This morning, I woke up after a great night sleep and jumped in the shower. Nonna and Nonno have a typical Barbie sized shower like the one in my apartment in Rome, but at least it stayed constantly warm. My shower in Rome decides to stay hot for like one minute and then goes to freezing. Oh how I miss my shower at home.
Nonna laid out a delicious breakfast of toast with orange jam, breakfast cookies with Nutella, coffee, and Sciacca cookies. After breakfast, Zio Nino came and picked up me and Nonno and he drove us around Sciacca. First we went to Basilica San Calogero al Monte on top of a volcano in Sciacca. It is a beautiful basilica filled with many statues and beautiful paintings. Nonno said it was his favorite church. You could see all of Sciacca from the top of the volcano. It was an amazing view! After we finished in the church, Nonno and Zio Nino took me to a Vapor Room under the basilica called Grotte Vaporo e del Mont Kronio. People can go into it and sit in these hallowed out rooms to cleanse themselves with the volcanic vapors. Zio Nino and I walked into the rooms and it was so hot inside! I was sweating instantly and could hardly breathe. We didn’t stay in for too long at all! Then, Zio Nino drove us to a museum called Castello Incantato. It was the old house of a man named Filippo Bentivegna. He was an Italian who was born in Sciacca but wasn’t all with it upstairs. He lived alone all of his life and carved different faces into rocks and placed them around his property. He had a huge property, so there were probably thousands of stones everywhere! He saw these stones as his subjects, and himself as the King. It was pretty neat to see. Nonno kept looking at the stones and saying, “This guy – he crazy!” Then, we saw a stone with a pink colored face and Nonno looked at it and said, “Pink? What this guy thinking?” I was getting some good laughs out of his comments!
After the museum, Zio Nino kept driving us through town to the Basilica di Santa Maria – a basilica dedicated to the Blessed Mother who protects the sailors. Nonno told me all about the basilica and we walked around inside. The next church we went to was Santa Maria del Carmine. It was another church dedicated to the Blessed Mother. It had a beautiful baptistery and some of their parishioners were setting up the Nativity Scene in church in preparation for Christmas. Zio Nino then drove us to the church of St. Peter near the port of Sciacca. As we drove through town, there were many people shopping at markets, tiny groups of old men sitting around smoking and chatting – a normal Saturday morning. The Church of St. Peter was small, but served as a marker in the port for all of the fishermen. It was beautiful inside and had many depictions of St. Peter’s life. It was awesome to see. Then, Zio Nino drove his car out on the breakwater dock in the port. We got a panoramic view of Sciacca which was completely beautiful and also a nice view of the sea. I took tons of pictures. Nonno was so proud to show me Sciacca and kept making me breathe in and out everywhere we stopped to “Take in the fresh, fresh air!” “Isn’t that beautiful air, Tim? Just beautiful!”
Nonno then showed me the statue of the Blessed Mother in the port who watches over and blesses all of the sailors – Santa Maria del Soccorso. It was a big white Statue at the end of a dock in the harbor. Beautiful location. The port smelled like fish. I wasn’t too fond of the smell, but Nonno loved it! Nonno then showed me the fishing boat of his nephew Salvadore which was docked in the harbor. Salvadore was on board the boat and came to say hello. He had a big white and green boat named N. Tremiti. Zio Nino drove Nonno and I back to the apartment because we were ready for lunch!
Nonna was waiting back at the apartment with a smile on her face. She quickly started preparing lunch, and Nonno got the pre-meal snacks out on the table. Bread, olives, cheese, and dried sausage. Nonna first served pasta with cooked broccoli. It was absolutely delicious and I couldn’t stop eating it. Then, she served chicken glazed with lemon and garlic and potatoes on the side that she made. They are mashed potatoes formed into tiny balls and breaded then baked. They are so good! After lunch, Nonno and Nonna talked on the phone to their son Charlie, Marianna’s father. I talked to him for a bit and he wished me the best of time in Sicily. He’s such a nice man – always pleasant and kind. It was nice to talk to him and tell him what I had seen around Sciacca that morning. Nonno and I watched soccer this afternoon and then we Skyped for a little bit with Scotty and Marianna.
Nonno went up the block and got pizza for us for dinner. When he came back and Nonna saw the size of the box she looked at him and said, “Mamma Mia! Such a biga box!” The pizza was really good, and it was a great dinner. Nonno was watching soccer all night. I watched with him and Nonna did some crossword puzzles. Nonno got really into the games and was yelling at the TV. He was yelling in Italian, so I didn’t really pick up most of what he said. I have a suspicion that he was saying naughty Italian words that I don’t know because Nonna kept looking at him and saying, “Michele, shush!” And then would smile at me and continue with her word puzzle. At one point, Nonna really got into the action too. The team we were cheering for was down a point and it looked like they were about to score, so Nonna cheered. All of the sudden, the ball curved and it missed the goal and Nonna went, “Oh shit!” Then she covered her mouth and started laughing and I joined right in! It was a great night. Nonno brought out coffee and cookies during the game and we all has a late night snack. Before I went to bed, I tried to teach Nonna how to play Solitaire on her computer. She was having some difficulties, but was getting the main concept of it. As I closed my bedroom door, I heard her say, “Brava!” so I knew she had made a match on her cards.
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