Andiamo!: Sicily

(pictures will boosted in several posts)

We flew from Milan to Catalina, Sicily. The flight was about 2 hours and we had about a 45 min delay, our only flight delay on the whole trip. Aunt Maria and my cousin Gaetano picked us up and we had a couple hour drive to Campobello di Licata, which is the town both my parent grew up in. The house we stayed in is the house my dad was born and grew up in and is now owned by my uncle louie and aunt Maria. Uncle louie will be 90 soon and still walks to the square every day to play cards. Check out the picture of uncle louie and Lou! My family is not known for their height! I must have gotten mine from my mother's side. It was warm and sunny, definitely a return to summer! We spent a couple days walking around town and having family visits. Lots and lots of family! Did I mention that my grandmother had 13 children and many, many grandchildren who still live here. The house was constantly filled with people! being in this town is like dropping back in time. The houses are all joined with many houses deserted and in ruins while some are remodeled. I wonder what will happen to this town over the next decade as it seems that the young people are not staying and the population is definitely aging. The streets are narrow and the cars zip by, climbing the curbs. Stop signs are obviously just a suggestion. Everyone has clothes hanging off their balcony. Old lady's sit outside and look at you as you pass as if you are walking by naked! (Li Americani) Thursday was my birthday and we went to my cousin Salvina's house who lives in the town of Licata on the beach. Again her house was filled with lots of family, including several little kids, (one only one week old!) We had a great birthday cake and lots and lots of pizza! We visited the beach and the pier. Friday we took a trip to Agrigento, a city on the southern coast. It is renowned as the site of an ancient Greek city. There are many temples and ruins dating back over 400 years BC. Truly amazing and awe inspiring! My uncle Paul and his wife live close by so we visited them. Uncle Paul is 95 and still living in his own home. We enjoyed seeing his numerous marathon trophies! Definitely an advertisement for long life! Saturday was a big family picnic at Passarello, at the site of the family farm. Part of the land has been sold off but a few of the cousins still farm some of the land and grow almonds and olives. We had spent an afternoon earlier shelling almonds by hitting them with hammers or rocks! We also visited a factory that processed the olives into oil. At the farm we had a picnic with about 50 of my relatives. Lots of good food and wine and so many people! The weather was hot! Lots of sunshine! The original farmhouse still stands. Some of it in a very rustic state, and some restored and lived in. We had another great birthday cake! Lou and I took several walks around the land. Sunday we took a bus tour to a town called Castelbuono (meaning "good castle" built in the 1300's). There was a mushroom festival going on. Lots of people! It poured when we first got there then got very hot!! We toured the castle and a 1500's church, walked the cobblestone streets, shopped the outside booths, people watched, ate pasta with mushrooms, and had some wine and cookies. We also stopped at a little town called Isnello. It is a 13th century quaint little town literally built clinging into the rock on the side of a mountain. It's narrow cobblestone streets climbed and descended drastically with cars darting in and out, barely fitting. People stopped us on the street, happy to talk about their town. We also made a stop at a planetarium that had a variety of sundials. The bus ride up and down the mountain got precarious at times, especially when the driver took a wrong turn and had to back up on a narrow winding road with a stone wall on one side and a steep drop on the others. The Italians all laughed at "the nervous Americans " who quickly put on their seatbelts! Yikes! The ride home was filled with lots of Italian singing and stops for cigarette breaks. (amazing that they all smoke and think nothing of leaning against a gas pump with a cigarette hanging out of their mouths! The rest of the visit was about family! So many aunts, uncles and cousins. We saw more people in their 90's than we have in our lives! We ate prickly pears picked off the giant paddle cactuses, pizza, pasta, good bread and wine. We bought fish and vegetables off carts on the street. Carts were always coming around selling things or services, like knives sharpening. (their shouting reminded me of the Mighty Python scene "bring out your dead) the house was filled with people again on the night before we left when they all come to say goodbye! Lou was a great sport with all the people speaking to him in a language he couldn't understand! We took a 2.5 hr. van ride back to the airport in Catalina. The flight to Germany was about 3 hours and then the flight to Toronto was about 9 hours. We decided to spend the night at my sister Mary Ann's and made the 3 hour drive back home the next day. We got back to cold and snow! Summer is over!