The Farewells Have Begun

On Saturday evening, we went to Piano D'Api, the part of Acireale where my parents lived for their first three years in Sicily. We swung by our old landlord's house to say hello and good bye. We only intended for a quick visit but ended up staying for over an hour chatting and playing with their gatto (cat). Luciana, Rossana, Alfio and Pepe are very kind people and are always so accommodating. Within minutes of being in their home, Luciana and Rossana were feeding me cookies and ice cream. My dad mentioned that I loved pasta so on a whim Luciana whipped up a batch of farfalline with olive oil and parmesan cheese and both her and Rossana fed it to me and I gobbled it down like I've never eaten before.

After my impromptu pasta dinner, we went to Josie's house to bid farewell. Josie and her husband Salvatore, who sadly died last year, lived next door to my parents and immediately took my parents in as family. My parents spent every holiday, birthday and Sunday family dinner with Josie and her family. Despite the language barrier, we always laugh a lot with this family. We will miss Nora, Tony, Josie, Alessio & Emanuele and hope they will visit us in America.

Before heading home, we stopped by our old neighborhood pizza place Antica Pizzeria and got the Focacce Diavola, which is baked Italian bread with tomato, mozzarella cheese, spicy salami, oregano, olive oil and pepper tucked inside—oh, so delicious.