Day 10: Back to Where It All Started

I didn't have the best night of sleep because of the knots in my stomach and the anxiety from being the Vespa driver that caused Lori's injury. But on the bright side, the sun was out and it was a beautiful morning. In fact, this was the best weather of the trip, by far. My phone showed it was 52 degrees at 8 a.m. but it felt much, much warmer in the sun.

We headed downstairs to the Tre Delfini Ristorante for a vast breakfast spread of meat, bread, jams, chocolate spread, fruit, hard-boiled eggs, cheese and more. It was totally relaxing and a great, slow way to begin the day by eating and chatting and eating.

Yes indeed. Relax, relax, relax. This was the place to do it. We were supposed to check out by 10 a.m. but our hosts said they didn't care so we could take our time and leave whenever we wanted. That worked with us. We spent time on the back balcony and down by the pool (unfortunately not yet open for the season). We looked down on a massive vegetable garden and scattered fruit trees where we saw a woman come out from her home, harvest some veggies and then head back inside.

April's fortunate find

There were lemon trees with large fruit on them just behind the villa. I didn't bite into any of those but there were these small trees with petite, oblong orange-like fruit on them. Turns out they were tacle mandarin oranges, a hybrid fruit I'd never heard of. They were easy to peel, seedless and sugary but had a sour, tart, yummy aftertaste. If only I could have an orchard full of these in my backyard in Montana.

This day was like a payback for days of dealing with cold, dreary, rainy weather. And it felt so good! Lori said her foot felt a little better but we still just took it easy and enjoyed the sights and weather. 

We requested a ride back to Lipari where everything Sicilian looked good for lunch so I went with all of it - lasagna, panzarotto, arancino and a Fanta aranciata. Lori had an arancino and an octopus salad, not something you see every day. She fed me a fork full and it was pretty good. It wasn't fishy or anything. To cap it off, I got a lemon granita. Now THIS was the kind of granita I was looking for, not like the granita in Rome that was more of a shaved ice. The ice granules were really, really fine. And the flavor featured a lemon so tart that it bit back. Yes, this is what I remembered from Sicily. Lori got some chocolate gelato. 

When we purchased ferry tickets, Ron also asked for and got a wheelchair for Lori. One of, and perhaps the only benefit, of having Lori on crutches or a wheelchair is Italians really look out for those who can't get around as well. It's really quite ironic. Behind the wheel, they are cutthroats. Same goes for boarding a bus or a train, but when they see someone with crutches or wheelchair, they not only move out of the way but bark orders at others to clear the way. As we lined up to board, the workers saw Lori in the wheelchair and motioned us to the front of the line. In fact, we were the first to board the ferry. Cha-ching!

After arriving in Milazzo, we grabbed a taxi to the train station and then got on board for our 80-mile train trip to Catania. April didn't know, but we had a little birthday celebration planned, beginning with a song in Italian.

We also played a game called "How well do you know April." She opened (if you want to call pulling stuff out of a bag "opening") a present. While we waited for the ferry to arrive in Lipari, and when Ron and April were chasing down gelato, Lori sent me to find and purchase some Italian spices. We had noticed she was looking at spices several times but had not yet purchased any. 

Spice, spice, baby!

It was surreal to walk out of the train station onto the streets of Catania. This is where Ron and I met as young American missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in April of 1983. I had been in the country about nine months or so and he was fresh off the plane from the U.S. We started as missionary companions and became friends. Up to that point on my mission, I had a couple of companions I just did not see eye-to-eye with even though I'm a guy who really gets along with everyone. So being with Ron was so good. In fact, it was the best part of my mission. We shared the gospel with others and had a fun time doing it, while eating plenty of panzarotti along the way.

Ron with Fratello Rizzo

One memory that comes to mind came on a typical Saturday summer evening. We were out and about wandering around town when all of a sudden the place just exploded in jubilation. It seemed as though hundreds of thousands were cheering all at once and then a sea of red and blue, the colors of Catania's soccer team, poured into the streets. We asked someone what was going on. Catania had just played to a tie with powerhouse Rome. That result promoted Catania into Serie A, the highest soccer league in Italy, The first time Catania made the jump in 13 years and just the fourth time in the club's history dating back to before World War I. So what did Ron and I do? We bought a couple of hats, flags and joined the throngs. The partying continued into the night. It was great fun. And the funny thing is round two continued the following day after church on Sunday when the team returned to Catania on board a couple of buses.

We took a taxi to our Airbnb for the evening which, of course, wasn't on the ground floor. Our host was Loretta Nicolosi, an opera singer who was a regular at Teatro Massimo, the beautiful opera house in Catania where Ron and I actually saw a performance during our time as missionaries. This home screamed Sicily! Loaded with so much color and character, it had traditional and colorful Sicilian plates, bowls and mugs in the kitchen. A laundry room just off the vibrant kitchen had natural rock as its back wall. Taking a closer look, there was a small slip of paper with "1669" on it taped to the wall. Turns out, that natural rock was actually hardened rock from lava that spewed out of Mount Etna above Catania that very year, the last time that Etna destroyed the city. Geologic mapping shows lava flows almost completely covered Catania six different times over the last 5,000 years: 4,500 BC, 693 BC, 425 BC, 252, 1381 and 1669. I mean, wow!

Etna has rumbled and spewed lava multitudes of times since, including when Ron and I lived there in 1983, but has not destroyed Catania.

Photo credit: Loretta Nicolosi

Photo credit: Loretta Nicolosi

Photo credit: Loretta Nicolosi

We asked Loretta and her partner for nearby restaurant suggestions. They gave us one in Catania's historic center, site of the city's fish market during the day and thankfully a relatively short walk for Lori. We were seated in the middle of Via Gisira at Vuciata, a restaurant specializing in steak, pasta and seafood. The environment was downright amazing. Tables and chairs painted orange, yellow, blue and other bright colors greeted diners on the ground. Looking up was even more color in the form of hundreds of opened umbrellas seemingly floating in the nighttime sky and attached to a grid pattern of wires. 

We got a late start eating, according to American standards anyway. It was 10 o'clock when a plate of mixed cheeses, cold cuts and orange jam arrived in front of us. Since I had a large helping of goodness at lunch, I ordered just a pasta dish as my main course. According to the menu it was homemade paccheri (a type of pasta) with artichokes with crispy bacon, cherry tomatoes and pecorino cheese, except I had them leave out the artichokes. Man oh man, was this good. Three words: best pasta yet! 

As we went to leave, I walked by a young couple eating black pasta. In Italian, I asked what it was. He responded in English that he didn't speak Italian. I think he was from somewhere else in Europe. He said it was spaghetti with black squid ink. Huh? I'd never heard of that. "You should try it. It's really good." And on that note, we walked back into the darkness toward our apartment. What a great meal, a great atmosphere and a great evening!