Happy Halloween!

Joe had to remind me it's Halloween today.

Other activities besides Halloween are a-buzz for Tutti Santi, tomorrow, and Giorno dei Morti on Nov. 2nd.

We, however, are busy packing and repacking for our trip. It's warm here, but oddly, it is 4-5 degrees warmer still, in Tuscany. Of course, nights will cool off. Which makes "packing light" difficult... walking/trekking all day, fancy dinners at night, warm hours, cool hours, airplane clothes. If I could bring all my shoes, it might work--but I can't.

On these intra-country jumper flights, we can bring one small (gym bag size) piece to check, and one smaller (small tote or large purse) to carry on. I arrived from the US with one larger (which won't work) and one right sized, but need something bigger than my tiny purse for a carry-on.

Since we could stand to outfit the apartment with a box grater, and I need two tiny travel bottles for my shampoo and a tote, it's a trip to the Chinese store.

Joe came with me. We were going to stop at Bar Colombo, which we haven't yet popped into on this trip. We walked in front of Bar Selenia on the way (under renovation on previous trips), where Vincenzo said the baked goods are wonderful; we decided to check it out!




I love the way the baristas, along with other merchants, have no filter when interacting with customers.

Joe ordered due cappuccini and un' cornetto.

"Uno?" 

"Sì."

"Uno cornetto? Nient' altro?" Just one, nothing else? she clarified, raising an eyebrow.

"Sì."

"Perché?!" Why, she said, in the manner of What The Hell!

I explained I've already eaten, and besides; we're eating with family in a couple of hours, and I can't keep eating everything. She scolded that we are both too thin and have room to grow. But that is an Italian talking.

She shamed me into adding a dark-chocolate covered biscotto dei morti (the size of my hand) to my order, again asking if I only wanted one, and why just one when I answered yes. Although I was trying to save my extra calories for our approaching trip, I have no regrets. As the chocolate melted in my mouth, I was reminded of my son Nikos, commenting on his first taste of dark chocolate when visiting my friend who lives near Lyon in France. Suddenly, all other chocolate became wax. Nothing compares. This one rates right up there with Nikos' experience.

We bid our goodbyes after paying, and walked the 4000 or so steps to Vesti Bene, the discount clothing store. I thought they might have a tote bag; something between the size of my mini purse and a gym bag. Indeed they did! I opted for a simple black backpack style in faux leather, which will be waterproof, roomy, and sized to slide under an airplane seat. It set me back the equivalent of fifteen dollars. I hope the straps don't break.

Vesti Bene

My cheap backpack


The clerk had to get out the ladder, as it was the only one of its kind and on the uppermost shelf. She asked where I was from. "Bellissima," she exclaimed after I described it a little. She wanted to know how long it takes to fly there, is it near any landmark she'd know, do I like Biancavilla? She's vivacious and engaging, and she kind of made my day. While all this was going on, Joe was upstairs buying undershirts, which he forgot to pack. The cashier helped him on sizing; another cheery encounter. We paid up and waved our friendly goodbyes, crossing the sidewalk to the Chinese store. Honestly... that's what everyone calls it; I never remember the shop's name.

They had a pyramid-shaped grater but no travel bottles. I found two mini bottles of nail polish remover for spicci, small change, which I'll dump and rinse out, then fill with my shampoo/conditioner. I also found some batteries I need for a certain gift.

On the route home, flowers were for sale, oozing out of every nook. It is the Tutti Santi version of Strega Nonna's ever-bubbling pot. The high-quality florist on Viale dei Fiori had her wares flowing onto the sidewalk. Her elegant arrangements are a thing of beauty to behold, and the air hung heavily perfumed with the floral abundance.

This lovely floral shop provided my first Christmas tree in Biancavilla, 
a tabletop version.

The ever-present street corner hubcap vendor is also selling 
chrysanthemums today.


We got back just in time for Vincenzo to call us down to lunch. I grabbed the Firriato Grillo from the fridge, knowing we're eating a seafood lunch today.

Mariella, without missing a beat, fed Matteo, then Nonno, then Ettore, all while preparing our meal. 

With Lilliana and family on their way to Turkey, it reminded me to tell Vincenzo that I'm wondering if Pippo could organize a tour to Turkey for us. I'd like to go. It turns out, he's already organizing one for 2025!

We sat down to a steaming plate of linguine with swordfish and tomatoes, topped with mollica and Vincenzo's favorite, fresh hot pepper slices on top. He said the best hot peppers are from Calabria.

"Anche loro usanno peperoncini piccanti per la carta igienica, le Calabrese," Giuseppe Uno quietly offered, smiling. Evidently the Calabrese love their hot peppers so much, they even use them for toilet paper.

"Doloroso," I replied, while eating a forkful of them on my pasta. Painful.

Mariella offered a second course of rabbit to anyone who wanted it, and her preparation is optimal, but we were all pretty stuffed. We replaced it with this week's harvest: mandarini. Sweet, easy to peel, and bursting with flavor, these little tangerines are a dessert. The tiny pears were next, a perfect size, texture, and sweetness to have before the chocolate procession began.

Giuseppe brought a tray of chocolate -drenched Totò from Adrano, along with his sister Piera's homemade version, which had just the slightest touch of liquirizia. Both incredible. I told Giuseppe his sister is beautiful, inside and out.

From the other side of the room, his back turned and right on cue, Vincenzo offered, "Quando la sorella è bella, il fratello è sconveniente," when the sister is pretty, the brother is unattractive. That isn't true in this case!

At lunch, Mariella exclaimed surprise, hearing that we saw Nuccio's daughter's house! I had to try to save ourselves from complete embarrassment, or better yet, throw us into it whole hog. I began to explain it was like a film noir; we found the apartment just before sundown, were looking at it, and then a man stepped out of the shadows, speaking to us in the dark. Is it Nuccio's brother? This man, cloaked in the shadows, had black hair and no wrinkles! But it indeed was him; he told us he's had pizza with us! He showed us the apartment, and unfortunately, I explained, the place needs work. Don't worry, Mariella assured. How many times have you seen him? It's hard to remember names and faces.

True. Incidentally, I finally checked with Elena on her friend's name, the one married to Pippo, and indeed she is called Piera. We mentioned that we saw them at the market on Wednesday. Elena laughed, saying that Pippo worked hard all his life, an accountant, and now he's retired. Suddenly Piera has this person at her side all the time! So she continually comes up with jobs for him to do. I guess this is a common story all over the world.

When I first saw Elena this morning, bringing her a cup of American coffee and biscotti from Deco (Joe's suggestion), she was getting ready to talk to Ettore's teacher about Halloween. When we saw her again this evening, I asked if the kids will be in their costumes tonight (they do it just around the house; Trick or Treating isn't a thing here), and how did her Halloween presentation go at Ettore's school? She looked quizzically at me. "Ah, this morning? No, no, it was not a presentation. I made an appointment to talk to the teacher to say just relax about Halloween. It's something for fun," she all but eye-rolled. In an ancient and overtly Catholic culture, Halloween, to some, seems intrusive, counter-culture, pagan -- none of those necessarily are bad in this case, just different from the age-old norm. But Elena wanted to make a point to lighten up. She looked at me for a response. "It's like the Italians and fireworks," I said. "Some people don't like them, but for others, they are a symbol of fun". "Exactly," she said. Brave woman, bucking this deeply-entrenched system!

The only unfortunate thing about Halloween this year is that it brought tons of little flying bugs into Elena's house. She showed me the spot full of flying insects. Right below it was my carved pumpkin with a carrot nose.

"We usually keep these outside, you know, to ward off evil spirits". 

So that's where "Joe" was put.

Rodi brought Matteo up to play, and we all had a good time. Although he is a monello, he is also a two-year-old -- that comes with the territory! We got lots of giggles out of him, and it's great connecting with Rodi. Especially if she ends up being our neighbor! I was able to get some good answers on monthly utilities. It seems very, very manageable, a lot due to the solar power. Electricity is almost free; there's no gas power, and water and garbage together appear to run under €200/year. Can you imagine?? This sheds a lot of new light on house buying. The fact that it's in a historic, strategic area doesn't hurt either.

Elena told me she sent me something to view on Instagram (I explained that was my, if not the world's, nemesis, but she is a big fan of this designer who uses the platform) from Dolce & Gabbana. "It's like they hired you to look at Italy. Their current campaign reminds me of your photography style!" 

I'm really flattered, and even more surprised -- that was an unconditional compliment?! Usually there is some sort of joke!

She showed me the stream of D&G photos, and she's not wrong. "I sense a trademark infringement here," I posited.

Along the lines of legalese, Joe has been doing a fair amount of legal work from here. It's been great, as he has his whole day for Vita Siciliana, and still keeps busy with work from home. Best of both worlds.

With all the cars gone today, we still did not get to Adrano!

Tonight, we opted for a light dinner: salami, good bread, 3 different cheeses, a bite of dark chocolate at the end. Perfect.

I got the spazzatura ready to hang outside for garbage pickup (tomorrow is for paper), grabbed my new backpack, and went down the stairs. That is where I saw Elena leaving Mariella's, holding two plates.

"Mariella says this one is for Joseph".

It is her excellent braised rabbit. She always takes care of him!

While Joe feasted, I put out the paper recycling bag, and prepared for bed. Tomorrow's departure comes early!

Another sunny, warm, and lovely Sicilian day, pagan holiday or not!

Buonanotte. And Happy Halloween!

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