"On the Trail"

The Journals from the Road

Saturday, July 7, 2001: The Hot River - Catania, Sicilia, Italia

Frank here...

I sent home the torrone chocolates today along with 2.5 kg of other stuff. My load has lessened. Boy, it is so difficult to try to pay for anything with my relatives around. I bought my aunt a picture frame for a photo of her and zio Vitale and me. She then asked me to take home the picture and give it to my parents. I did however, sneakily pay for some meat and cheese that I bought for them at the nearby supermarket.

I talked to my parents today. They are very happy for me and we are talking more correct Italian together. My dad has always wished me good luck during this trip which is said - "In boca lupo" (which means - in the mouth of the wolf) and the correct response is "Crepe lupo" (which means something like - the wolf will not live). I hope that I spelt it correctly. This is very commonly said in Italy. I guess that is something like "Break a leg" in Hollywood.

Gabriel took me to their beach. My relatives have rented a kind of storage and eating place on the beach near Catania for about 20 years every summer. Unfortunately I got stung three times by a medusa (jelly fish). I got some ointment put on it and all was better after about one hour.

We headed back to zia Angela's and had a little push up contest. Gabriel won - he did an awesome 48 pushups in 30 seconds. I was glad that he won because the bet was that the loser buys a drink for the winner. I will finally have a chance to pay for something.

Two sisters, Lucia and Lilliana, picked me up and took me to see Mt. Etna and have pizza and visit with their friends. They are sisters of Francesca who is married to my cousin Salvatore. They were awesome hosts and tour guides and are both in the garment industry. Also, they were very excited about my travels and helping me with my Sicilian and Italian speech. During our drive we saw an awesome view of a long stream of lava. It was probably about 10 times longer than what Gabriel and I saw the night before. I was absolutely thrilled again|

As we drove through the towns of Mt. Etna, they were all crowded with people attending a festa or another or waiting to get into restaurants. We finally found a great pizza place and had our dinner at midnight. We had a great visit with their friends, Agostino, Patricia and Lina.

The night was still hot as we drove back towards Catania at 2:00 am. The temperature was 31 Celcius believe it or not. Maybe the lava is keeping the temperature up. Haha!

Zio Vitale was still waiting up for me when we got to his place at 2:30am. He is a tough man at 90 years.

-Pleasant dreams

-Frank Pollari

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