Recap of Two Tranquil Days

As I start to write this, Laurie Contreras

arrives in Catania in only

58 hours and 26 minutes!

Even less by the time you read this.

Not too much of note the last two days, on Monday Paul did take off to WALK from Malibu to the American Express office across the street from Jonathan's Panineria which I later measured in our Ford Fiesta at a mere 18 kilometers (just a shade over 11 miles,  "A wee stretch of the legs.") round trip.  Of course, they were closed for their afternnon break when he got there.

Monday night's practice was a physical one as we are trying to fine tune everything for Saturday's season opener in Ancona.  We continue to improve in small steps on defense.

Tuesday we DROVE to the American Express office in the morning.  SURPRISE, they were open!  Afterward we took a stroll up nearby Corso Italia as I wanted to drop in at Lucki's wife Federica's family jewelry store to say hello but she was not at work as of yet.  We spent the rest of the day window shopping and going to a rather large mall complex near Davide's home.

A Fine, Old Mansion on Corso Italia

Is there anything better than a capuccino and a pastry at mid-morning, sitting at a busy sidewalk cafe' anywhere in Europe?

You're right, having Laurie there would upgrade the situationt for sure.

This statue sits in front of a Catholic Church on Corso Italia

I'm guessing it doesn't get young children fired up about going to Mass at this particular House of Worship... scary!

"Il Padrino" I, II, and III

"The Godfather" parts I, II and III on sale here in Sicily for only 9.90 Euros each.  Can you believe that Claudio Mangano, a.k.a. Michael Corleone, has never seen ANY of these three Classics of American Cinematography (OK, III isn't as good as I and II so maybe it is not in the "Classic" category).

Move over Cronies!

At Cronies Sports Grill in Camarillo, California they have a much smaller version of this machine where the claw drops down into the stuffed toys and hopefully scoops up a winner.

Here the machine is life sized with huge toys waiting to be plucked out to freedom.

Our gentleman seen here failed on his one attempt... HEARTBREAKING!

Our last hard practice for Ancona is tonight.

Thursday evening we will all be part of the 2009 Elephants Presentation at the Hotel Le Dune where we will meet with the local media, sponsors, boosters and friends of the team.

Friday evening will be a light walk-through practice.

Finally, on Saturday morning at 6:50 a.m. we fly on Wind Jet, "The Official Airline of the Catania Elephants", to play the Dolphins in a 1:00 p.m. kickoff in the Adriatic Sea coast town of Ancona.

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!!