Christmas in Sicily

8:00-9:00: Family stirred gradually, dozed until we decided as a group that it was an appropriate time to rise.
9:00-10:15: Dressed in our specially designated 'nice' Christmas outfits, packed up room and headed to meet with relatives around the corner. (Note: this portion of the day's activities was accompanied by a soundtrack of 80s pop music, as this was the only English language we could find on the TV.)
10:30: Checked out of B&B and arrived at designated meeting point at the agreed hour of half past ten.
10:30-11:15: Sat in the car waiting for the rest of our traveling party to arrive. When we went to Vanuatu we learned about the idea of 'island time'; slightly more relaxed and less strict on deadlines. It appears Sicilian time is fairly similar.
11:30-12:30: Drove from Syracuse to the restaurant and hotel where we would be having lunch and staying for two nights. Lovely location in the hills just north of Ferla, the hometown of our grandfather and his family. Beautiful views. It is immediately startling obvious that Sicily has amazingly different geological features than we are accustomed too.
1:00-3:30: Lunch. More courses than you can imagine consisting of: antipasto, penne al forno, ricotta ravioli with hazelnut and mushroom, crumbed ham involtini, veal scallopine, ricotta tartlettes and cannoli, topped off with birthday cake for our great aunt whose 80th birthday was in the last couple of weeks. Much food was eaten, much conversation was held and much fun was had.
3:30-4:30: Departed from family for a short time to check into hotel and change, then met the clan back in Ferla at the old family house. Our grandfather and his siblings were all born in the same bed, in the same room which both still exist, and spent much of their childhoods playing in the surrounding streets.
(Sidebar: 'Stories from Salvatore' - tales told by our grandfather. When he was a child, the streets were occupied mainly by horses and donkeys. The donkeys in particular would become familiar with where their home was, and their owners could often fall asleep whilst riding them back froma long day in the fields, confident the donkey would just continue until it reached its destination. Our grandfather and his friends learned that if they made a certain sound, the donkeys would stop abruptly. So this became a game; wait until the riders fell asleep, stop the donkeys by making the sound and watch as the passengers went flying forward.)
4:30-7:30: Explored the house, wandered the local streets and chatted with the family. Saw more Christmas lights which seem to be a compulsory feature of European streets but which are always beautiful.
7:30-9:00: Said our goodbyes to the family (some of whom are returning home to Greece tonight and so we won't be seeing them again) and headed back to the room for some bread and cannoli for a makeshift dinner. Looking forward to a full day of exploring the sights and learning the stories of Ferla tomorrow.


Alison