Christmas in the Clouds

Home at last, home at last, great god a mighty, I'm home at last. I think that was the basic feeling I had when we finally arrived at Baia Ranella, after our flight from Boston to Milan, Milan to Palermo, and then our driver, Salvatore, picking us up and whisking us home. And us includes, from left to right, Dustin, Jon, Steph, Jess, and yours truly.

It was Christmas eve day, and I had asked the German's who rent an apartment near ours, who were going to be in town for Christmas, to pick up some food for us so that we would not have to count on the stores being open. We were able to have a little snack, and then we all took naps. Thank goodness that Petra, Lutz, and Klaus got us plenty of provisions, because when we went out later, grouchy and hungry as bears after hibernation, all of the pizzerias were closed. I did not mind so much, with the wonderful fresh breads, fruits, and cheeses that we were able to eat at home. We did get to watch some films, including Christmas in the Clouds, the wonderful Christmas movie that Kate Montgomery brought to the Adirondack Film Festival when I worked there.
The next day the five of us, along with Petra, Lutz, and Klaus, all went to dinner together. It was a special dinner at Sciacca's best gourmet restuarant, and we drank to the spirit of Fran and to Klaus's son Tomas, who also died around Christmas time a few years back.

My friend Woody had gotten my a Texas Hold 'em Set when he came over in September, and we used that to amuse ourselves in the evening. Jon proved to be both skilled and lucky (no wonder he hosts games at his house every week), however, I was able to come up with two pear once. It made the time pass quickly, and we all found that tons of sleep was just what we needed to get rid of jet lag, the stresses of school, moving, and working too hard on jobs.


The morning after Christmas, we had Salvatore pick us up and take us on a tour of Monreale and Palermo. It was amazing for me because there was almost no traffic. Of course the folks were all celebrating my onomastico (Saint's Day), but I had not expected to be so honored. St. Stevan must be pretty good to get most people to stop working and head to the country for a picnic with the family. Jon and Steph enjoy having their picture taken while they are jumping up and down, they had opportunity to do that in front of Piazza Pretoria in Palermo (also known as Piazza Vergogne, or Piazza of shame, because of all the naked statues surrounding the fountain. It is interesting to note that one of the Pope's decreed that all the penises be cut off from the statues, and that was done. It leaves me wondering if there is not a box full of stone penises somewhere in the Palermo Cathedral.)

We met Angelo and Franci for a wonderful lunch at Il Vespri, near Teatro Massimo. Jon had hoped to get a picture of Steph pretending to be Michael Corleone's daughter, dead on the steps, with him jumping over her, however the stairway was locked off from the public.

Another day we drove over to Agrigento, to see the Valley of the Temples. Jess got into the jumping spirit, and where better to jump than at the Temple of Concord. It was Dustin's first time in Sicily, and he seemed to enjoy the sights, When he was not posing with Jess in front of Temple columns, he was climbing into the necropoli with Jon, apparently searching for left over bones. It is always nice for me to see Sicily through the fresh eyes of a first time visitor like Dustin.

When we were not touring and laughing and smiling, we had time for some wonderful conversations, and some quiet times to reflect, as well.
The kids left on December 30th for their next great adventure, Paris for New Year's eve. It was wonderful having them here.