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Mercato & Sara, Delta & Cristal

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Colorful produce, grown without chemicals  I woke at dawn again today, using the quiet hours to sip an American coffee and get my ducks in a row as far as calls that needed to be made later. The sky is soft and lovely at this hour; I should consider being a morning person. Nahhh. Sara and I are meeting for a caffè at the new Makea on viale Europa at 9:30. Then I'll see what interests me at the market. I'm in search of a decent carry-on bag, and yes, this little market has had them! Yes; it's both safe and yummy to buy fish from the back of a van. Cheeses and chicken roasted on a spit More fish from a different truck You don't want to set down a cigarette while getting people their produce, right? Sara is great to converse with. She seamlessly corrects my language errors without dropping the conversation. She's had a tough year — daughter going through cancer diagnosis and treatment, mom dying. She asked about the Minneapolis ICE Gestapo, because she knows informatio...
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No Catania, Giordano's last day, Scandura dining

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Crudi del mare Up early today, I should have captured the sunrise, but here are pics of the moments shortly after. Etna was wearing a fuzzy gray stocking cap this morning. Baby pink sky Etna's plume behind the rooftops, through the balcony screen. As we arrived at the vineyard to switch cars for our trip to Catania, we learned that Giulio has a well-baby check up, so Elena and Mariella are using the available car (the Clio is soaking wet inside, from windows being open during the storm) and Luisa and Ciro were having their last lunch here today. We switched plans, and decided to hang out at the vigne, and reschedule Catania for Thursday, when less is going on. We had some time to kill while at the vigne. Joe was able to work from his phone, and I went for a walk. Last night's downpour cleaned the air, but left slushy puddles of volcanic ash. I shuddered in recollection of college time cigarette-smokers' ashtrays, except the liquid then was beer in the ash, not rain. This ve...
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Sicilia Outlet Village

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Part of Sicilia Outlet Village Last night, at the reception table, Elena asked if we wanted to join them to go to Sicilia Outlet Village, smack in the interior of Sicily, and about an hour's drive from Biancavilla. I swear Joe is losing it, or deaf, or had too much vino, because it took so long to explain this proposition that Marisa started fanning my armpits from observing the effort. And this morning, although an understandable mistake, he thought we were going to Centro Sicilia, which is only a half hour away, instead of this place further afield. I guess I have been putting him through a lot! Some poor old woman's gate, that we thought was Marisa's place. We had to pick up the Clio, so we left the apartment at 8:05, leaving time to get it and then meet at Marisa's house. As we were turning into the vigne house driveway, I got a text from Rachi, in English: "Mariella said lets see at marisa’s house,the car is at marisa’s house;" which I took to mean we...
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