Thoughts of Far Away

For some crazy reason as I watched the Sant' Agata Parade today and then walked down Via Umberto, my mind wandered to thoughts of home.

Why did this box in a store window make me think of Andy and Jenn?

I saw this football player statue in Gregorio's bedroom and thought of Vanessa for some strange reason.

A Panda and Spiderman...

oddly they made me think of our two boys, Andy and Mike

Who is the World's Biggest Tweety Bird Fan?

Why none other than one Laurie Contreras, that's who!

It is funny how your mind can associate things with the people you care about.

Never did see a travel poster to Dubai...

Sant'Agata Parade 2009

Today marks the second of the three days of festivities in honor of the Patron Saint of Catania, Sant' Agata.  The main event today is the parade of the various incredibly heavy candelaria that are carried all over the city by teams of guild workers.  Each candelaria is sponsored by a particular group such as for example, the bakers guild.

Thousands of Large Votive Candles 

These are being sold all over the parade route and are lit in honor of Sant' Agata.

Piaggio Decorated With Traditional Sicilian Art

The owner of this one set up a BBQ grill just a few feet away and did his variety of grilled meats ever smell good! 

A Typical Candelaria...

... and Another

Up Close and Personal

These Faithful Dressed in White Pull the Sant' Agata Cart All Over Catania.

Here She Is, Sant' Agata's Official Cart

LET'S ROLL!

A Carabinieri in his Sunday Best

Let's Take a Closer Look at Sant' Agata

As much fun as the parade is, it is the people in the greater Elephant family that stole the day again for me.  First, the Barbagallo family for having us all over to their home with this fantastic second story balcony view of all the happenings.  Thank you Bruno, Katerina and Gregorio.

Secondly, what a GREAT food-fest was served due to the hard work of the Lady of the House!  Another thank you to Katerina!!!

Finally, thanks to the Elephants, Pink Elephants and their friends who make every social gathering an event.

The Billiard Room

This is a really cool room that has been the scene of some great billiard matches when I've been to the Barbagallo's with Bruno usually taking home the honors.

"RACK "EM UP!"

The Usual Suspects

Gelato On Wheels, NOW YOU'RE TALKING!

Larry Goes High Tech

No Claudio, that is NOT the newest style from Under Armour

Gus... a Boy and His Pig Ball

Thoughts of Calcio Catania Are Never Too Far Away

A is for Agata

The Traditional White Costume That Men Wear on Parade Day

As you can readily see, "Chicks Dig It!"

Life is Always Good when You Have a Balcony View

I Wonder If They Have Anything REALLY Good to Buy Here? 

Candelaria Run, You Have GOT to Move!

Team Work Is Huge On This Day!

 

The Man Yelling Is Exhorting the Faithful to Swear Their Love for Sant' Agata!

PULL!

Remember, the people in white will drag Sant' Agata's Cart all over Catania, NOT EASY!

It was a truly GREAT day in Catania this February 4th!

It is NOT all fun and games...

While many of this blog's readers tell me how much they enjoy the Sicilian adventure, and it truly is one, it at times is difficult here for a non-Sicilian reason.  Simply put, I miss my family and friends.  Examples you ask...

Jenn Gross and Andy Contreras

Seen here at Husky Stadium last season to watch the University of Washington be humbled by a very average Notre Dame football team in game played on a gorgeous fall day.

They both live in Las Vegas and today, Wednesday, February 4, 2009, they are getting legally married by "Elvis" at one of those wedding chapels that dot the city.

Laurie is flying out this morning to witness it.  Now, I know that this ceremony is, in their minds, for U.S. legal purposes primarily and that the celebration of their union that they really care about will take place on the sand in Cancun, Mexico in ten days on Valentine's Day.  I also know that I will be flying to Cancun next week to be there for their special day.  Nonetheless, I don't feel good about not being there for them today.

The "King" will have to cover for me.

Who are those people and where do they shop for clothes?

CONGRATULATIONS,

Mr. and Mrs. Contreras

Speaking of Valentine's Day

For probably over 20 years now, a group of us who attended the University of Washington get together near Valentines Day for dinner at one of our homes on an annual rotating basis.  It is always a night I look forward to because it is a night of retelling stories, lots of laughs and really good friendship with people we don't see anywhere near often enough.

Last Saturday night was the 2009 edition of this fun event and I could not attend.  Above is Laurie with Mike, Peter and Paul.  THREE GREAT GUYS!!!

At Last September's Make-up Valentines Day Party

Laurie, Joanne, Sherlyn and Susan

Laurie didn't send me a picture of the ladies that I liked from last weekend's get together, so here is one from the party at our house that was postponed for seven months because I was in Sicily.

How can the four of us have been so lucky to get these FOUR WONDERFUL LADIES to say yes?

Bottom line is that I miss all of you back in America more than you know!  Maybe even Caleb Litten too.

Italian Electrical System

The approach to electricity here is quite different than in the U.S.  In America we have two pronged plugs or the same two prongs with a third grounding prong, that's it, finito.

Only a small part of the issue.

In Italy electric plugs are in their Renaissance phase with the prong system quickly becoming a free-form artistic style unto itself.

Above note the top two three prong set-ups.  Note that on the left, the three prongs are much wider and thicker than the three on the right.  Of course, they are not interchangeable.

The black cord below is a two prong, narrow gauge, thick pronged model.  The two pronged models also come in narrow gauge, thin and in wide gauge, thick and thin.

What does this all mean?  Simply that it is hard to find the right plug to fit into the right wall socket making the search for electrical power akin to the search for potential oil fields offshore California.  It is possible to find this energy source but not without a great deal of work.

Travel Updates

Our QB, Luke Tracy, is due in Wednesday night from California.  He is coming by way of Rome so he should have no trouble getting into Catania.

As for our defensive line coach, Paul Petrich Jr., he is still trying to ride out the worst snowstorm to hit London in two decades according to the London Times.  The mayor of London said that this storm did what the Nazis failed to do in World War II, i.e., shut down the entire public transportation system of the city.  It looks like Paul, who was due in on Monday, won't get into Catania until Friday night.

Paul Petrich Jr.'s Arrival Stalled Over the British Isles

Paul Petrich Jr.

Seen here at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to watch his alma mater, the San Pedro H.S. Pirates (12-1) battle the Narbonne H.S. Gauchos (12-1) for the 2008 Los Angeles City Football Championship last December.

Paul's Pirates pulled off a miraculous 55 yard drive with 27 seconds remaining in the game.  With one second left in the game and the ball now resting on the Gaucho's 15 yard line, the Pirates "won" the game 21-21 on a diving TD catch in the end zone.  No tie breaker, so the two schools were declared Los Angeles City Co-Champions.

Paul was supposed to arrive in Catania tonight to start coaching our defensive linemen but severe winter weather has struck London.  As a result his plane had to land in Cardiff, Wales about 130 miles from London.  British Air transported him by bus to London but his connecting flight to Catania was either long gone or cancelled due to the weather, I'm not sure which.

The next scheduled flight on British Air to Catania is on Wednesday and he is on a standby list for it.  If he can't get on that flight then he is confirmed for the Friday flight.

Unfortunately, his cell phone is not working properly so we are reduced to communicating by e-mail when he can get to an internet cafe.

Fortunately Paul is a VERY seasoned European traveler so I'm sure he will get through this dilemma.

The saga continues...

Super Bowl XLIII Monday

There is nothing quite like the NFL's version of the Super Bowl when you are in Italy.  First we met for dinner at about 9:00 p.m. Sunday night to warm up for the game.  The meeting place was a very cool restaurant called "Yoghi & BooBoo" serving worldwide cuisine.  I went with the Mexican salad... interesting but good.  They did serve a REALLY fabulous cheesecake for dessert or so I'm told.

After dinner we picked up a new member of the greater Elephant society, Denver Wade.  Denver is a Junior offensive lineman at Wabash College in Indiana and is involved in a one semester, study abroad program through Duke University which is based in Catania.  Denver is from California and graduated from Lowell H.S. in San Francisco.  We are hoping that his schedule will allow him some time to help coach the Elephants' offensive linemen.

We then went to WR Gregorio Barbagallo's home to watch the game with about ten other people in attendance.

A bit of Fabio, Denver, Roberto, our host Gregorio and Gustavo

The game actually kicked off at about 12:30 a.m., MONDAY morning, February 2nd.  We were pumped up and ready.  It was about 50-50 as to who people thought would win it.  I picked Arizona 28-21 in our BWIN sponsored, in-house gambling syndicate.  Larry Atkinson and Giulio Romano split the 10 Euro Mega-Jackpot!

Then Larry said, "No Gus, it's the SUPER Bowl not the ORANGE Bowl."

At half time, Gregorio brought out a DELICIOUS potato and Mortadella dish that his Mother, Katerina, made for us while we discussed the Steelers' 100 yard interception return on the last play of the half that was a huge 14 point swing in the game.  As we stretched our legs and ate, out game the fruit including an interesting one that looks life a football in shape and size, is visually a lemon but tastes nothing like one.  It was very good and I believe they said it was called a citron.

Now was it just me or were you a little bothered by Bruce "The Boss" Springsteen's performance at half time.  Now don't get me wrong, I love his music but I was really worried for his health and safety on some of his moves on stage.  He looked a little stressed doing some of his usual antics but what the heck, black IS slimming.

The fourth quarter proved to be as good as it gets and made for a great end to the very long night as the Pittsburgh (or as Giulio refers to them "Pizza-Burger") Steelers rallied for a 27-23 victory, their 6th in the Super Bowl, over the Arizona Cardinals.  The game ended at 4:15 a.m., Catania time.

One great thing about the Super Bowl in Sicily is that all the pre-game AND the entire game is commercial free.

Now the flip side is that the telecast offers none of the highly anticipated U.S. commercials and the announcers speak Italian only.  For a taste of what it is like click on the vlog above.

Paul Petrich Jr., who will coach our defensive line, arrives today at 6:15 p.m.  The season is upon us.

A Rainy Day in Palermo

While the Elephant Front Office met with a group of now retired veteran Elephants about the organization and future direction of Sicily's only Serie A Italian Football League franchise, I was volunteered to drive Pony's son, Eduardo, and Davide, a rookie running back, on a two hour drive to Palermo to learn the ins and outs of the IFL's new computerized statistics reporting system.  We left Catania at 8:00 a.m. and after their grueling five hour training session arrived back in Catania at about 5:30 p.m.

Eduardo in blue with his back to us on the left and Davide to his right.

What to do for the five hours of their training session?  That's easy, Palermo has the most famous Catacombs with the most mummies on the entire island!

CHIUSO!!!

The sign says that the Catacombs are closed EVERY Sunday through March 31st.  Of course today is Super Bowl Sunday.

I'm feeling more and more like a frustrated Howard Carter every day.

No problem, there are still a lot of interesting things to see in Palermo, Sicily's largest city.

HUGE door, I wonder what's behind it?

The ornate Porta Nuova

Two GREAT mustaches on these statues that are part of the Porta Nuova

Via Vittorio Emanuele

Go to any Italian city that has more than one street and I'll bet you that one of them is named in honor of Vittorio Emanuele, the first king of a unified Italy in 1860.

Cool Coat of Arms

Check out the boots on this fellow.

Palermo's Cathedral

Our Lady of the Assumption

Hey, Assumption is my Mom's name!

Yet another great Duomo

Quattro Canti

A very cool intersection where all four corners have facades similar to this one.  These date from the 1600's.

Fontana Pretoria

Built between 1552-1555 by a Tuscan sculptor named Francesco Camilliani, it was nicknamed "the fountain of shame' due to all of the nude statues.  How times have changed.

An AWESOME beard at the Fontana Pretoria

"I DO NOT KNOW"

There are some strange customs at the West end of Sicily it turns out.

Next up for the Elephants is Super Bowl Monday, yes, kickoff is at 12:20 a.m., Monday, February 2nd local time.

HAPPY GROUNDHOG'S DAY!!!

Heather Linderman Ad of the Day Contest

Yes, it's back for another year, the oh-so popular Heather Linderman Ad of the Day Contest.  Be sure to vote often.

Apparently all the years on the road have really gotten to Paul Stanley

This one is for you Vanessa and no, it did not get me to go on this amusement ride.

My choice, of course, but I will be flying to Andy and Jenn's wedding in Cancun when they perform "CUBA - The Musical".

I think they are trying to get you to buy the necklace.