What the Hell...

Paul Stanley of Kiss and me

at Florence's Amerigo Vespucci Airport

So, I was waiting Monday at Florence's Amerigo Vespucci  Airport for my teaching buddy from Rio Mesa H.S., Joe Mollica, who was flying in from a two week stay in Great Britain to join me for this Wednesday's "Il Palio" horse race in Siena.

His plane was delayed by 30 minutes, so I was in the waiting area next this shall we say "interesting" looking man who turned out to be Paul Stanley. Paul is one of only two original members still Rockin' & Rollin' with the band KISS! Of course, Gene Simmons is the other one.

KISS, he told me, has just finished a 30 city tour and now it's time to rest and relax at his villa in Tuscany for the next two months. His parents are both here already and he was waiting for his wife, two sons and her parents who were due in from Zurich.

We talked about that fateful Halloween in 2000 when our group imitated KISS at Rio Mesa, about coaching American football in Italy and about how he should spend a few days relaxing in Sicily.

What a great and humble guy! My day was made and Joe hadn't even arrived yet!

Heather Linderman Ad of the Day

Today's Ad is from the Sicily Tourism Board.

The slogan is a simple one,

Come to Sicily,

Beautiful Sea...

Beautiful EVERYTHING!

The choice for you today is to pick which of these two pictures of the fabulous Sicilian Super Model, Roberta D'antona, you think would best fit the mood and spirit of this summer's tourist attracting campaign?

Option 1

or

Option 2

IFL SEMI-FINALS CHANGE

Today the IFL Announced a Change in this weekends Semi-Finals Dates and Times.

According to the IFL website, the semi-final playoff games are now BOTH scheduled for this Saturday, July 5th.

The Parma at Bergamo game now kicks off at 5:00 p.m.

Our Catania at Bolzano game starts at 8:00 p.m.

Capo Mulini Sunday

NEWS FLASH: This just in from Vienna, Spain beats Germany 1-0 to win the 2008 UEFA Euro Cup Championship. It was Spain's first Euro Cup title sine 1964!

1-0... imagine that

Today was another scorcher in Aci Castello, so we accepted Claudio (starting CB) and Roberta's offer to join them at our starting center, Gili's beach house in nearby Capo Mulini. It was a must on a day like today.

THANKS FOR THE INVITATION!

A Cassetta

At Capo Mulini we went straight to a private beach surrounded by these Cassettas that surround the small harbor/beach.

A Rocky Beach

In Sicily there are two types of beaches, traditional sandy ones like in California and rocky, volcanic ones like the one at Capo Mulini. The five towels to the middle right of the picture are ours. Note the perfect alignment of our towels in respect to the sun's powerful rays.

Sea Life

The little inlets in the rocks make a perfect spot for sea flora to flourish.

Our beach was teeming with all sorts of flora and fauna.

Nazi World War II Pill Box

Amongst this fun and tranquil scene was this grim reminder that things were not always so smooth in Sicily. This machine gun turret is actually in a cassetta's back yard between the cassetta and the spectacular view of the Ionian Sea.

The gang in the old swimming hole.

Dive In, The Water Is FINE!

Two options here, climb to the top of the rocks and jump in or dive in from the lower walkway. I opted for the lower walkway SEVERAL times in order to cool off. The water was PERFECT!

A RARE sighting of a Cuban Sea Otter

Cute isn't he?

Gelato/Granita Stand on wheels

When he blew his whistle we all came a running! It was hot so I ordered both a gelato and a granita.

This view is for you Vanessa.

The "Love Couple" after another hard day at the beach.

Italian Football League Week #14 Results

IFL WEEK #14 RESULTS

Parma 34 – Bologna 17

BYES: Ancona, Bergamo, Bolzano, Catania, Milan, Palermo Corsari and Palermo Sharks

FINAL REGULAR SEASON IFL STANDINGS

10-0 Bolzano Giants *

8-2 Bergamo Lions *

8-2 Parma Panthers *

6-4 Catania Elephants *

5-5 Bologna Doves

4-6 Milan Rhinos

2-8 Palermo Corsari

1-9 Ancona Dolphins

1-9 Palermo Sharks

* 2008 IFL PLAYOFF TEAMS

IFL SEMI-FINALS

Saturday, July 5^th:

Parma (8-2) at Bergamo (8-2) at 5:00 p.m.

Catania (6-4) at Bolzano (10-0) at 8:00 p.m.

 

IFL SUPER BOWL GAME

Saturday, July 19^th at 8:30 p.m.:

The two semi-final winners will meet at the neutral site stadium in Cattolica, Italy

Oh my God, it happened...

The 1951 Brooklyn Dodgers and the 1964 Philadelphia Phillies are considered to be two of the biggest end of the season collapses in sports history. To this list you may need to add the 2008 Bologna Doves.

The Doves pretty much physically dominated us in what was our 9th contest of the season (it was their 7th game of the campaign) by a score of 57-43. The game really was not as close as the score indicated. Now, all the Doves had to do to make the playoffs was win just one of their last three games.

We got the phone call from Davide at about 11:00 p.m. tonight saying that Parma had defeated Bologna 34-17. They LOST ALL THREE GAMES to, in order, Bergamo, Bolzano and Parma to finish their season at 5-5. All three of these teams that the Doves lost to made the playoffs, so Bologna did NOT have it easy down the stretch.

The bottom line is that YOUR fourth place, 6-4 Catania Elephants are playing the #1 seeded, 10-0 Bolzano Giants in Bolzano next Sunday, July 6th at 8:30 p.m. in an IFL Semi-Final Playoff Game!!! Bolzano beat us 49-42 in our final regular season game two weeks ago.

The winner of our game plays the winner of next Saturday's Parma at Bergamo game on Saturday, July 19th at 8:30 p.m. at a neutral site, the Adriatic Sea coast town of Cattolica, in the 2008 IFL Super Bowl. Cattolica is located about 20 miles south of the awesome resort beach town of Rimini.

My picks for Defensive Co-MVP's

On the left is Outside LB, Gianmarco Pecoraro with Free Safety Christian DiMauro

Elephant RB Enrico Lombardo at practice today

Dazzling shorts Enrico! Davide had to put on his sunglasses so as not to be blinded.

Speck?

After practice we stopped at the Auchan Supermercato by the airport and I found this tempting package of Speck.

Before I came to Italy, someone wanted to know what the heck Speck is.

It is a form of ham and it is quite good.

Mortadella

This large piece of mortadella that the lady is about to cut in half is part of the HUGE mortadella laying behind it. She said the entire thing weighs about 150 kilos!

That's a BIG hunk of luncheon meat!

Does Oscar Mayer make this Italian delicacy?

And one more thing I'll miss...

My apologies but since my last post was a very late one last night here at Malibu after a long beach day, I forgot to mention one of the more amusing customs in Sicilia, the aversion to making change by merchants.

Travel guru, Rick Steves, advises you that when touring Europe, try to have as close to exact change as possible when transacting business. Rick's main reason for this travel tip is that in some cases you may be dealing with an unscrupulous businessman who will try to short change you if you give him say a 50 Euro note for a 6.64 Euro bill. This seems like sage advice from the guru of European travel.

Now for someone the likes of finacial goddess, Koreen FitzGerald, exact change is NEVER a problem in any currency, continent or country. For us mere mortals, this is rarely the case.  

I have made it a point to carry 1 and 2 Euro coins so as to make transactions all the more simple. I have found Sicilian merchants to be honest but they fear change also. The cause of their phobia... I don't think some of them can make change without having to take off their shoes to count. I have actually had storeowners refuse to sell me a 2 Euro bottle of Fanta because all I had was a 20 Euro note and they did not want to make change and maybe shortchange themselves!

Another factor in the making change issue are the ATM or Bancomat machines as they are called here. About 95% of these handy money dispensers dole out no less than 50 Euros at a time and only distribute currency in 50 Euro notes. This of course is too big a bill for most merchants to even fathom for an under 10 Euros purchase.

The IPERSIMPLY Change Crisis

of June 27, 2008

With all of this as background, here is yesterday's chain of events.

First I stopped at a Bancomat and got out 100Euros, as usual it gave me two 50 Euro notes.

No problem, I went to the Post Office and paid my 37 Euro parking ticket figuring the Italian Postal System would certainly be able to come up with 13 Euros as change. They did, neatly handing me back a 10 Euro bill plus three 1 Euro coins.

Next it was off to the Two Marias to pick up 4 Hawaiian shirts they had dry cleaned for me for 12 Euros. Easy doing business with them and I still had 1 Euro left from the first 50 Euro note.

Also of note at this juncture, fashion conscious Italians give me very funny looks when I wear one of these American fashion statements. I may possess the only four known reproductions of the elusive hibiscus flower in all of Italy. I am kind of hoping some local botanist will ask to borrow a shirt to do research on this mysterious tropical flora.

I was able to manage the rest of my day with the 20 Euros I had in my wallet before the trip to the Bancomat but on the way home from the beach I knew I had to stop and buy a few groceries. The perfect spot was the IPERSIMPLY supermercato right on the highway in Acireale.

It was 5:30 in the afternoon and the IPERSIMPLY opens at 8:00 in the morning so I figured my last 50 Euro note would again be no problem at a big concern like this one. WRONG!

As you can see if you click on the picture above, the bill came to 24.48 Euros, I handed her the now offending 50 Euros and she went into a panic even though her machine will tell her exactly how much change to give me once she inputs how much money I gave her.

"Do you have anything smaller than a 50?" Nope, at least not enough to cover the bill.

She fumbles around in the cash drawer trying to come up with a solution. I know that all she needs is one 20 Euro note, one 5 Euro note, one 50 cent piece and one 2 cent piece and we can all go home and nobody gets hurt. This should not be hard to do this late in the business day.

"Do you have 48 cents?" No, all I have is 40 cents. "Give it to me."

I am not sure how that is going to help the situation but at this point I figure let's just go with her flow and see where our saga ends up.

She punches in that I gave her 50.40 Euros and her computerized teller says reports back smartly that she should give me 25.92 in change.

She proceeds to hand me one 20 Euro note, ten 50 cent pieces and five 20 cent pieces for a total of 26 Euros, 8 cents more than I had coming to me.

This practice of, I guess you would call it, long changing customers is also a rule in business. There is no one cent coin in the Euro world but there are the rare two and five cent coins. Merchants would rather give you back too much money that have to deal with these elusive coins.

I wonder at a supermercato like IPERSIMPLY, how much money do they give away each day due to this change phobia?

I LOVE this land mass!

Typical Sicilian Life I'll Miss

It is late Friday night and I am just starting to really realize that this great adventure is quickly coming to an end. When I left California on January 2nd for a 7 month coaching run in Sicily, I literally left some of my closest friends in tears both at Cronies and on their cellphones as we said our good-byes. It seemed like such an incredibly long time to be away from home and loved ones.

I looked at the calendar today and it said that my flight home from London's Heathrow Airport on July 25th was only 28 days away. How fast the time has flown by!

As we entered the final 24 hours of waiting to see if we make the playoffs and, perhaps, our last practice Saturday at 3:00 p.m., I reflect back on some of the most intersting facets of Sicilian life. 

The Aci Castello Post Office

and

The Great Bologna Parking Ticket Fiasco

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I got a 36 Euro parking ticket while touring Bologna after our game with the Doves. I had purchased an all day 5 Euro parking card which was prominently displayed on my dash and was told would allow me to park in ANY blue lined space in the city except, it turns out, the one I parked in.

I talked with Davide and Gus about it and was instructed that I need to fill out the form attached to the ticket, go to any Post Office, pay the 36 Euros plus 1 more Euro as a handling fee by the Post Office.

Now what I will really miss is the, shall we say, interesting and somewhat intuitive Sicilian system that exists once you walk in the doors.

From past experience at the Aci Castello Post Office, I knew that there are five customer windows. Window #1 only sells stamps, a novel approach since this IS billed as a POST OFFICE. The other 4 windows, 2 of which were closed today, are for the paying of utility bills, license fees, bribing of public officials and, of course, the paying of traffic/parking tickets.

When I walked in, I saw several people either sitting or milling around the room but only 2 people in line to pay for something, GREAT, this was going to be quick and easy. I stood at the #3 post in the line for about 5 minutes before 2 men came up to inform me that I had to wait my turn and that all the sitters and millers were ahead of me. How stupid of me not to know this interesting Sicilian queueing strategy!

I asked who was last and one of the 2 guys said he was so I milled about waiting for him to get in line at the appropriate time. During the 15 minutes I waited, others in the know came into the Post Office and immediately asked "Who's last?".

Now the best part occurred. While I was milling, 2 of the ladies who had come in separately after me and knew each other struck up a conversation. They were so intently involved in trying to outdo each other's hand gestures that they failed to notice that a man, who was scheduled to get into the 3 person line just before one of these ladies, had gotten fed up with the wait and walked out the door. Fortunately I had already advanced to the on-deck position in the queue. Pandemonium broke out, nobody knew who followed the person behind me because of our 1 missing player!

Loud talking, more hand gestures and exasperated voices all took turns in trying to solve this crisis. After about 2 frantic minutes, a new pecking order was established and peace was restored without having to call the Carabinieri Headquarters next door.

When I finished paying my fine I asked the man if it I could by 1 stamp to send a card to the USA. "EEMPOSSIBLE! Go to window #1."

Window #1 was only had 1 person in line and I was careful to make eye contact with everyone to make sure I didn't foolishly cut in again. I got nods all around, got in line and waited about 5 minutes for my turn.

The guy in front of me had about 10 manilla envelopes which he said all contained the same things and would all then weigh the same. The lady weighed all 10 envelopes SLOWLY. He paid for the stamps, left and I approached with my 1 card. Easy, right?

Nope, she now had to place 2 separate stamps on each of the 10 manilla envelopes, running out of one denomination in the process, disappearing for about 5 minutes before she found more stamps. The whole time I was at the window hoping that the people behind me realized the delay was not because of me but due to the previous guy who was long gone by now.

I bought my stamp, she put it on the card for me and I got out of there as fast as I could.

The Italian Postal System wears very cool uniforms but it is their office organization which will always make me smile.

Weddings

Another thing I will miss is the weddings, although we will be having 2 sometime in the next year in our family thanks to Andy and Jenn and Mike and Vanessa.

In America, weddings are usually weekend affairs, here there are weddings 7 days a week. This couple exchanged their vows in Aci Castello today and were having their pictures taken at the Norman Castle which seems to be a very common photo op for newly weds.

I really like just coming across groups of very happy people, who doesn't love a good Disco-Mania wedding reception? 

Sicilian Graffiti

As I have commented before, graffiti in Sicily runs about 45% expressions of undying love, about 45% calcio (soccer) slogans and about 10% political in nature.

This is one of the 10% I noticed in Aci Trezza today. April 25the is an Italian National Holiday, Liberation Day. That is the day Italy was liberated from Fascist rule.

Apparently not everyone is down with this Holiday since it translates as "April 25th, Festival of the Traitors of Italy".

It's posters like these at the beach in Giardini-Naxos today that make me proud to have joined the Italian Communist Party in protest of our second Palermo Corsari game weeks ago!

 

One last thing I will miss is Linda who does "Massagees" on the beach at Giardini-Naxos for 10 Euros. She is from China and I think she is close to buying the necessary tickets to get the rest of her family out before the start of the Beijing Summer Olympics based on just the number of "Massagees" she has performed on me and Jason's dad, Jim!

Today's trip to the beach proved one thing, She's Getting Better!

I just pray she doesn't have to go to the Post Office to buy plane tickets for her family!

Aci Castello's Parrucchiere per Uomo

Translated into English, Barbershop for Men, although I did see one woman getting her hair cut one time months ago.

When I first got here back in January, I needed to find a trustworthy place to manicure this fine crop of hair (singular?) I'm sporting.

"Mr. Aci Castello", Gustavo Bonnano, promptly called his barber and got me an appointment at Parrucchiere per Uomo with his barber, who is also the owner, Luigi.

On my first visit, Luigi looked at my hopeless situation and quickly passed me off to his assistant, Giorgio. Sharing the same name quickly formed a bond between us during that first tonsorial adventure.

Giorgio checked out the lay of the land and asked me how long I would be living in Aci Castello. After replying that I would be here for 7 months, his response, in decent English, was "I have a plan...".  GAME ON!

The haircuts and beard trims have all been good and Luigi himself even took a stab at taming my mane at one juncture.

What I've enjoyed the most about my trip to this parrucchiere on my monthly visits are the people who hang out there and are always laughing and having a good time. I only catch about every fourth word or phrase but they use the universal Italian hand gestures and they do laugh a lot!

Luigi and Giorgio are constantly bantering back and forth and the crowd of people getting their haircut, waiting to get their haircut or just hanging out makes it a happening, not just a haircut. Because of all of these antics, a haircut, like everything else in Italy takes a long time but it is always worth it for the laughs. I always leave feeling sharp and with a big smile on my face. 

LUIGI AND GIORGIO, GOOD GUYS AND GOOD TIMES INDEED!

The outside of the Parrucchiere per Uomo is simple and does not foretell of the fun to be found inside.

Three Thumbs Up for Giorgio's Master Plan

The veteran Luigi, who flew to Chicago a couple of months ago to partake in an international hairstyling contest, is on the left and the young Master Strategist, Giorgio, is on the right.

Oh, to have their hair to work with!!!

I See Marvelous Things...

First, from the "it's a small world" file.

Last night when I got back to the hotel from dinner in Trapani, I checked my e-mail one more time before going to bed and found only one new one from someone I didn't know named Scott Gorman. Apparently he has followed the blog and is coming to Italy in mid-July to attend a wedding in Rome with his wife Courtney. He really wants to see one of our games but the only way that would be possible is if we somehow made it to the championship game on July 19.

It turns out that Scott is the Chief Aide to the Owner of the Indianapolis Colts! The small world part is that the Colts have a starting LB by the name of Freddie Keiaho who played at San Diego State and Buena H.S. in Ventura, California.

At Buena, Freddie's head football coach was Rick Scott. Rick is the reason I'm coaching in Italy. It is a long story but if you go back to the very first entry in the blog dated December 6, 2007 and titled "Why I'm Coaching American Football in Italy", and re-read it, you'll agree that it truly IS a small world.

Dinner in Trapani

I had a great seafood pasta at this neighborhood eatery followed by two sausages that were worthy of being served at an Elephants' BBQ! I found Trapani at night and on foot, no thanks to Garmin, to be a very charming port city.

Is Lucky in the Advertising Game part-time?

The Hydra-Foil to the Egadi Islands

I was up bright an early this morning to catch the 8:00 a.m. hydra-foil to the Favignana for a full day of sun and refreshing sea water. We made the crossing in about 20 minutes and I was raring to go!

The Ceramic Port Map Was Very Nice

This is still a very active fishing town and it was a center for tuna fishing.

This reminds me, I'm in need of nourishment!

A Raspberry Granita should do the trick.

IT DID!

While trying to find a good beach I ran across these old anchors.

Oh what tales they could tell!

The Lido Burrone

I walked about 15 minutes to the other side of the island and found the Lido Burrone on a beautiful spiaggia, i.e., beach.

The water was crystal clear and looked refreshing.

People were already enjoying the penetrating rays of the Sicilian sun.

Then it hit me as to what was missing, no one was in the water as of yet.

So I decided that someone had to be the first, so why not me.

Are those little brown rocks in the water?

NO, THEY ARE THOUSANDS OF LITTLE JELLYFISH!!!

So much for refreshing sea water! As a result I halted my beach day quite early and headed back into the town of Favignana for lunch and to try an earlier hydra-foil to Trapani than the 5:30 p.m. one I was scheduled to load.

The Camarillo Brillo Music Cafe

Madonna was blaring as artist of the moment, so how could I resist a smoked tuna, speck (that's a form of ham) and cheese pannino at a place named after the city, Camarillo, where you will find stately Casa Contreras? It was a good one!

The Havana Club Banner on the back wall sealed the deal!

Garmin...

As I mentioned yesterday, Garmin and I did not get along trying to maneuver the streets of Trapani.

Did I mention that she yelled at me to "FOLLOW THE HIGHLIGHTED ROUTE" after I missed a right turn she wanted me to make that did not exist and would have driven me off a 1,000 foot cliff near Erice if I had listened to her!

On the Hydra-Foil back to Trapani I programmed in two cities I wanted to visit now that I had bought time due to the jellyfish in Favignana. My idea was to save some time and not drive recklessly by already having her ready to navigate for me. The only problem is that since we were at sea she was going CRAZY trying to figure the best route for our CAR! I let her go for about two minutes...PAYBACK BABY!

Did I mention that she is THE worst at trying to pronounce Italian street names. It makes her sound very laughable.

I decided that I didn't really want to see the ruins at Selinunte or drive the southern coast and just see more beaches and water, so what to do?

It suddenly hit me, in the mid 1990's an Art teacher by the name of Jay Shelton at Rio Mesa H.S. where I taught came up with the idea of Movie Club. With the likes of fellow teachers Tom FitzGerald, Dick Bellman, Albert Lorenzanz, John Tierney, myself plus a few guest members, it was a go!

The premise was simple enough, we all loved movies but not the same ones necessarily. We would meet on Wednesday nights once or twice a month to watch a movie and eat dinner. We rotated hosting it and the host picked the movie of his choice and provided the sustenance. I saw movies that I had heard of but never seen as well as some favorites that re-seeing was worthwhile. We each had our own unique tastes and the post-viewing film discussions were very entertaining as well.

Unfortunately, Jay, our founding father, had to leave town suddenly and under a cloud of mystery for a new job back in his native New York state. Without his driving force, the Rio Mesa Movie Club died a rather quick death.

Now I bring all this up because the memory of Movie Club is what made me drive to the next two towns. 

"THE GODFATHER"

The home of the Godfather himself, Don Vito. Who can forget his impetuous son Sonny and the reserved son, Michael, a.k.a, Claudio Mangano.

What a movie!!! Winner of the 1972 Academy Award for Best Picture. Definitely in the Top 5 All Time Best picture List if not THE best.

I tried to buy gas in Corleone but couldn't. They would not accept my credit card, CASH ONLY! Of course, no paper trail that way...

The town looked normal to me.

I did park my car and walk away with Garmin still inside.

"Sunday, Monday, Thursday, Saturday..." but no explosion, I had to try it.

Liberty and Justice

This touch in the main piazza has Michael Corleone written all over it

It is an interesting little hilltop town for any movie buff to experience.

A view of Corleone from above.

Why this town next?

Because, as this mosaic attests, this is the town where the movie "Cinema Paradiso" was filmed!

This is my favorite Italian film which won the 1990 Oscar for Best Foreign Film. The version that won the Academy Award is very sweet but the original Director's Cut is a much longer, darker and disturbing view of the life in yet another small hilltop Sicilian town.

I asked some of these men in the Piazza where the film was shot if they could give me some insights as to the making of the movie.

They directed me here, where many photos of the making of the movie are on display.

The "Cinema Paradiso" Gang of Four

Inside I met these four ladies who went out of their way to supply me with about 10 brochures about the town of Palazzo Adriano and the shooting of the film. The lady on the far right was actually in the movie as a town extra as a young child!

The Cinema Paradiso building stood right where I am taking this picture.

The Church

To the right of the church you can see the building where a movie was projected onto it on a very fateful turning point night for the characters in the film.

And Now for Something Totally Different...

A POINT OF GEOGRAPHIC DISCUSSION IF YOU PLEASE!

The ISLAND of Sicily

After driving  from Catania to Palermo to Segesta to Erice to Trapani to Corleone to Palazzo Adriano and back to Catania the last two days, I must ask the members at the National Geographic Society the question, "Why is Sicily referred to as an island?"

Now, I know the definition initially fits, "A body of land completely surrounded by water". My point is that Catalina is an island, Manhatten is an island, Navignana is an island, Vashon is an island. I can walk from one side to the other of any of these with no problem. On Sicily, NO WAY! I used about a tank and a half on my road trip the last two days.

Members of the Society, I say Sicily deserves to be upgraded from island to a LAND MASS! There is precedence, Australia is an island but we have deemed to call it a Continent due to it's size. All I ask for is that from now on we refer to it as "The Land Mass of Sicily". I think it would be much more apt! Please consider it.

Meanwhile, back in reality...

As a youngster learning how to read at K.L. Carver School in San Marino, California, we were given a heavy dose of the "Fun With Dick and Jane" books.

They lived with their parents and had a dog named Spot.

I only remember a very few things from those books, but one thing always stayed with me. One day Dick and Jane's parents packed the kids into the car with Spot and they went for a drive in the country where the kids got to see all sorts of farm animals.

Now even in 1953, as a first grader, I knew that there was no way that this would happen in our family or anybody else's family in the class since we lived, basically, in Los Angeles. Now, L.A. is many things but it is NOT farm country!

If we had read these same books in the LAND MASS of Sicily, NO PROBLEM!

"Look, Dick, see the vineyard grow grapes for Mother's wine spritzers."

"Jane, would you like to ride the horse when Massimo is finished?"

"See Spot run after the cows. Run, Spot, run!"

I also saw shorn sheep, two rams wearing cowbells and butting heads plus a shepherd that made you wonder.

The road I drove today was nicknamed the "Vie dei Fromaggio", I think I'll go home and eat some.

So, I'm back in Aci Castello none the worse for wear, having greatly enjoyed two days of discovering even more reasons to love this LAND MASS!

Did I fail to mention that my bride, Laurie, arrives in ONLY 7 days?

Road Trip to Complete the Circumnavigation of Sicilia

This morning I headed out bright and not so early to try to complete my circumnavigation of the island of Sicily. I was hoping to do this in a bright red Ferrari at the beginning of the football season but it just didn't work out. The silver Nissan Micra will have to make do.

First stop, Palermo for a peek at the Cripta dei Cappuccini. These catacombs hold the bodies in mummy or skeletal form of Catholic monks and Palermo's well to do citizenry. Fra Silvestro da Gubbio was the first to be buried here in 1599. I got there at 12:08, it closed at noon! It would reopen at 3:00 p.m. but I had the itch to keep moving, harder to hit a moving target don't you know!

Next up, the ruins at Segesta supposedly built by exiles from Troy. When I got there, the temperature was 36 degrees centigrade (that's hot!) and the humidity was near the 215% level. Did I mention that it is summer here? 

California?

Nope, just the hillsides near Segesta. Sicily was so green and lush just 2 months ago but like California, summer heat turns the island golden too.

The Temple at Segesta

The star attraction is this Doric Temple. My philosophy on ruins like these is simple, "If they built it, I will come".

How did they do this?

I just remembered that before I left in January, we put up our THIRD front fence/gate in the 32 years we have lived in Camarillo at the palatial Casa Contreras.

Still seems to be in good shape.

The Temple is really BIG!

On to Erice!

I know I should have taken this picture on the other side of this sign but the light was SO much better on this side.

Erice is a hilltop town with a definite medieval feel to it. The town's ancient origins stem from a cult that worshipped the goddess of fertility, Venus Erycina.

Tradition!

Before cars and trucks, these were the hand painted main form of transportation in Sicily, horse drawn carts.

Ceramics

Erice is known for it's ceramics and I detected a different style, themes and color schemes from the ones I'm familiar with on the east side of Sicilia. These were found in the Catholic Chiesa di San Carlo.

Even the Carabinieri have ceramic panache'.

The view of the Mar Mediterraneo from Erice

Hilltops in Sicily beg for creative architects!

Erice's Torri Pepoli

Driving in Trapani

Like all great Italian cities, only about every sixth street you cross actually has a sign telling you it's name. It's a given in orienteering in Sicily and why would you even think that Trapani would be any different. This was my first problem in going solo on this excursion.

Problem #2 was my usually trustworthy Garmin GPS sidekick. She is the other woman in my life and, unlike Laurie, I feel the need to slap her quite often really! Today she nagged me to the breaking point in Trapani trying to find my hotel, the Albergo Maccotta.

First, she did not recognize the name of the Albergo's street nor any other possible nearby streets that I could find. RECALCULATING!!!

I finally found a street that she recognized that was only a few blocks, I think, from Via degli Argentieri 4! Our life was bliss again. RECALCULATING!!!

Every turn, I MEAN EVERY TURN, she asked me to make would require me to drive the wrong way on a one way street! RECALCULATING!!!

What is the punishment in Sicily for killing a nagging girlfriend? Sainthood? I don't know but if she does this again tomorrow I may find out!

I accidently found a sign that DID direct me to my Albergo easily. After parking my car in the only legal overnight spot I could find, I hope, I had to walk about 10 blocks to find a very nice, clean and efficient Albergo Maccotta.

Fishing Net

On my trek to the Albergo, I came across this fishing net drying artfully on the sidewalk. Well, I thought it was a fishing net until the owner stormed op to me, smiling thankfully, to tell me the history of this apparatus and the true name of it that was WAY lost in translation.

Giuseppe, "The Pride of the Trapani Fishing Fleet"

That's him with his "net?".

I wish I could have gotten a better picture of his three remaining teeth, they're good ones!

In Sicily, if not all of Italy,

GARABALDI IS THE MAN!

After resting up this evening, I plan to take the ferry in the morning to the Egadi Islands. Actually, I will only visit one of the Egadis, the island of Favignana. STAY TUNED!

"Banquet by Blog"

Life in the Trenches!

Celebrating the JOY of a good defensive play in Palermo.

“DEFENSIVE BANQUET BY BLOG”

As we continue our playoff vigil, I decided to take some time to reflect on the players on the defensive side of the ball for the 2008 Catania Elephants.

In America, we would have an end of the season banquet to give out awards and talk a little bit about each player and their contributions to the team. I don’t think we will have time for that here in Catania so I decided to have a first ever “Banquet by Blog” to talk about our defensive players. 

KICKER

Andrea Mannino #2, maybe our most improved player during the course of the season. His kickoffs and his extra points became money for us down the stretch. 

PUNTER

Salvo Persano #82, with our offensive prowess he didn’t get very many opportunities to punt but did a solid job placing the ball away from the other team’s return men.

DEFENSIVE LINEMEN

DE Brandon "Big Bianco" Bennett leading the charge!

Brandon Bennett #63, our only two-way, full time starter, he played both DE and NT. He rarely came off the field in our 10 games and did a fine job modeling the toughness that linemen MUST possess. He had 29 tackles including 4 for losses equaling -10 yards and 1 QB Sack for -35 yards. Brandon definitely wins our “Ironman Award”.

Fabio Scuto #90, DE, a young player with a lot of promise, he started the first 9 games of the season but broke his ankle in game 9 at Bologna. Fabio had 23 tackles, 4 QB Sacks for -33 yards, intercepted a pass and recovered a fumble in the end zone for a TD.

Marco Raino #73, NG, one of the wily, old veterans, Marco played with a ton of heart and spirit. He has been great, unselfish leader for our younger players. Marco was in on 20 tackles and contributed one QB Sack and one Fumble Recovery.

Pino Anello, #24, finished the season at DE but was our starting MLB in game 1 at Milan. His season was shortened by injuries forcing him to miss out of 5 games completely and causing him to miss the second half of 3 other game. Pino, also one of our seasoned veterans, contributed 15 tackles.

Peppe Strano, #43, in reality our starting TE/H Back, he was pressed into service in a couple of games at DE  due to our injury issues. He had 13 tackles on the season and was very good on the kickoff team. He missed 1 game due to injuries.

Mathieu Cassaghi, #75, our starting OT, he did play a few token snaps at DE throughout the season adding 6 tackles including a -7 yards QB Sack.

Marco Tilotta, #51, a rookie who played both DE and NT, he missed 2 games and had 4 tackles in very limited playing time.

Mateo Amata, #70, was our biggest defensive lineman and a NT who suffered a season ending knee injury and missed 6 games but he did make 1 tackle.

LINEBACKERS

LB Gianmarco Pecoraro, on the left, tracks down a ball carrier.

Gianmarco Pecoraro, #3, an OLB, he played in all 10 games, showing great hustle and heart. He was in on 60 tackles, forced 2 fumbles, had 1 interception that he returned 8 yards and 1 QB Sack for -15 yards. If possible I would like to see if Sicilian scientists could start cloning him into an entire team of great Sicilian football players! He gets my nod for “Co-Defensive MVP Award”.

Salvo Sicali, #46, played both OLB and MLB missing 2 games this season. Salvo had 31 tackles and broke up 6 passes. His teammates voted him as one of our Defensive Co-Captains at the start of the season.

Roberto Conti, #50, was our starting MLB for most of the season playing in 8 games. He had 27 tackles and recovered a fumble and had a tendency to make a play at critical times, A GOOD THING!

Massimiliano Bonomo, "Moro", #36, a late season addition to the Elephants who lives in Rome. Moro possesses a great football mind and has a ton of game awareness. He only played in 2 games, our 8^th and 9^th games, but still was in on 18 tackles including 2 QB Sacks for -32 yards. Having a player of his caliber on defense was a luxury, I just wish we had him all year long!

Alessandro Bambara, #51, a MLB, he was a rookie and played sparingly but did start vs. Bologna in game 9. He had 3 tackles on the season.

FALCONS

"Call me Pony"

Fabio "Foca" Russo diving in for the kill.

Matt Epperson, Mr. Do Everything!

Antonello Gulisano, “Call Me Pony”, #31, one of the senior members of the defense, he had 38 tackles and broke up 9 passes. Pony fought through several nagging shoulder and leg injuries and played with a real love of the game. He missed 1 game.

Fabio Russo, “Foca”, #97, a converted OLB, Foca played in all 10 games and made 29 tackles while also breaking up 3 passes. We really had to play him out of his natural position due to the long string of injuries at Falcon. Fabio played very well most of the season.

Matt Epperson, #7, the best WR in the league, Matt would play about 10 to 15 plays a game on defense at Falcon usually but also at DB and even at DE in our Armageddon scheme. He had 27 tackles. He led our team in Tackles for Loss (5 for -18 yards) and Interceptions (3 returned for 135 yards for 1 TD and 1 Two Point PAT). The “Pride of Amarillo” also had 3 QB Sacks for -25 yards, broke up 5 passes and recovered a key onside kickoff at the start of the Bolzano game. He missed 2 games with broken ribs. When you add up his receiving and amazing yards after catch, his kickoff return ability, toughness, leadership and ability to just flat out be a game momentum changer, you end up with the best all-around player in the IFL! In my opinion, he would have to be our “Team MVP” based on his contributions on offense, defense and special teams. Matt is just a GREAT, old school football player who lets his actions do all of his talking!

Rigel Roundtree, #33, a great guy who played in only 1 game in Matt Epperson’s absence. An American who teaches at a local school and has a lot of rugby experience, he started vs. Bologna in game #9, played very well and was in on 6 tackles. I felt bad for him in game #10 vs. Bolzano. He was ready to go but Matt was activated at the last possible moment and we can only suit up 3 imports, so Rigel was the odd man out.

Gustavo Bonnano, #39, is a very hard worker and an all-around good guy. He was making great strides at Falcon, playing most of the season opener in Milan and starting our second game at Bergamo. Unfortunately he broke his leg at the very end of this game and missed the last 8 games of the season. He made 3 tackles and broke up a pass.

Renato Gargiulio #48, has another of our team leaders. Did I mention that if it wasn’t for bad luck, our defense would have had no luck at all? Voted a defensive Co-Captain at the start of the year, he blew out his elbow on the opening drive of the season in Milan requiring season ending surgery that forced him to miss 9 games. Tough, smart and a great leader, his loss really hurt us. As an example, in his only drive of the season he had 2 tackles, broke up a pass and forced a fumble! 

DEFENSIVE BACKS

Mario Ravida

Cristiano Marra

"Smitty"

Massimo Tribulato

Christian DiMauro, #21, was our excellent, hard hitting Free Safety that led our team in tackles with 63 despite missing 3 ½ games due to a strained knee. He forced 1 fumble and recovered a fumble as well. We ask our FS to be very involved in our run defense if he reads run and Christian did this very well all year. Christian would the other winner of our “Co-Defensive MVP Award”.

Massimo Tribulato, #14, a rookie CB, Massimo endured a trial by fire! His 43 tackles ranked third on the team and he broke up a team high 12 passes. He had 2 interceptions with his first one sealing the victory at the end of our season opener in Milan. He missed the final game of the season with a knee injury. He usually drew the unenviable task of guarding the other team's best receiver.

Mario Ravida, #87, a speedy WR turned CB, Mario missed the first 3 games of the season with an ankle injury. He started several games at the end of the season due to injuries to other CB’s. He made the most of his chances by making in 17 tackles, breaking up 2 passes and recovering a fumble.

Cristiano Marra, #36, was a Free Safety who started 3 games contributing 17 tackles and breaking up 2 passes.  He was a willing worker who also spot played at Falcon. He missed the last 2 games of the season.

Massimiliano Garipoli, “But you can call me Smith”, #5, was another rookie starting at CB, “Smitty” suffered both an ankle injury and had stitches in his chin that forced him to miss 4 games. Another trial by fire style learner, he had 12 tackles, broke up 6 passes and forced a fumble.

Claudio Mangano, #28, is one of the best WR’s in the IFL who was forced to play CB because of all our injuries. He finished game #9 in Bologna and started game #10 at home against Bolzano. He made the most of his time on defense by joining in on 3 tackles, breaking up a pass, recovering a fumble and blocking an extra point.

 

Well, that’s it for the "Banquet by Blog" of our defensive players.

THANKS to ALL the Elephants for a memorable and fun season!

Hopefully we’ll get at least one more chance to get together and play again.

Hot Sunday and Italy vs. Spain in Calcio

It is really starting to feel like summer in Catania with the temperature well into the 90's and the humidity rising daily.

Jason and Christie left for a one week whirlwind tour of Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Czech Republic on Saturday after practice. As for me, I've decided to use this week to explore the western end of Sicily by seeing sights like Trapani, Erice, Marsala and the Egadi Islands.

I considered going to Malta but decided against it with my trip to the Palio in Siena next Monday through Wednesday and the arrival of my bride, Laurie, in Catania next week on Thursday, July 3rd.

So, Sunday I just hung out at Malibu trying to beat the heat. I strolled down to Aci Trezza for some granita to cool off and just pondered the many sun worshippers on the rocks.

Lidos vs. Rocks

It's time for a tough decision!

As I have mentioned before, these wood and sometimes steel lidos have sprung up all over the island in the last two months. You pay an entry fee to use them and chaise lounges are usually included in the entry fee. The big plus is the obvious comfort and the relative ease getting in and out of the water.

Your other option is to lay on the rocks for free. I don't think this would be very comfortable but I would guess that a third or more of the beach goers opt for the rocks.

Harbor Rocks

Some will swim or boat out to the big rocks in the harbor to add a dash of adventure to their frugality.

Clear Water

The lure of these rocky beaches and the reason to endure any rock induced discomfort is the crystal clear, warm water.

Traditionally Decorated Sicilian Fishing Boats

More of the Same

Our Neighbors were VERY into the

Italy vs. Spain in Calcio Match

In Europe they have all sorts of calcio (soccer) leagues and tournaments. Some of these leagues are by country with several clubs representing cities competing, some are made up of all-star teams representing countries, some the best clubs in a country compete against the best clubs from other countries.

In other words, don't worry if your favorite club or country gets eliminated, there will be another competition starting very soon to give everyone renewed hope that their favorite club or country will come out on top this time!

As I have mentioned before, Italians are crazy for calcio, but only if their club or the Italian National Team is involved. A few weeks ago when English clubs Chelsea and Manchester United squared off in the Champions League Final in Moscow in the BIGGEST game of that month, we went to a local pub to watch and there were only a couple of other people there who were mildly interested...if no Italian club is involved, who cares?

Last night Team Italia played Spain in some tournament that is very important this month. I went to Jonathan's for a pannino at about 9:15 p.m. and NOBODY WAS THERE! I ordered and was quickly served a delicious breaded cutlet pannino with caprese smothered in french fries. I finished and still no one was there. On the drive back to Malibu I also realized that there were very few cars, scooters or pedestrians on the streets. Of course, EVERYONE was at home or in a bar watching the BIG GAME!

When I got back to Malibu it was fun to hear everyone in our building and all of the surrounding buildings in unison loudly yelling and screaming with delight or moaning with anguish every good or bad thing that happened to our boys in white. I actually turned on the TV and watched the second half and kind of got into the frenzy myself in a limited way, GREAT FUN!

Incredibly the game ended in a 0-0 tie, who would have guessed that?

In the shootout that followed Spain broke our collective hearts by outscoring our native sons 4-2. Team Italia was eliminated and Spain (cool uniforms by the way) moved on.

Don't lose heart my Italian friends, I'm sure July will bring the start of yet another tournament to help unify the country in a common cause once again!

Italian Football League Week #13 Results

IFL WEEK #13 RESULTS

Bergamo 49 – Ancona 7

Parma 28 – Palermo Corsari 13

Bolzano 40 – Bologna 13

Milan 35 – Palermo Sharks 0

BYE: Catania

 

IFL STANDINGS

10-0 Bolzano Giants *

8-2 Bergamo Lions *

7-2 Parma Panthers

6-4 Catania Elephants *

5-4 Bologna Doves

4-6 Milan Rhinos *

2-8 Palermo Corsari *

1-9 Ancona Dolphins *

1-9 Palermo Sharks *

* Regular Season Completed

NOTE: The teams owning the four best records at the end of the regular season make the playoffs.

IFL GAME WEEK #14

Saturday June 28^th:

Bologna (5-4) at Parma (7-2)

BYES: Ancona (1-9), Bergamo (8-2), Bolzano (10-0), Catania (6-4), Milan (4-6), Palermo Corsari (2-8) and Palermo Sharks (1-9)

Elephant's Playoff Hopes Still Slim But Grow Brighter

Your 2008 Catania Elephants

American Football Team

6 Wins - 4 Losses

Our Goal and Hopes are Still Alive

Well, our off the field luck continues!

In Italian Football League action last night, the Bolzano Giants completed their perfect 10-0 regular season by beating the Bologna Doves 40-13.

Additional results of Saturday night gave the Bergamo Lions an 8-2 record by beating the Ancona Dolphins 49-7 and the Parma Panthers improved to 7-2 after edging the Palermo Corsari 28-13. The Milan Rhinos and the Palermo Sharks play today in a game with no playoff implications.

Saturday's results actually put 6-4 Catania back into fourth place a half game ahead of 5-4 Bologna.

The playoff situation has now become crystal clear.

Obviously, the Bolzano Giants at 10-0 are the #1 seed and will host the #4 seed, either the 6-4 Catania or the currently 5-4 Bologna Doves on Sunday, July 6th at 8:30 p.m.

The #2 seed will be the 8-2 Bergamo Lions who will host the #3 seed Parma Panthers, currently 7-2 on Saturday, July 5th at 8:30 p.m. 

Our playoff situation is simple, their will only be one game left on the IFL regular season schedule after today's Rhinos vs. Sharks game. That game will be played next Saturday, June 28, at Parma. The host 7-2 Panthers take on the 5-4 Bologna Doves. The Panthers will retain the #3 seed whether or not they win this game, a definite psychological edge to the Doves.

If the Doves win and finish with a 6-4 record identical to Catania's, they will be the #4 seed by virtue of beating us in the head-to-head meeting in our 9th game.

If the Panthers win, then the Doves finish with a 5-5 record and the Elephants would travel to beautiful Bolzano as the #4 seed. This scenario would afford my bride, Laurie, the chance to finally see us play a game as she is scheduled to arrive in Catania on July 3rd.

One more week of waiting...

Waiting, waiting, waiting...

Upon my return from the greater Tuscany megalopolis Thursday evening, I decided that Friday would be a great day to just vegetate at Malibu.

While doing three loads of laundry, you must remember that our washing machine takes a minimum of two hours to do one load, I lounged and watched three movies on DVD.

First I went with Laurie's favorite comedy, "Some Like It Hot".

I followed that up with a so-called cult classic, "Bubba Ho-tep", Maybe they meant the Manson Family cult, it was strange to say the least.

The last film up for review was "Casablanca". Now THAT'S what I call a movie!!!

Padre Pio

This one is for Michael Contreras.

Padre Pio, seen in the picture above, was a 20th Century Italian Cappuchin priest who bore the stigmata and became a hero to Italian Catholics. For Craig Slavin, the stigmata means that he sported the wounds in his hands, feet and side that were inflicted on Christ during His crucifixion. And yes Craig, I know it wasn't you guys... it was the Italians!

Padre Pio was a priest for 58 years and died in 1968 at the age of 81. He was granted sainthood in 2002 by Pope John Paul II. 

In the latest Italian Religious Power Rankings (IRPR) released last January, Jesus Christ is, as usual, a solid #1, followed by the Blessed Virgin Mary at #2. Padre Pio is in third place right now, far ahead of 4th ranked St. Francis of Assisi and gaining ground on the BVM very rapidly!

Watch out for Padre Pio who some have mistaken for another saint, Pope Pius X. At his current pace he might move into the #2 slot in the next IRPR due to be released in January of 2009.

Yacht Time

While we awaited the outcome of the Bolzano vs. Bologna game Saturday night, we sat around Malibu just watching life sail by.

GO CLAUDIO!

We did schedule a practice for Saturday at 3:00 p.m. and predictably only 18 players showed up.

Instead of the practice we had planned, we turned it over to Brandon Bennett who you may recall hails from San Diego, California. He came up with the idea to play an ancient Aztec inspired ball game that he had researched as a small child (Brandon, small?) as a team building activity.

In an act of extreme diplomacy, Brandon purposely avoided any mention of the loping off the heads of the losers at the end of the game. I hope the Aztec gods will still smile on us despite this flagrant breech of Meso-American etiquette.

Fuzzy Concepts

Apparently it was hard for Brandon to translate the obscure Aztec language into the much more popular Italian we try to speak here. As a result there was some confusion as to what to do if the football suddenly was airborne.

J.J. Interprets

Ever the leader, Jason Johnson stepped in to demonstrate to the other Elephants what to do in case the ball is thrown to you, GO AND CATCH IT!

Mike and Vanessa Tour Pisa

I was greeted by a BEAUTIFUL Thursday morning in Florence as the three of us started the last day of touring Tuscany together.

According to my Garmin GPS, my hotel was located only a short 2.1 miles drive away from their hotel. Their hotel was in a GREAT location, only 3 blocks away from the Ponte Vecchio on the same street as the "road" over the Ponte Vecchio.

Again, it may be the additional tourists renting cars, it may be more public transportation to accommodate the high season, it may be that the people of Florence get out more during summer, it may be the full moon we had the night before, it may be...

Whatever the reason, Florence, the city that my bride Laurie and I maneuvered around so easily last March, is now officially crazy for drivers! It took me 1 hour and 5 minutes to get to their hotel! It had nothing to do with the drivers, although the scooters were as obnoxious as ever, it was all about the high volume of cars and trucks vs. an infrastructure system that is woefully out of date.

The flip side is that Florence is still too darn gorgeous a city to miss under any negative circumstances!

The next leg of the kid's journey called for them to take the train at about noon from Florence to Pisa in order to catch yet another train to La Spezia, "The Gateway to the Cinqueterre". They are staying in the same hotel in Corniglia, the middle town of the Cinqueterre, where I stayed.

Instead of the train ride to Pisa, I volunteered to drive them so that we could both spend some more time together and they could then see more of the countryside and Pisa's famous Field of Miracles. By train, the Field of Miracles would have been a nightmare due to their luggage. 

The happy couple at The Field of Miracles

In the background from left to right, the Baptistry, the Duomo and the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

This red wine was indeed miraculous so we felt it should play a part in our Field of Miracles experience!

A great picnic on the back steps of the Baptistry.

A toast to us!

Is that a ring on Vanessa's finger?

Entertainment

Our picnic entertainment was supplied by these two Italian kids rolling around on the Baptistry's grass area.

Around the Baptistry you will find the only grassy area where people are allowed to walk, sit and eat (NO FRISBEE!!!).

Around the Cathedral, no one is allowed on the grass and signs are clearly posted to that effect in Italian and English only. Many of the tourists who gathered here could either not understand either of these two languages or just ignored the warning signs all together as they stepped over the two foot high chain that acted as a barrier. It was funny to watch two local policemen blowing their whistles and shooing these transgressors in their attempt crackdown on this major crime scene. Fortunately, the people got off the grass after only one or two whistle blasts or the scene could have gotten ugly fast!

OOPS!

We did spill a drop of wine on this step that may now become a footnote to the Baptistry's history.

The inside of the Baptistry was ornate, imagine that!

Please tell me that is not yet ANOTHER gelato!

After saying our goodbyes at the Pisa Centrale Train Station, I decided to take the scenic route on the back roads of Tuscany on my way back to the airport in Florence.

Views like this are everywhere in the Tuscany region.

The town of San Gimignano in the distance.

I was REALLY in Tuscany!

San Gimignano

This is a very interesting town and unfortunately, I was pressed for time to get to the airport so I didn't get enough time to really explore the city but from what I saw, I plan to come back in July during my stay for Siena's Palio horse race.

I wonder if Laurie would like to stay at this Tuscan B&B?

Dinner with Coach Matteo

One of the great people it has been my good fortune to meet in Sicily is Matteo Belfiore.

Matteo took the three of us out to dinner after my long day of driving and flying to the Officina Gastronomica which translates into "The Garage to Repair Your Stomach"! It features great architecture, a very relaxing atmosphere and delicious food!

It is owned by Tiziana Persano's parents. Tiziana, you may recall from earlier posts, is the wife of our WR/Punter Salvo Persano. 

It was great to hear Matteo talk about his entry into American football, the early history of the Elephants and how he for the past 3 years has been translating English language articles on American football into Italian for a football website to help others learn more about the game.

The original Burt Reynold's movie "The Longest Yard" got him going on American football but his favorite American football movie is "Remember the Titans".

We had a wonderful evening, THANK YOU COACH MATTEO!

Meeting Vanessa and Mike in Tuscany

Today is June 6... as in 06/19... as in, 619... as in Ronnie Jenkins... THANKS for the MEMORIES.

Siena

In Florence, the driving was jammed beyond all belief. My favorite was an intersection where 3 streets holding 3 lanes each had to merge into one 3 lane street, that's NINE lanes merging down to THREE. You needed a maestro to make this work more smoothly.

I joined our son, Mike and his brand new fiancee', Vanessa, in Florence and we decided to drive into the hills of Tuscany on Wednesday.

All Roads Lead to the Palio in Siena

Three HAPPY GO LUCKY Wanderers

Time for lunch in a wine cellar in Siena!

Of course we drank some Chianti with our lunch in Siena!

Sea Serpent Light Pole in Siena

Gelato anyone?

They will run the July 2nd Palio in this very same square in Siena, looks peaceful now but you just wait.

St. Catherine of Siena

St. Catherine of Siena Basilica

UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN!!!

Vineyards Galore!

Maybe you are getting tired of the beauty of Tuscany?

We only bought TWO bottles.

Mike pondering all the possibilities...

Reflection

"The Hills Are Alive..."

Young Love

On the Ponte Vecchio in Florence over the Arno River

The Medusa loses her head.

Brunelleschi's Dome in Florence

They appear to be quite happy together here at a late night dinner in Florence at the Trattoria Za-ZA.

MORE WINE, PLEASE!

Is that yet ANOTHER gelato I spy?

The Sicilian Leg of the "Grand Tour" Comes to a Close

Mark and Susie Johnson concluded their whirlwind tour of Sicily this evening but not until they had one more very full day of tasting Sicilian culture.

The Catania Fish Market

The first stop this morning was to drive into the heart of old town Catania near the Duomo to view, smell and hear all that makes the Catania Fish Market famous. As usual, we were not disappointed!

Live snails... YUMMY!

A Tongue, Some Tripe and A Hoof

What more could you want to see in the wee hours of the morning?

Fishermen are WAY COOL!

Lots of Characters are included in this group of Fish Mongers.

I think the silver fish are eels but I could be wrong.

Cool swordfish heads too.

I have really grown to love to eat mussels in Sicily.

Etoile D'Or

After the Fish Market I took them to one of my favorite places to eat in all of Catania, the Etoile D'Or also near the Duomo. With Mark and Susie is Caroline and her husband own this great eating establishment. Most of us had our first real canollo at the Etoile D'Or as soon as we got off the airplane and a fellow Elephant drove us their. 

Caroline is English and her husband is Sicilian, together they have unknowingly made my eating life MUCH better!

EXTORTIONIST!!!

This is one of a legion of men who regularly stand outside Catania's prime downtown parking spot and demand money to watch your car while you are shopping. Extortion is an ugly word but it really fits.

Next stop, the Tenuta San Michele Winery in nearby Santa Venerina to taste their Murgo brand wines.

In the background are the vineyard and the Ionian Sea.

How old could these oak casks be?

You can't take these kids anywhere!

130 Kilos!

After seeing how much I weighed, the owner of the vineyard, Manfreddi Scammacca del Murgo, offered me a job pressing the grapes next fall.

Manfreddi explaining the fermenting process to us.

After the tour of the winery, Manfreddi sat us down in his garden.

LET THE WINE TASTING BEGIN!

The wine exceeded all expectations so I bought three bottles to share with my bride.

Did I fail to mention that Laurie lands in Catania on July 3rd? YAHOO!!!

Now THAT'S a Cork!

Manfreddi claims that one of his brothers came up with this bright yellow cork so that it would be easier to find in the dark. Maybe they were just on sale.

Leone Scammacca del Murgo

Manfreddi's son and the future heir to the Tenuta San Michele Winery.

HEY, Bill Gardner!

The local Rotary Club meets here, you have to love that!

Over 20,000 people visit this vineyard annually and there are over 200,000 bottles stored here in the various stages of aging the wine.

Why is Susie checking out this geological map of Mt. Etna showing the patterns of many lava flows over the centuries?

Maybe Susie was worried about the current lava flow that has caused some burning on the slope of Mt. Etna directly behind the vineyard.

Aci Castello's old Norman Castle in the background.

One last stop for dinner at Dietro le Mura in Aci Castello for pizza with French Fries on it.

BON VOYAGE!!!

The TTT Lines, Catania to Naples Ferry

Earlier this morning, the Johnsons change their minds and decided to board the overnight ferry to Naples. It leaves Catania at 9:30 p.m. and arrives in Naples tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. They purchased tickets to an exterior bedroom so tat they could fully enjoy their voyage.

This ferry ride saved them a lot of money and driving time tomorrow as their original plan was to drive from Catania all the way to Positano on the Amalfi Coast.

As always it was great to see these two old friends who are forever generous to a fault!

Monday in Caltagirone and Cefalu'

Monday saw the dawn of another beautiful and hot (39 degrees Celsius!!!) day in Sicilia. We opted to drive to the ceramics capital of Sicily, the small hilltop town of Caltagirone and then head up to the northern coast of Sicily to one of my favorite Sicilian haunts, the resort town of Cefalu'.

Ceramic Artwork is Everywhere in Caltagirone

They makes young lovers like these two swoon apparently.

Don Quixote meets Mark Johnson

"Unchain My Heart..."

If you ever wondered where the above line from the old Ray Charles hit song came from, the answer is Caltagirone!

On the light poles on this Caltagirone bridge, people in love sign a padlock and pledge their undying love for each other by adding it to one's left by other couples.

In Sicily, old men are always gathering in piazzas to talk about any and everything.

I loved the character in this man's face in Caltagirone.

A Good Vespa Dies Hard...

With a Vengeance!

At Caltagirone's famous Scala Santa Maria del Monte

Note that every step has different tile work.

A quite pleasant looking artisan applying her craft.

It is SO much fun meeting the people of Sicily!

This is Salvatore who owns the 3 story house behind him. He worked for 35 years in Germany to be able to afford this home with a view. Salvatore was a warm and pleasant guy we just ran into as we roamed the streets of Caltagirone.

Scala Santa Maria del Monte Tiles

One of several Catholic Churches in Caltagirone

Reportedly a Bechtel Corporation project in Caltagirone.

BIG SUN TABLE!

Tatting some lace in Cefalu'

The lady on the left is 77 years young while her co-worker is a spry 81!

Some passageways were really not intended for me but I made it!

The Love Couple with Cefalu's Tyrrhenian Sea  in the background.

Sail Away...

Cefalu's Cathedral

The view of Cefalu' from a distance.

At least they ARE pro-union!

Dinner at Nino Mannino's ends a perfect day in Sicilia!

Heather Linderman Ad of the Day

TRANSLATION

Grandma Adelina, 82 years old

Drinks Lilia Water

Make mine a DOUBLE!

Bolzano Giants and the Waiting Game

Sunday marked the last day of our regular season with a home game against the high flying, league leading, 8-0 Bolzano Giants. This was a critical game to keep our slim playoff hopes alive.

Mark and Susie Johnson at the Piazza Duomo

I drove the two of them to breakfast near the Catania Duomo. For good luck, I had them pose by the city's Elephant mascot statue.

Catania EMT's Preparing for the Carnage

Barry Fisher requested a picture of the EMT's at work. Here's to you Barry!

The Officiating Crew for the Game led by "White Hat" Bill Alge from Findlay, Ohio

One of the Italian referees that has worked many of our games and is a real good guy, Gennaro Brancaccio

The Bolzano Game Report

FIRST QUARTER:

Catania scores on a 10 yards Jason Johnson pass to Gregorio Barbagallo, Andrea Mannino adds the PAT, Catania leads 7-0

Catania's Matt Epperson recovers the ensuing onside kick leading to a Johnson to Claudio Mangano TD pass, Elephants 14-0

Bolzano's Reggie Green scores on a 12 yard run, Catania 14-7

Catania turns the ball over on downs as a fake punt pass comes up about a foot short of a first down, Elephants 14-7 at the quarter

SECOND QUARTER:

Bolzano's Reggie Green adds a 29 yards TD run, Elephants lead is cut to 14-13

Catania throws a pass interception

Bolzano's Reggi Green (I'm sensing a pattern here) runs 44 yards to pay dirt, Giants take the lead 19-14

Catania responds with a 62 yard TD pass, Johnson to Epperson, Elephants 21-19

Bolzano is forced to punt

Catania scores on the last play of the half on another Johnson to Epperson 20 yards pass, Catania 28-19

THIRD QUARTER:

Bolzano's Reggie Green Show racks up another TD, this time Reggie goes to the house from 25 yards out on a screen pass, they add a 2 point PAT pass play to cut their deficit to 1 point, Elephants 28-27

Catania turns the ball over on downs

Bolzano's Reggie Green catches a swing pass and turns it into an 18 yards TD, Giants take the lead 35-28

Catania throws an interception

Bolzano finally throws the ball to someone not named Reggie Green and this unknown soldier scores from 8 yards out, Bolzano pushes their lead to 42-28

Catania's Mangano catches a 9 yards TD paas from Johnson cutting the Giants lead to 42-35

Bolzano is forced to punt

FOURTH QUARTER:

Catania turns the ball over on downs

Bolzano scores on a 9 yards TD run by guess who? You are correct if you said Reggie Green, Giants stretch their lead to 49-35

Catania scores on yet another Johnson TD pass, this time to Peppe Strano from 5 yards out, Bolzano 49-42

Bolzano recovers the onside kick and takes a knee.

FINAL SCORE: Bolzano (9-0) 49 - Catania (6-4) 42

GAME NOTES

Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures: As you have probably guessed Reggie Green is a pretty damned good football player! We onside kicked on ALL 7 of our kickoffs and went for it on all of our fourth downs out of respect for his open field running ability in return situations.

Matt Epperson: Matt played for the first time since breaking his ribs at the end of the Parma game forcing him to miss two games. What a gutsy and uplifting performance by the "Pride of Amarillo"!

Now What?: We finished our regular season at 6-4. Bolzano is in first place at 9-0, then it is Bergamo at 7-2, Parma at 6-2, Bologna at 5-3 and Catania at 6-4. Only the top four teams make the playoffs.

This week 9-0 Bolzano plays it's last game at 5-3 Bologna, 7-2 Bergamo plays their season finale at 1-8 Ancona and 6-2 Parma plays the 2-7 Palermo Corsari.

The following weekend Parma and Bologna square off.

Our only hope of extending the season into the first round of the playoffs is for Bologna to lose both of their two remaining games thus dropping their record to 5-5. 

If Bologna wins one of their last two games it will be "Wait Until Next Year!" time since Bologna's win over us would be the tie-breaker if we both finish at 6-4.

If Parma were to lose it's last two games to finish at 6-4, their victory over the Elephants would also be the tie-breaker.

It will be a long two weeks of waiting...WE'LL SEE.

Reggie Green: Out of New York's Siena College, he is EASILY the best RB in the IFL. A very classy, 8 year veteran of the IFL, I loved the way he played hard, acted like he'd been there before and played with a combination grace and old school toughness. After he game he was a real gentleman too. WHAT A GREAT PERSON!

Here I am with our only year long two-way STUDS, Matt and Brandon

Matt and fellow Texan, Ashley Funk, who has been studying in Denmark

They met on the plane from Dallas to London last January.

Enrico Lombardo (#37/#33) joined the "Dorm Boys" and the Fundo Biaco's owner Atilio

Nice fireworks show Atilio, THANKS!

The Coaches and "The Americans"

Pink Elephants on Parade

Ashley, Valeria, Christie and Roberta

Italian Football League Week #12 Results

IFL WEEK #12 RESULTS

 

Parma 20 – Ancona 18

Milan 39 – Palermo Corsari 0

Bolzano 49 – Catania 42

Bergamo 49 – Bologna 21

 

BYE: Palermo Sharks

 

IFL STANDINGS

 

9-0 Bolzano Giants

7-2 Bergamo Lions

6-2 Parma Panthers

5-3 Bologna Doves

6-4 Catania Elephants

2-7 Palermo Corsari

3-6 Milan Rhinos

1-8 Ancona Dolphins

1-8 Palermo Sharks

 

NOTE: The teams owning the four best records at the end of the regular season make the playoffs.

 

IFL GAMES WEEK #13

 

Saturday June 21^st:

Ancona (1-8) at Bergamo (7-2)

Palermo Corsari (2-7) at Parma (6-2)

Bolzano (9-0) at Bologna (5-3)

 

Sunday, June 22^nd:

Milan (3-6) at Palermo Sharks (1-8)

 

BYE: Catania (6-4)

Heather Linderman Ad of the Day

This is an old Heineken Beer ad that I discovered tonight that came out at Halloween time. Whether you are Frankenstein, Count Dracula or Wolfman fan, a Heineken will make your day a little better! 

American's Land More Troops in Sicilian Campaign

Another wave of foreign invaders hit Sicily on Saturday by sea and air. Two of the marauders were Mark and Susie Johnson, no relation to Jason's family, from Seattle, Washington.

I have known them for a long time, Mark since college in 1966! He and I even went skydiving one gorgeous autumn day in 1969, alcohol may have been involved in our decision making process at the time.

Their first stop had to be Mythos

They arrived on a Windjet flight from Rome only 35 minutes late which equals "on time" for this less than reliable airline. They were a little hungry so we went to Mythos in Aci Trezza for their first taste of real Sicilian granita. Mark opted for the strawberry while Susie went for the strawberry-lemon combo. No need to say what I ordered. Throw in some pasteries and our day was off to a good start.

The Johnsons at Malibu

After walking around a little bit, Susie announced that she was hungry due to the fact that she had not felt well the night before and had not eaten dinner. The obvious choice was Al Tubo's for the shrimp and asparagus spaghetti. The only glitch was that Al Tubo was not their to greet them. He was probably at the beach with some of his women.  

Saturday Walk Through Practice for Bolzano

We play the first place, 8-0 Bolzano Giants at home on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. It is our last regular season game although the IFL still has games scheduled for the next two weekends. We appear to be mentally loose for the game.

Before practice some of the Elephants were showing us the new rage in how to wear shorts at the beach this season.

You HAD to be there, I wish I hadn't!

Parson's Project?

We drove up to Taormina after practice. Actually, we drove all the way up to the top of the hill behind Taormina first to the town of Castelmola. You need to know that the building Mark is inspecting is located on the side of a sheer cliff. Needless to say the work may be a little behind schedule.

Castelmola's patron saint is San Giorgio... I love this town!

Do you really want to sit in this chair?

As I said, Castelmola is built on a sheer cliff.

Life is good!

Once we drove back down to Taormina, we found this family enjoying the fountain in one of Taormina's many piazzas.

Dressing Up on a Taormina Saturday Night

It was Saturday night and I got a totally new perspective on this beautiful town.

First, we must have seen at least 10 different brides parading up and down the main street of town.

Next, well over half of the people we saw were VERY dressed up in all the latest Italian fashions. I was impressed! Some of it was probably due to all the weddings but a lot of it was just what you do on the weekends in Taormina according to my source on all things Sicilian, Claudio Mangano.

He can't help staring at a another beautiful bride either!

Gelato

First granita, then Al Tubo's, now great gelato in Taormina. Can it get any better than this?

You would think that Mark is holding my gelato while I take this picture... possibly.

Mark has always liked antiques and a good bargain.

Susie found these ceramic pieces that have my favorite pattern.

Would they fit in my carry-on bag?

Mt. Etna and it's plume

The volcano has been active for weeks now and we could see the lava flow glowing in the night sky on our drive home. We drove up the mountain to get a better look but our camera's zooms were not strong enough to capture a good picture. Still, it was very impressive to the naked eye.

Jonathan's

We decided to drive back to Aci Castello to Jonica's Pizzeria for a late night dinner. The traffic was horrendous! The tourist season is making everything much more difficult. When we finally got to Aci Castello we found Jonica's packed with about 50 people waiting in line for one of their outdoor tables.

We decided to fight even more traffic and go into Catania to the always reliable Jonathan's Pannineria.

As you can tell from the look on their faces, Mark and Susie were pleased to finish their first day in Sicily with such a culinary flourish.

Heather Linderman Ad of the Day

Jim Johnson and I both agreed that this ad at the British Farmacia in Taormina was the clear cut winner from a relatively weak field of choices today.

Taormina and a BBQ

Just another Friday in Paradise. We started our daily adventure by driving to Taormina yet again.

Isola Bella

Is it possible to tire of this beautiful sight? I can keep trying I guess.

Taormina from WAY up on a hillside!

One of many mini-castles in Taormina

Why is he so glad to see me?

Giardini Naxos Celebration of Life

After a hard morning of sightseeing, we retired to Taormina's nearby beach at Giardini Naxos.

Both Jim and I availed ourselves of Linda, one of the Chinese girls who gives "Massgees" on the beach for 5 to 10 euros. we both opted for the 10 euro full body "massagee".

It was money WELL invested, so we celebrated with a gelato. Let's just say that it wasn't our first gelatos of this warm day.

Christian's BBQ

After a quick shower, we were off to our Free Safety Christian DiMauro's home for a small BBQ. Christian's family lives in a beautiful home and they were great hosts.

Roberta

Is it possible to tire of this beautiful sight? I can keep trying I guess.

As the reigning Miss Italy, when does she have to leave for Atlantic City's Miss Universe contest?

Christie trying to attract Christian's dog.

The Sicilian version of a Happy Face

Christian's sister fixed all sorts of pasta, eggplant and meat dishes for our dining pleasure.

Christian and Gilly did some serious BBQing

Pink Elephants gathering energy for a football weekend.

A Night Out in the Aci's

After a very nice day at Malibu for me and at Playa Beach for the Johnson Clan, we migrated to the upper patio for snacks and several bottles of fermented grape drinks as we watched the afternoon melt into evening.

Sooner or later it was bound to happen, someone mentioned dinner. We proceeded to board Jim's roomy VW Golf diesel rental car and headed to Aci Trezza in search of Jim and Holly's first Sicilian late night dining experience. After cruising the hamlet, we decided that the ONLY place for them on this special occasion was really in neighboring Aci Castello at Al Tubo's.

Now I know what you are thinking, didn't you just say in your last post that you had lunch today at Al Tubo's with Bill and Karen Alge? Well, yes I did eat a plate of Spaghetti with shrimp and asparagus sauce, but what's your point, good food is good food!

It is also true that Christie, Jason and I ate dinner at Al Tubo's the night before, with me ordering a delicious plate Spaghetti al Nero.

Giuseppe

As I have stated many times before, the best thing about my Sicilian experience has been the people we have met. At Al Tubo's Ristorante we usually get waited on by our friend Giuseppe seen here with Jim and Holly.

Giuseppe went WAY out of his way tonight once he found out that we had been joined by Jason's parents. After ordering our dinners, the four cheese pizza for me featuring a heavy dose of gorgonzola, Giuseppe started bring us free and completely unanticipated culinary delights.

First he brought out a plate of delicious mussels followed in short order by an order of bruschetta. When our meals arrived he brought out a plate of seasoned potatoes for the ladies to go with their fabulous swordfish. After dinner he brought them two tangy limone sorbettos.

Now some may chalk this up to an incredibly nice man doing what he does. Me, I think he was just trying to weave his magic like Al Tubo has undoubtedly taught him to win the hearts of our two heroines! I saw right through him!!!

We did get to witness Al Tubo's departure in a very large silver Land Rover. In days of yore families would build churches or towers as a sign of power and wealth. Today the size of your chariot fulfills the same societal role. Al is a mogul in these parts! I'm sure he was leaving the ritorante early for a late night love tryst in some romantic beach bungalow.

Young Love in Full Bloom

Father and Son

After dinner we headed back to Aci Trezza in search of another dessert. The Johnson's went for the Nutella crepe at Michael's on the seaside mini-piazza.

Jason dubbed my dining efforts today

"The Sicilian Triple Double"

As for me, my sweet tooth once again craved a cioccolata e mandorla granita at Mythos. What the hell, I went for it! So today I had my favorite Mythos granita at breakfast, lunch and dinner. There is the "Triple" part of the equation.

Of course the "Double" refers to my eating both lunch and dinner at Al Tubo's, unfortunately they are not open for breakfast.

American Invasion

We are now approaching the Ides of June and summer is definitely here.

LET THE TOURIST SEASON BEGIN!

Our First Arrivals are the Johnson's

Holly and Jim are Jason's parents who we all met last Saturday night at the Bologna game. They arrived in Catania at about 1:00 a.m. this morning after visiting Florence and Venice.

Here they are with Christie and Jason at our favorite Aci Trezza hangout, Mythos. They are seen here tasting their first granita and Sicilian cornettos. Jim really liked the Nutella filled cornetto, at least the part that didn't end up on his cheeks. The granita was sensational on a warm Ionian Seacoast morning.

Wedding

After leaving the bliss of Mythos, we walked through Aci Trezza and stumbled upon a wedding at San Giovanni Batista Catholic Church. The bride was radiant as would be expected.

I feel like I'm part of the Papparazzi

Note that I captured Liza Minnelli at the wedding on the far left. The wedding couple must be well connected.

Who is the little boy flashing his gang sign to? What is he trying to do with his right hand?

Why does the limo have California license plates?

Our Final American Referee

Bill Alge and his wife Karen arrived in Catania last night. Bill will be the last of our regular season Mid-American Conference (MAC) referees working in the IFL as part of their great exchange program. Bill will be the fourth American referee to work one of our games.

From Findlay, Ohio, Bill lists being an attorney as his profession. We had the two of them out at Malibu today and then, while the Johnson clan went to the beach, I joined the Alges for lunch.

We drove into Aci Castello to Al Tubo's for a delicious pasta lunch on the terrace overlooking the Ionian Sea.

Big Al Tubo was there himself all decked out as is his want and checking out the ladies eating lunch at his great ristorante... he is the Casanova of Aci Castello!

After lunch we took the short drive into Aci Trezza to go to Mythos. I know, that would be twice in one day for me but what the hell, I HAVE to be a good host! Besides, Bill and Karen have never had granita, I rest my case.

Bill had the coffee and almond, Karen went with strawberry and I was strong in my conviction that the chocolate and almond granita at Mythos is the best I've tasted. If there IS better granita in Sicily, someone please lead me to it!!!

By the way, having a second cioccolato e mandorla granita in one day is NOT harmful to your health according to the Journal of the Italian Medical Association.

I found the Bill and Karen Alge to be good, fun people who were a delight to meet.

Bill has already coached up his Italian counterparts on the nuances of officiating American football. Again, let me say that this spirit of cooperation between the officials of the IFL and the MAC has really been beneficial. I've noticed a marked improvement in the work of the officials since the start of the season and I know that this exchange program is at the core of the strides that have been made!

Claudio Mangano

Claudio "The Sheriff" Mangano

Before...

Claudio is our handsome, devil-may-care, smooth talking Wide Receiver with the gorgeous girlfriend, Roberta. In our game last Saturday night in Bologna during the 1st Quarter, he made a great, bone jarring tackle in the end zone after we threw a 4th down interception.

Unfortunately, it was HIS bones that got jarred, a broken nose to be exact. "Il Naturale" as he is known in the golf world finished the game and even made his seasonal debut at Cornerback in the 4th Quarter! Team mates at our video session tonight told us that he looked MUCH worse yesterday.

...and After

The guy in the background has been stalking me for days now at the beach we frequent. Christie has my back on this one.

Surprising Bologna

I had no preconceived notions about Bologna when we left Catania on Saturday. I found Bologna to be fascinating in it's architecture, culture and cuisine. I'm really glad I spent an extra day after the game exploring this very interesting old city. As it turns out, it may be, in my opinion, the great secret destination place in Northern Italian travel.

I relied on three people as my guides in Bologna and they did not fail me! David Lassen, sportswriter for your Ventura County Star, provided me with some good eating tips.

So did Stefano Mengoli, the Elephants and Blog fan who lives in Bologna. Stefano was also my city tour guide suggesting many interesting places to visit.

Finally, Fodor's 2008 Italy guide book came up with a very interesting place to eat lunch on Monday.

THE STREETS ARE ALIVE

Elegant Arcades

Most of the historic older city of Bologna have these huge arcades for your promenade. I am sure they were built to protect the citizens from the rain and snow of the winters and from the blistering summer sun. An A+ for the architect who came up with this idea. 

Colors

When it comes to earth tones and couples having a romantic stroll, Bologna takes a back seat to no city!

The University of Bologna

If you have ever been to New York City's Manhattan Island you probably came upon New York University. It does not have a college campus in the way that most American's view one in their mind's eye. Instead, NYU is an eclectic collection of buildings spread out all over the lower end of the island.

The University of Bologna, Europe's oldest university founded in 1088, may have been their inspiration for this approach to campus design. Bologna is known as a very liberal, left leaning, a.k.a., Communist, city. The road off the autostrada to the stadium Saturday was even named after Lenin, no, not the Beatle but the leader of the Russian Revolution, one Vladimir Illich Lenin.

The building above is in a beautiful courtyard that houses the Social Science classes for the University. This specific building is for classes in Economics.  

Le Due Torri

These two landmark towers were mentioned in Dante's "The Inferno". They stand side by side in the Piazza di Porta Ravegnana. Every family of importance had a tower built in Bologna as a symbol of their prestige and power. They were also designed as a potential fortress in times of trouble.

The short tower on the left, Torre Garisenda, was built in the late 11th century and tilts 10 feet. For obvious safety reasons, the tower was shortened to it's current heighth of 165 feet in the 1300's.

The taller Torre degli Asinelli built in 1109 is an imposing 320 feet tall! It is also leaning but only 7 1/2 feet off perpendicular.

They are both very impressive when you first see them. So 900+ years after being constructed, I was still impressed by the prestige and power of the families who built them.

The Piazza Maggiore

This is the main square in Bologna late Sunday evening after an early dinner.

 Fontana del Nettuno

Nicknamed "Il Gigante", this imposing Barogue monument to Neptune was built in 1566.

 

The Four Mermaids

At the base of the Fontana del Nettuno are four mermaids with, shall we say, strangely active breasts. Check out the vlog at the end of tis post for a better look at these mermaids and their "girls". 

Il Palazzo Comunale

This is also part of the Piazza Maggiore and is Bologna's Government House.

This is San Petronio himself and to his right is the Basilica that honors his memory.

Il Palazzo Comunale in full view.

I am about to enter the Basilica di San Petronio, note the tables set up to accommodate the soon arriving lunch crowds.

THE CHURCHES

The Basilica di San Petronio

The construction on this Basilica started in the 14th century and it's still not finished. You can still see that most of the marble facade the architects intended is nowhere close to installation. 

This Basilica's story brought new perspective to the famous phrase last January, "You'll have high speed internet at Malibu in 10 working days!"

Basilica di Santo Stefano

This was one of Stefano's main places for me to visit, maybe because it his saint's name. Again, he did not disappoint me with this landmark.

This basilica contains between four and seven connected churches, the authorities on such matters as these can not agree on an exact number. This site was originally a 4th century pagan temple dedicated to the god Iside.

The oldest remaining part of the Basilica is the 8th century Santi Vitale e Agricola component. Strange, it's not shaped like a basketball.

Cortile di Pilato

This is the San Sepolcro component of the Basilica. In front of it lies the Courtyard of Pilate named for the huge basin seen here said to be where Pontius Pilate washed his hands after condemning Christ.

I visited all of the above places thanks to Stefano's recommendations.

EXCELLENT CHOICES STEFANO!

THE FOOD

This is how I would look if I spent a month in Bologna sampling more of their delicious cuisine. 

La Sorbetteria Castiglione

Both David and Stefano recommended the same gelateria, how could I possibly go wrong!

I DIDN'T!!!

Although I generally try the limone gelato as my litmus test in gelateria comparisons, I deviated and tried the Micelangelo for two reasons. First, anything named after THE Master of the Renaissance should equal artistic splendor. Secondly, I'm a sucker for anything made with mandorla, a.k.a., almonds.

While most Italians get two different flavors combined into one cone, I am a purist and only order one flavor at a time. I believe it gives me a better handle on quality, texture and taste. The Michelangelo was INCREDIBLE, one of the very best I have had anywhere in Italy!!!

They also served up what looked like a small bundt cake that they cut in half, filled with the gelato of your choice, closed back up and then handed to the customer to eat on the spot. It looked great but I couldn't, I still had to go to dinner in about 10 minutes.

Yes, I know, but I like to eat my dessert first just in case I have a heart attack in the middle of supper.

STEFANO AND DAVID WERE RIGHT AGAIN!

Ristorante La Capriata

I went with David's pick for dinner and had a fabulous lasagna dinner. The Ristorante La Capriata is located in a very nice courtyard with nice outdoor tables which made for a great evening setting.

GOOD CALL DAVID!

And yes, there WERE pastries to die for!

Ditta A.F. Tamburini

Via Drapperie 1, Bologna, Italy

As I walked down a side street from the Basilica di Santo Stefano to the Piazza Maggiore on Monday I ran into this place by accident. The name was familiar but it wasn't on either David or Stefano's lists.

Suddenly it hit me, I read about this place in Fodor's 2008 Italy guide book that our son Andy had left behind when he and his fiancee Jenn left Rome in April.

Fodor's dedicates an entire page of his guide book, page 383 to be exact, to the regions great taste treat Tortellini. Bologna is nicknamed "The Fat" because it is the birthplace of this delicious pasta. Legend has it that tortellini was inspired by the bellybutton of Venus, the goddess of love. The story goes that a nosy chef of a local inn where Venus and some other gods stopped to spend the night (happens all the time here) peered through a keyhole and caught a glimpse of Venus' perfect navel. He then created a stuffed pasta, tortellini, in its image.

I kind of believe the Pontius Pilate wash basin story a little more than this one, how about you?

Anyway, Fodor's claims that Tamburini is Bologna's best specialty food shop.

I HAD TO TRY IT!

It was great, awesome, inspired and downright good! It was also more than a little warm near the kitchen where the small dining area was located but what the heck, it was worth it!

Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese Wheels

The first thing you see when you enter Tamburini's are these three huge Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese wheels. I have learned to eat this great cheese by the kilo, straight, not grated.

It was the first clue to a good dining experience.

Tamburini's has food hanging everywhere!

Another Happy, Satisfied Customer at Tamburini's

Nothing succeeds like blind luck, GREAT CALL FODOR'S!

STREET ENTERTAINMENT

 

Trio seen at the Piazza Maggiore

I have seen street entertainers all over Europe in the last six months, some good, some not so good.

I think this little trio on a triangle, an accordion and a big drum may be my favorite. They made for a very pleasant after dinner moment Sunday night.

Oh yes, the mermaids at the base of the Fontana del Nettuno are worth a look on this vlog too.

Again, special thanks to Stefano, David and Fodor's for steering me in the right direction over and over again in Bologna!

Heather Linderman Ad of the Day Contest

Two entries today from beautiful Bologna.