Lazy Saturday in Sciacca . .
. . . well . . . kind of!
April 8
This morning I wake up to the coo of doves and a little street noise - and it’s Saturday in Sciacca. I don’t have much planned today – EXCEPT a visit with Guiseppe Graffeo (who we believe to be a close relative) and I’ve decided to take it a bit easy. Truth be told, I’m finding I need to pace myself. Travel for this long is exhausting and I am sure that I didn’t really think about that when I set up my itinerary . . so I’m forcing myself “to pace”.
I take my time getting out of bed & turn on the news. I don’t think I’ve mentioned it, but it’s really hard to get English speaking channels here – so I’ve been without TV (which is fine) and news (a little less tolerable since the election when I became an absolute news junky). Besides, I wanted an update on the terror attack in Sweden which broke while I was buying deodorant (10 Euro deodorant!) in the farmacia yesterday. So my choices are BBC Worldwide (but it’s morning so they’re doing fluff pieces on the artificial intelligence devices like Amazon’s Alexis) and Fox News (now, this if painful, but it’s still Friday night in the US and I’m getting the evening feed live). So, I got my news peppered with conservative commentary – but heck, I can do my own interpretation!!
I get out of bed & take my time primping in the bathroom (Scott would love how long I took – really) and get dressed. I go downstairs to have some breakfast. I find a tray of yummy baked goods and two things filled with pistachio curd or cream (not sure what the technical term is, but I could swim in this stuff). I opt for the cornetto (croissant) because I had the donut looking one yesterday – and some pineapple, kiwi & strawberries that are all sprinkled with (you guessed it) pistachios! The nice gal makes me some English breakfast tea and I finish up with a carton of yogurt & some more fruit. Pretty happy indeed! (Honestly, I would have had another cornetto, but I’m going to hit the pasticceria this afternoon to stock up on biscuits (cookies).
I go back to my room, brush my teeth and try to get onto ancestry.com to attempt to find a little more about Graffeo family – but find the internet is not cooperating (what a surprise)! I decide to just relax on my balcony in the sun, as it’s about 66 degrees already and the sky is clear.
**Note – it’s 1:20pm now and I’m writing this sitting on my balcony and I just heard (and saw) a horse pulling a cart down the “marble & cobblestoney” street. Funny! It is Palm Sunday tomorrow – and the town is in prep mode for this big Catholic celebration. I’m pretty sure the horse & cart had something to do with that!
About 10:20, I go downstairs to find Rosy & Michele (my ancestry peeps) waiting for me & Senore Graffeo – who arrives promptly at 10:30 and he is a cutey (reminds me SO much of my grandpa Rafello).
The next hour is wild!! This Guiseppe Graffeo goes by the nickname of Pippo. Pippo is talking a mile a minute in Sicilian and he’s got all kinds of family lore. Rosy is translating as fast as she can for me! We show Pippo the family tree and he gets excited to see the Graffeo’s and the Sclafani’s and says “they are all cousins”! Rosy focuses him on the Graffeo side and he starts to make notations. It sounds like there’s a good possibility that this guy is closely related. His grandfather Accursio may have been a brother of Antonino (my great grandfather) or at the very least a first cousin. Accursio lived on the same street that both of my great grandparents did as well (Vicino San Lorenzo). He knows about some of the relatives going to America and even remembers stories of some . . he wants to know the names of the children of Antonino (Tony) & Calogera (Linda) and starts to laugh at all the “Americanized names” . . . even the “Rafello” change makes him smile & laugh!
Next he talks about the great Graffeo’s – and the fact that they were Greek. We all apparently come from this Graffeo patriarch (can’t remember his nickname, but it translated close to “Papa of All”) and he built a castle in Partanna in the province of Trapani (I’ll go next week to see it). According to Pippo, Graffeo’s are all short, ARTISTIC, smart & important. The ones that went to American became very successful – the fisherman that stayed here are no longer poor – and most have gone on to be great artists & doctors. While a huge majority of those still in Sicily live in Sciacca, there are Graffeos spread all over the island. He’s added me to a facebook page called “Graffeos Around the World”. And get this – they are having a big Graffeo Family Reunion this August at Partanna Castle – to meet each other & EAT! So Rafello’s – who wants to come???????
Rosy told Pippo we had some challenges with the lady at city hall records yesterday and it turns out that he works kind of with city hall – so he has connections. He’s picking me up on Monday morning on his way to work to take me in there to ask for some favors. Hopefully, I’ll get a little farther with Senora Ventimiglia!!
How exciting - Pippo - a new family member in Sicily!! Here’s a picture of Pippo & me . . .
I return upstairs and do a little email & just laze in the sun – as I wait for the noon hour to pick up my laundry. I walk to the Lavanderia and a little girl greets me. I say “Ciao” and ask if Lina is here? She runs back to find her Mom; her name is Sara. Lina tells me that Sara is just starting to study English in school – but everything I say to Sara just makes her stare at me like I’m some sort of alien. I ask her if English is hard and she just looks at me – like “why are you talking to me in English”. I say “grazi mille” to Lina, grab my 11 Euro laundry (great deal!) and I’m off.
As I walk up the stairs, I’m thinking I’m a bit hungry. There’s cold pizza from last night in the fridge but I see a little shop that has fresh fruits & veggies. I need water – so I go in. They have cheese & bread too – why not? I grab a .255 kilo piece of prima sale with pepperoncino (a young cheese – pressed but made only 6 days ago – with red pepper flakes) and a loaf of really good sesame bread & two 2 liter bottles of water – TOTAL: 4.10 Euro. When I return to the B&B, I hit the balcony and eat about 1/3 of the cheese & bread and a cold piece of last night’s pizza. I think about opening a bottle of wine – but I’m going to write – so I’ll hold off until tonight. Besides, I’m going to need to hit the pasticceria for those sweets and more than likely will need an afternoon gelato – so I’ll hold off eating more. **The post picture is my lunch buffet!
Back to writing . . .
3:55pm and I’m still writing – but I have gotten 2 messages from Pippo. He says on Monday evening he’s presenting the Nobel Family of Graffeo’s coat of arms at the Rotary . . very important indeed. He adds – he’s set up a meeting for me for Monday morning with the Minister of Culture who will help me with the family search – this guy’s got connections – he can even set up meetings on Saturday! I’ve just spent the last 20 minutes downloading & configuring Google Translator for offline use so I can communicate with this important minister, not waste his time, and really find out more about the family. All GREAT!
Time for a break. . . off to pastry shop for afternoon treats!
A 6 minute walk through the old streets of Sciacca and I find Pasticceria Gelateria Dolci Sapori . . damn, it’s closer than I thought (too easy to go back every day!). They don’t really have biscuits, but do have all these gorgeous treats and . . well, I did say I wanted to load up. I go for a piece of cassata cake, two canoli, a pistachio thing & another tart looking thing. Of course, the gelato is calling & it’s after 4pm – so it’s OK to have one before dinner. I go for strawberry (I usually am a nut woman -but heck, gotta go with the pink today) and I wonder why I’ve stayed away from my favorite childhood flavor (used to eat JUST the strawberry in the neopolitan ice cream) for so long. It is INCREDIBLE. I walk back to the hotel slowly (but trying to avoid fast cars coming at me on the narrow streets) completely enjoying my cone. I decide to take the long way back, winding through old streets & alleys to “work off” the gelato and the pastries I’m sure to be eating later. All that cost me a mere 6 Euro . . don’t you love the food prices in Sicily?? I do!
I come back & call Scott on Viber. We do some book work, catch up on what he’s been doing at the house, and talk about my visit with Pippo this morning. I turn the camera on my gorgeous hotel room, balcony AND the sweets – and decide to enjoy one of the canoli on his behalf (with him watching). He’s jealous and says it’s time to eat some breakfast. Then I Viber with Amy and share the Pippo story with her too.
Around 7pm, I’m thinking about, “thinking about dinner” – but I’m just not hungry. Maybe that canolo filled me up? I know I need some vegetables – but I just can’t bring myself to eat dinner.
I decide to meditate on the balcony with the sun setting and find it one of the best I’ve had on my trip.
I come back in & do a little more writing and realize it’s close to 9pm and determine, I’m just not going to go out this evening to eat or do anything else.
Mom checks in on my message earlier regarding Pippo – and I give Mom & Dad a quick call (using real cell phone minutes) and give them an update about this morning & the update about the minister of culture and they are thrilled! They also are flabbergasted at how much Pippo looks like my Dad’s father and his brothers. Family indeed!
So – I’m going to sign off now and watch the Tonight Show. Yes, finally found something in English and it’s got Jay Leno co-starring or guest-starring or whatever. He & Jimmy together will quench my thirst for English.
I think I’ll put on some pajamas, watch the boys, and eat the piece of cassata for dinner! Why not? I watched a 6 year old kid eat an entire Nutella pizza for dinner last night. Dessert for dinner? If it’s good enough for the kid, it’s good enough for me!
**Note to Alex & Sienna: I know what sugar addicts you both are – and I’m sorry you’re not here to share all these treats with me. We’d be eating gelato & pastries all day – every day! Miss you guys 😊
