food blog, part photo blog but mostly my rants and raves. After our two years in Italy, we relocated across the Atlantic "pond" and are back in the States.

Sunday, August 20, 2006

Caltagirone

Italy is full of amazing things to see. As we were already in the area, near Piazza Armerina, we decided to talk a short drive over to Caltagirone to see the famous tiled steps. Being 7 months pregnant, I had no intention of climbing all the steps, (145 long giant steps to be exact), but we wanted to explore some of the pottery shops in the town and perhaps have a snack. (Gelato in brioche is my newest favorite treat.)

The town was quaint and it was obvious that pottery and tile were their specialties. Instead of the usual marble street and building markers, the signs in this town were made of thick ceramic tile. There were tile decorations on doors, alleyways, in cafés, almost everywhere you turned, there were hand painted tiles to be admired. The prominent colors in the tile pieces here were a celestial blue and a buttercup yellow as opposed to some of the pottery pieces I’ve seen in Deruta and other parts of Tuscany in which the prominent colors are also blue and yellow but the blue being much richer and darker and the yellow almost edging on orange.

*Note: There were a few tourists here and there but the town was readily accessible by car, even though the streets are narrow; The Steps themselves were not crowded at all.


Street signs and markers were wonderfully elaborate.


There were tiles everywhere, in cafes and this one is especially beautiful located in the Piazza del Municipio.



More tiles from this cafe/tiny museum of ceramic art.


I loved the sign post that mark the location of the Stairs.


There are 145 steps but it looks as if there are more because the steps themselves are very long and shallow. I made it up about 25 before I gave up.


A closer look at the Steps' designs.


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3 Comments:

At 11:42 AM, Blogger Open Roads Mama said...

Love reading your entries, Italy does sound amazing and you have an awsome way of describing things, you write so poetically. :-) Please keep on writing, I enjoy revisiting your blog! And your photos are very cool too!

 
At 9:24 AM, Blogger Miss H. said...

Gorgeous photos!!! I'm impressed that you even attempted 25 steps in your condition!

 
At 2:44 AM, Blogger nikinpos said...

So I guess you won't be coming to visit me any time soon...there are 160 steps from the road to my front door. Oh, and lots more if you want to go anywhere else, I climbed them at least twice a day when I was pregnant which wasn't too bad because for the next 2 1/2 years I had to do the steps carrying a child...bag...shopping. Hello, my name is Nicki and I am a packhorse mule!

 

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