Steamy Saturday
I woke up in the middle of the night, thinking, "I forgot tomorrow is organics pick up," so I set my alarm to get my compostable spazzatura out before the garbage truck came through!
A hot day deserves a cold start.
Andrea, Mariella, Elena, the kids and I packed into the Cleo. I was thrilled Andrea was joining us. But I noticed we were driving away from Scandura.
Evidently day care covers Saturdays, whether you want it or not, so Elena drops off the kids in order to do her errands, go to the beautician or nail salon, etc. What a beautiful thing. Ok; so it'll be us gals then.
Nope. We then drove up to the vigne property. Lots of tennis players. Elena explained that the courts they trained on in Adrano were switched, by the Adrano mayor, to basketball courts. So the tennis team lost their venue. Vincenzo offered his tennis courts at the vigne to their coach, as they are regulation size. Andrea got out of the car. Evidently she is not joining us; she is getting the house ready for the annual summer move there.
We were dropping like flies. Mariella needed to get back home, as she had a hair appointment. We'll connect later.
Elena and I switched our itinerary, going first to Etnapolis, where I got some water toys and other things for Simone. Lilliana and Rajy have some sort of water feature on their land near Giarre; they recently bought property for their apiary endeavors.
We got to Etnapolis soon after it opened, so it was not crowded, but that was a different story by the time we left! I think people are flocking there to stay cool. It again reached 90⁰F before 11 am.
Next, finally, to Scandura for granita. Elena spotted a new pastry. It's basically a square cornetto, but we both agreed that, while it tasted good, there was too much crema inside for our liking. My guess is a regular cornetto is for carbaholics like me, and mostly pastry; this small square tower stuffed with crema is for the sweetaholics, and is mostly crema. But, if you're going to have too much sweetness, Scandura is the place to go.
There was an unfortunate mix-up, with Mariella thinking we were meeting her at the house, and Elena thinking she was meeting us at Scandura. (I did hear confirmation on the latter this morning; just sayin'). We finally all got together, when Elena said she had to leave, to get to her hair coloring appointment. I'm the lone female with no hair itinerary. I guess it kind of shows!
We returned and I came upstairs to do a few things in preparation for my departure in a few days. Luckily, all that was distracted by a long and lovely phone call from my firstborn. "Isn't it Dark O'clock there?" I calculated it was around 5:30 am in Minnesota. He woke super early and decided to stay up, taking the opportunity to call me, which was sweet and wonderful. When I look at Ettore, it often brings back all those fond memories of me and John when he was that age.
I knew there would be a great spread at Simone's birthday party later, so I had a light snack and one of the remaining tarocchi (blood oranges) from Vincenzo's grove. And lots of water. Stay hydrated. I didn't get any walking in to speak of today; I cut myself some slack in this warm weather. As I said, I love it, but to be trekking through it on city streets is a different thing than being by the sea or at least a pool.
After talking with John, then wiping down the sinks and the fridge, I got out my trusty Moka for a quick little jolt. Dressing for the party, I tried to strike the balance between elegant and picnic attire. Children's birthday parties can be quite the affairs here! Knowing Lilly's crowd, I expected a little of both. I decided on a jumpsuit and jewelry, with casual (Italian) sandals.
After driving quite some time to Acireale, we arrived at Bosco Felice. Vincenzo met us there, saying "È come Minnesota!"
The setting was indeed like a Minnesota park, a tree-covered shady oasis, probably ten degrees (F) cooler than where we left, and about 30 degrees cooler than in the Cleo!
With a delightful playground in the woods, there was also thought for the adults. Plenty of tables and chairs, and soon bottles of "Welcome!" bubbly were being poured into actual glass vessels (vs plastic cups). Salute!
Thick slabs of sweet watermelon and bowls of potato chips were there as snacks to have with our drinks while the kids played. I spotted Rajy, who I haven't yet seen on this trip, and got an enormously warm welcome. I spent some time talking with his dad, who just finished a 6-month camping trek throughout South America, and offered condolences to his mom, whose mother just died. Evidently she and her family were of significant importance in Catania, Elena explained.
I met Massimo's (Lilliana's deceased husband's) grande parents, Maria and Gaetano. Well-read, elegant, quietly humorous and sweet people. I also met their daughter, Roberta, and her baby, Giulia, and later learned that Roberta is Massimo's twin, which broke my heart. I knew from past talks, that Massimo's parents were shocked when Lilliana, with Rajy, became pregnant with Tea, but you would never pick up on that now. Rajy, Gaetano, and I spent time talking about Joan Baez (who at one point traveled through a spot in Acireale where Gaetano happened to be, and gave a spontaneous performance), Bob Dylan, The Bourbon Trail, and grappa, all the time good-naturedly joking around. It is a completely normal, non-judgemental, life-goes-on, life-is-short approach to existence, making me wistful for what could've been with my own former in-law situation; a pity on all they're missing by allowing their daughter to lead a goose-step parade. But how great to be amongst and enjoy the beautiful people today who have no such tendencies.
Soon Lilli was clapping her hands, announcing un spettacolo was about to begin!
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This woman never stops. First, a juggling performance by Rajy, with progressively difficult skits. Next, he fell flat, out cold, and Lilli brought out a bike pump to revive him. First a leg, then an arm, and finally, he stood again! Then their bulldog, Doron? Torron? was turned into a lion by Lilli, who put a lion's mane headpiece on him. Sit, give me five, dance, and now... Jump through the hoop! I was laughing as hard as the kids, but mostly from enjoying Lilli and Rajy so much!
Now the food... First things to go: Mariella's schiacciata and frittata, then all the little sandwiches of every flavor imaginable, arancini, pizzette, and little fried and baked appertivi. More bubbly and wine. Then Lilliana's many desserts, including a Pokemon ball with marzipan icing.
Simone opened his gifts, which included a stand-up paddle and some cool shoes, but, as Mariella whispered to me, there are all these gifts, and yours is his favorite. I bought some water pistols, shark candies, diving bombs shaped like meduse (jellyfish), and one dumb pack of Pokemon cards, and those cards are what took the prize. I got a thousand waist-high hugs.
The kids ran around some more; Matteo was having progressively louder meltdowns (Elena looked at me at one point during one of them, and said, laughingly, "I hate him," which all we mothers know is not true, but also, in brief certain moments, know it can be).
We continued to visit and snack for a while, helped clean up, then made what seemed like a longggg drive home, as kids were going crazy. Mariella, our driver, looked tired. Elena started to tell Ettore the Beanstalk story, changing the silly boy who got three beans for the family cow from being called Jack to being called Joseph.
During the car cacophony, Teresa announced several times that she is finished being a Zia. Ettore wouldn't stop fiercely rubbing his eyes, despite Elena's commands, so Teresa dumped her water onto his lids.
Nonetheless, and despite the foreground of microwave towers and brake lights, the drive home at dusk was a visual delight. We got back, I helped Mariella unload the car, thanked her for her service, and ended up here to write it all down.
Another full, hot, loud, busy, wonderful day in a Sicilian village.
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