Yellow Flag Cena

It is always party time when Angelo and Franci come to town. We first met Angelo in Turkey, where he and a friend (Marco, or 'Urdo') had been sold a tour with Italian speaking tour guides, and as the tour company only sold four seats, Fran and I ended up being the Italian speaking guides, as we were able to find a lot of folks who spoke English, but few spoke Italian. The only place Italian came in handy was at shops, and we could count on Angelo saying 'Yes, I speak Italain! Yes, I am from Sicily! Yes, I am from Palermo! Yes, I am Mafia! Now give me your best price!' He always got a good price, and whether he bought something or not, he always got a little gift as well. Of course, he is from Italy, and Sicily, and Palermo, but he is not mafia, at least we do not think so!!

Anyway, they came down to stay a Saturday night, and they had friends staying at another villagio touristico nearby. We all got together for cena (the evening meal, often pizza) at a new neighborhood restaurant named Baniera Giallo. I had visited there with Klaus, Petra, and Lutz when they were in town, and discovered it was run by my friend who used to run Desiderio, the best carne (meat) restuarant that we had found in town. He had also made super pizza's, and he still does.

At the new place, they have a fixed cena menu which includes the pizza of your choice, the beverage of your choice, after dinner coffee or lemoncello, and all the dancing to live music you want. Well, the live music is actually a sort of Karaoke with live keyboard and percussion, and very good live voices, and it was fun and filling.

The couple who owned an apartment below our complex were from Poggiareale, and they are the first people I have met who have lived through the earthquake there in 1969. Their town was completely destroyed then, and has since been rebuilt. They were amazed that I knew their town, and the wonderful small cantina there, but when I tried to talk to them about the time of the great terramota, they did not seem to want to talk about it very much.

So instead of talking about those sad times, we talked about good times instead. Angelo, of course, put me on the spot when he introduced me to one of the girls as NOT having a fidenzatto, or boy friend. She had already been told about Fran and I, and she became very embarrassed by this introduction, even refusing one of my rare offers to dance. Nonetheless, the pizza was excellent, I now have a great pizzeria nearby to replace Hallo Pizza, which used to deliver to me, but has not moved into town, and it is a good place to go and party if you can find a place to park.

The second night they were here, we went to La Vela, the wonderful fish restaurant near the port which has become almost a tradition for me and guests to go to. Afterwards, we attended the second night of the Sciacca Fiera Mediterranio, or Mediterranean Fair, which is a collection of booths for people who can not get enough shopping in at the weekly town market. It was hot, it was crowded, and there were one hundred booths selling just about everything that Ron Popiel ever sold, plus more. I doubt much of it was made in the Mediterranean basin, but that is OK, locals and tourists all seemed to have a good time. Angelo, true to his nature, bought gifts for many of his friends and families, and while the 'list price' was from one to two euros per item, and these folks do not bargain, he was able to get twenty two items for less than twenty euros. I do not know how he does it, but maybe it is because he said: 'Yes, I am Italian, Yes, I am Sicilian . . . '