Garibaldi was the champion of the unification movement in Italy. With all its history through the millennia, it’s difficult to fathom that Italy, as a country, is younger than the United States. Born in Nice(which used to be part of Italy), Giuseppe Garibaldi was an experienced and quite successful general ( he led battles in Europe as well as South America) who is credited with the unification of the many separate city-states and kingdoms that comprised what is now Italy into the Kingdom of Italy. With his band of red-shirted volunteers, he landed in Sicily and took over Palermo, a decisive victory in the struggle for unification. Although viewed as a hero in most of Europe and abroad, he is intensely disliked in Sicily, because with unification, Sicily (and southern regions of Calabria, Puglia, Basilicata and Campania) lost its financial power as industry and monies were transferred to the northern regions. The disastrous effects of unification persist to this day, with the high unemployment and lack of financial resources in southern Italy and Sicily.
When Americans travel abroad, occasionally the intestinal tract becomes overwhelmed, commonly referred to as “Montezuma’s revenge”. Well, I think that I have the Italian version- Garibaldi’s revenge! The past three days I have been trying to “power through”, unable to really enjoy Sicilian cuisine without very uncomfortable consequences. But yesterday it got to be too much, so off to the pharmacy for the Italian generic version Imodium and capsules containing probiotics! Today I am opting out of touring and just relaxing. My GI tract seems to have calmed down, but I haven’t eaten much in the past 24 hours. I may venture out this afternoon and try to eat something- maybe a granita di limone (lemon ice) to start.
Camino Musings 