Relais Parco Cavalonga Ragusa

... who spoke very little English took it as their duty to get me back to where I needed to be safely. They started calling friends of friends to confirm bus schedules and stopping the bus at a pay phone so I could call Anna, but then there were no pay phones in the tiny, little bus stop towns, so then the girl used her cell phone to call Anna, and the whole time she was trying to explain to Anna who she was and why she was calling, the bus driver was -- 2 inches from the phone, saying "Tell ...

... the huge cast-iron skillet pancake-style
Mozzarella di Buffala e Pomodoro
Pizza di Sicilia con patate e formaggio
Uova frittata con ricotta fresca -- This was the best omelete I have ever ever ever had
Grande uve -- Not huge eggs (uova) but huge, fresh grapes

It was such a wonderful dinner. And everybody was speaking Italian and I did a respectable job of holding my own and following along.

So now it's Tuesday and I'm ...

... ochtendje naar Loosdrecht te gaan en een uurtje met Joris te zeilen in de Schakel-in, terwijl Lineke en Marieke op het terras aan de waterkant van hun cappuccino zitten te genieten en Isabella met het grind speelt.

Wim Nobel heeft ons om 7.30 uur in Bilthoven op de trein gezet en voor 11.00 uur zijn we al in Koln en een half uur later op het vliegveld. Eigenlijk veel te vroeg, maar ja, uiteindelijk lijkt in Nederland op de ...

... and lots to see.

We found the gelati bar and set to work especially as it was a warm day. Mandy agrees with me we would be hard pressed to find a nicer gelati. I had Pistachio & Nero (dark chocolate with orange) and Mandy had Pistachio & Bacio Chocolate- real nuts in both & very good.

That done we headed to the Beach with tom tom set for Marzamemi on the coast about 20 minutes away. It found the town ok but do you think it could find the beach? No much to ...

... but NO women. Where ARE they? --------------------- We ended up, with a touch of our usual serendipity, in a town about 20 km from the incredible mosaics of the castle near Piazza Armerina (Mosaic floors from the THIRD CENTURY -- like the time of Constantine!). The floors depicted things like the labors of Hercules, and hunts of tigers and gryphons and elephants and rhinos, scantily-clad women working out, a few erotic scenes --- all kinds of incredible mosaics ...

... so the three of us caught up on our sleep, mostly to avoid the in-transit movie, Garfield. There are just some things no one should be expected to handle at 7am. We arrived in Sicily in the town of Pozzallo and after strolling along the beach and playing in a little seaside park (with slides!) we hopped on the bus for our trek up the eastern coast toward Catania. On our way we stopped halfway up the mountain at a little souvenir stand where ...

... a brief chat - it's around 5pm so they say don't bother buying a ticket for today, we're on duty and we won't book you, just buy 2 day tickets and a half-day ticket for the Sunday, you can get the tickets at the bar over there, and we'll wait for you and scratch out the sections denoting the time and day for you, and after doing all that they wished us a good day and a nice holiday. Can you imagine parking officers in Australia (or most other parts of the world) doing that for you ...

So after an enjoyable journey South through Italy we finally arrived at our destination point - Sicily. Above all Floridia, the small town where my father was born and where many of my relatives still live (or atleast live nearby). It was great being able to meet some of the relatives in Sicily and speak with them in Italian without too much difficulty. Everyone was so genuinely happy to see us, and welcomed us into their ...

... something about the design or architecture because that word sounds familiar to me. We saw the churchs there and enjoyed a Canoli We came back around 8pm and then a friend of my uncles took me up the Volcano Etna to tell me about the history. Turns out about 50-60 years ago the Volcano erupted and lava spilled all the way down to civilazation. The people of Milo (where my Uncle now lives) began to pray and built an alter ...

... could be held there. I later found out that the headmaster was Franco, husband of my cousin Dora, oldest child of my father's oldest brother, Andrea. Truly is the world comprised of only 6 degrees of separation. Franco is now around 85 and is one of the most cultivated people you could possibly meet, and my respect for him has gone up dramatically when I heard what he had done. Just as an aside, he was in his forties when he met Dora, who was a student in her early twenties and ...