on the set of Inspector Montalbano

Inspector Montalbano, Personally in Person

Last month I was having dinner with a friend when she announced "I am going to make you really jealous now". She pulled out her mobile phone and showed me a photo of her friend who was visiting South Eastern Sicily, the lady in the photo had a big smile on her face and standing next to her was Luca Zingaretti, Inspector Montalbano himself. Dressed in a big fluffy white toweling bathrobe, he had just finished filming and had just come out of the sea in front of Montalbano's House in Punta Secca known as Marinella in the popular TV series. Many an episode has begun with him swimming in the sea.

The following week we heard other reports from tourists that he had been spotted filming in the beautiful town of Ragusa.

So one cloudy morning at home in Giardini Naxos we decided to go in search of Inspector Montalbano with our dog Daisy.

We jumped in the car and headed South, our first port of call, Punta Secca.

The drive to Punta Secca is so picturesque taking you through the South Eastern countryside past Ragusa to the South coast of Sicily.

Punta Secca is a peaceful small fishing village and on arrival it was so quiet that it was evident that there was no filming in process that day. We parked the car anyway and walked towards Casa di Montalbano, all was quiet. I have been there several times but I still could not resist taking a couple of photos and by that time we were feeling a bit peckish so we headed for a bar which sells delicious Arancini and where Luca Zingaretti chooses to eat Arancini whilst filming in Punta Secca. The owner has actually appeared in two episodes.

Casa di Montalbano, Punta Secca

We sat outside eating our Arancini with a glass of wine and discussed where to head next. We decided to drive to Scicli which doubles as the fictional town of Vigata in the series.The town is also a UNESCO world heritage site with amazing baroque architecture.

On arrival in Scicli we parked our car and walked to Piazza Italia to turn into Via Nazionale, from there we would reach Via Mormina Penna where the town hall is located, the building which is used as the police headquarters in the series and probably one of the most recognised locations in the series.

However we could not enter Via Nazionale as it was taped off, interesting I thought. I know the town of Scicli well and told my husband that if we took a detour up a side street past Palazzo Beneventano we might be able to enter the road a different way. We walked past the Palazzo with its grotesque head carvings grinning down at us and came out onto Via Nazionale opposite the entrance to Via Mormima Penna, it was still taped off but behind the tape we saw huge trucks with ‘Romana Gruppi Electrogeniwn Cinematografici’ emblazoned on their sides, huge floodlights and huge television cameras. There was definitely some action going on here.

I knew that if we continued up Via Nazionale we could work our way round the back over the storm drains and hopefully get on to Via Mormima Penna at the other end. At this point our dog Daisy decided that she was hot and tired and indicated that she did not want to walk any further. “Come on Daisy” I said “I will treat you to a Dog ice cream at Bar Italo after”. Reluctantly Daisy conceded and we carried on with our mission.

Palazzo Beneventano

It worked, we emerged from a side alley and there we were, a few more steps and we would be in front of the ficitional police headquarters of Inspector Montalbano, adorned above the door on the building was a ‘Polizia’ sign, Yep filming was definitely in progress today.

There was an exciting atmosphere around and it was obvious that filming was taking place inside the building, but was Inspector Montalbano himself there?????

There is a bar opposite the town hall which was filled with extras, actors dressed as policemen, an old man dressed in the traditional Sicilian way complete with coppola (a traditional flat cap typically worn in Sicily) and a glamourously dressed old lady with white hair in a bright blue dress and pearls.

Then we spotted Angelo Russo who plays the clumsy awkward police officer ‘Caterella’ in the series sitting by the bar entrance. He looked over at us and I asked if I could take a photo of him. He got up and came over and said in Italian “No, we take a photo together with your dog”.

He was so lovely and asked what my name was and what Daisy’s name was and asked where we were from. He told Daisy that she was a very good dog, shook my hand and told us to stick around.

By now it was one o'clock, Lunch time. Surely the actors and film crew would be breaking for lunch soon. Everything stops in Sicily for lunch.

One by one people started coming out of the town hall.

The town of Scicli

Then out of the building down the steps came Peppino Mazzotta who plays the information filled Detective Fazio who headed straight for the bar he was obviously very hungry.

Next came Cesare Bocci who plays Montalbano’s womanising deputy Mimi and then we waited anxiously.

Then there he was at the top of the steps like a vision, Inspector Montalbano … personally in person. I gasped.

He was wearing a sharp navy blue suit and white shirt and under his arm he appeared to be carrying a picture frame (could this be a prop for evidence in a case). He boldly walked down the steps and disappeared behind one of the trucks. Was this the only glimpse we would get of him?

A few minutes later he reappeared without his jacket, by now several onlookers surged forward and he announced that he would only do one photo and then off he disappeared again.

We hung around for a while just in case but Daisy was desperate for that dog ice cream.

So now we are hotly awaiting the new series of Inspector Montalbano, but what episode had we stumbled upon being filmed? Lets look at the evidence to keep an eye out for;

Montalbano was wearing a navy blue suit

He was carrying a picture in an orange frame

Mimi was wearing a short sleeve black shirt

Fazio was wearing a blue checked shirt and blue jacket

There was an old lady wearing a bright blue dress and pearls

There was an old man dressed in the traditional Sicilian way

and most importantly …

Caterella’s uniform will have traces of Daisy’s tan and white fur on his trousers

After our exciting morning we headed to Bar Italo for a well deserved drink and Daisy her dog ice cream.

If you enjoyed this post and would like to discover more about the filming locations of Inspector Montalbano you might enjoy these posts from my

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“Inspector Montalbano …. Sicily’s TV Detective”
https://whitealmond-privatesicily.blogspot.com/2015/08/inspector-montalbano-sicilys-tv.html