Sicily One

And so it ends. Good bye, Taormina! What's left of the Sicily Seven is just me, solo io, killing time in a lovely, friendly hotel in noisy Catania (La Vetreria),
waiting for my all-day journey back to Boston.

Being here, suddenly alone,is strongly reminiscent of a long flight I took once when I was 19-years old, from Amsterdam to Boston via Icelandic Airlines. The flight was delayed out of Amsterdam and I was directed to a small hotel in the city to spend the night--the loneliest 18 hours I think I've ever spent. But I was young, and scared and dying to get home. Now I'm not so young but impatient and still dying to get home--some things never change (fortunately!).



But this morning I had a wonderful breakfast in the hotel's homey dining room, something all the others (the Sicily 6) missed since they had to leave this morning at 5:00 AM to catch their 7:00 AM flight to Rome, then Boston. It was quite a buffet as you can see--eggs, cereals, prosciutto, breads, pastries, yogurt, juices, 3 kinds of cakes (tutti fatta in casa)!!!


The hotel staff here is charming, English-speaking and very helpful. Both the hotel concierge, Alda Lo Bianco and the hotel chef, Rita Pantino, have agreed to send me the recipe for Rita's delicious Sicilian Orange Cake. Rita is planning to start a cooking school at the hotel. Guests will shop in the Catania markets for the ingredients and return to the hotel (or to another kitchen location) and prepare the recipes. I hope to have more information about this new venture soon. Here is a picture sent to me by the hotel of Rita displaying her ricotta muffins and her orange cake, yummmm--recipe to follow soon!


But now I have a taxi and a plane to catch, and hopefully a husband waiting at the other end.

Arrivederci Sicilia! Spero ritornaremo.