Acquedolce and An Evening Concert

After a terrible night’s sleep and no hot water in the morning, we left our shitty B (there was no “&B) to check on the car. But first, “due cappucci” and some good cornetti at a bar called La Nuit, which I noticed had rolled up its sidewalk last night at about 9:30. 

Since the mechanic told us to check in with him midday, we walked around Acquedolce a little more. “I’m glad you picked Capo d’Orlando, and not this, for our base,” Joe said. I had actually looked at Acquedolce when considering San Fratello and Grotto di Teodoro as the main hikes for this side trip. Fate.

A pretty villa

Garden store. I checked, but no tortorella seeds.

I love these trees. And the sea.

A crisis center, open 24 hours—with bikes

…and raised gardens

A coffee shop for twins

More plane trees.

A woman using a washboard, doing laundry outside

Mural

We smelled the street vendor before we saw him

Bird of Paradise plants grow wild here

Nuns at the politico boards

We went back to get our things; I noticed they had already been in the room and took the WiFi modem. I made a mental note to put a review on TripAdvisor. Normally, I give good ones and let the “meh” stuff slide. The icing on the cake was as I was settling up—60€ for no soap, no hot water, no WiFi this morning, and no breakfast. We got the Gringo Special. I tried but got nowhere with her. So review time, here I come, giving the honest data on Tre Stelle Marine.

Walking with what seemed like very little in the way of baggage (purse, gym bag size weekender) was tiring, schlepping and walking uphill and being underslept. Joe had the lead.

He was so far in the lead, he’s already rounded the corner up ahead

We were early. It wasn’t yet 11:30. But hooray! The car was ready. Joe had him add new wiper blades. I spoke with the uncle who asked my age. I’ve noticed there’s no compunction in doing so! He’s one year older than me, has a band, performs in the micro version of the Paleo, and asked me to follow him on Instagram, but I promptly forgot his handle. We had a nice conversation on what’s turning out to be a rather warm and sunny day. Giuseppe Agnello is not only a mechanic, but our superhero.

The pass down through the Nebrodi in this area is the antithesis to our drive up. Wide, paved, smooth roads. A total of four cars and one pedestrian were all we saw the first hour. The rest was serenely boring and pretty.

Look who’s peeking around the corner of Cesarò

We got back, I rinsed out a few things, then shut my eyes for a bit, until Ettore was at our door. He comes up by himself at will now. We played for a while, then Mariella and Elena came up to say we’d meet Vincenzo and Mariella at 8:00 to go out tonight.

We drove past Paternò, past Sigonella, and quite a ways into the countryside, where an old vineyard fattoria from the 1800s now hosts musicians. A roaring fire was ablaze in the fireplace as we entered.

We started with salty snacks—pretzels, chips, etc—and a warm mulled wine. After an hour, the lights were dimmed, and a trio came on ‘stage’. A drummer, keyboardist, and female singer made the group. The vocalist, Giorgia Ferron, was magnificent. Think of crossing Etta James and Amy Winehouse; this is the vocalist you’d get.

After their great performance, we walked across a stretch of yard to another building, where tons of food was laid out, buffet style. There also were servers behind large tabletop wooden troughs, filled with pasta they scooped onto plates. It was so good: wild fennel, olives, tomatoes, mollica, and casarecce pasta.

I only took one photo of the farmhouse interior, as I wasn’t sure any were allowed during the performance.

We enjoy Vincenzo and Mariella’s group of friends.

I’d elaborate more on the whole wonderful night, but it’s now 2:00 am—and we lose an hour tonight!