An Aussie Arvo, An American's Afternoon (Resurrected!): A Spaghetti Eating Contest at the Fish Market

This weekend, despite the gray and dreary weather, I was determined to get out and see more of the city. After an amazing night at Luna Park where my inner child ran rampant with the other New Hire trainers & Nooglers, the next morning I hit up the Sydney Fish Markets.

As Julia knows, I have an uncanny ability to find Italians in every city I visit. This talent of mine is particularly evident when I come visit her in NYC, and Sydney has proven to be no exception. As it turns out at the Sydney Fish Market, the local Bagnato family from Bagnara, Calabria in Italy organized a festival to celebrate the festival to the Madonna del Soccorso, the patron of fisherman. The Bagnato family has owned and run a local fishing operation since Diego Bagnato, also present at the festival, parted from Calabria in 1957 at 29 years of age. Upon arriving at the warf, I was greeted by familiar tunes of Italian folk songs and the lullaby of Calabrian Italian. I was momentarily disoriented and had to ask myself if I was indeed in Sydney, Australia or in an austere Italian fishing village. I couldn't resist but walk around the warf, listen to the music, engage in Italian conversations when the opportunities presented themselves, and stayed for the ever so inaugural spaghetti eating contest, followed by an apple bobbing competition & Italian folk music.

The rest of the day I spent wondering in the rain through much of West Sydney, includine Glebe, Newtown & Leichhardt, continuing today's theme, the old Italian part of the city. But, I just finished editing those photos tonight and I'll work on posting them tomorrow.

The statue to la Madonna del Soccorso

The Spaghetti Eating Contest

In a tender moment, the second generation of Bagnato's acknowledges their father's hard work & dedication to his work, family & friends before an account of Madonna del Soccorso is read by Mr. Bagnato's wife, the brillant chef behind the massive bowl of spaghetti (below).

See this large man? His name is Robert Scarselletta and he was convince that Meredith was going to participate in the spaghetti eating contest. On the microphone in front of the crowd, he pointed me out and jokingly offered multiple times to let me tie back my hair and take my shirt off so I didn't get dirty during my participation in the Italian past time. The lines of social propriety had been blurred in the glaring sun & thick glasses. Before he could find me in the crowd for the all female round of the contest, I escaped to meet Charlie at the market so that we could grab a delicious lunch of fresh seafood from the market.

So guess who won? Not the Italians, but rather the meek, Asian boy standing in the middle of the picture. The other participants including the man above didn't know how it happened.