Sunday, February 26, 2006

GINGER TEA, MOJITOS, DEEP FRIED GRAPES, AND CINNAMON CHOCOLATE

Writing about this trip seems a monumental task. Normally, ideas buzz around inside my head, forming and re-forming groups of ideas, and all I have to do is write them down. But this trip is different. It was so varied that when I thought of any unifying themes, all I could think of was the thrill of discovery of some of the things we saw and did. Like the elements of this title, there are always things that one experiences that are new. These all happen to be culinary, but they are some of the strongest experiences I take back to Sicily with me (and my sense of flavour and taste gets stronger as I age). It is harder to describe the strength of the feelings I had for times spent with friends, family, new acquaintances, and how much I missed folks back here in Sicily. Also hard to describe is the incredible tiredness I returned home too. I wonder if that was part of living out of a suitcase for over a month? Maybe it is a function of jet lag, but I have just gotten over it today, four days after our return.
Yes, our trip was tiring but rewarding. As always, it was part vacation, part obligation. My mother and father seem to be doing well now. All of the rest of the family is fine, though I just missed seeing my youngest brother’s family, Julie and crew, from Ohio and my twin brother Jack and family. My brother Jr and sister-in-law Jo provide us with a home away from home that can’t be beat. It was really good to spend time with my daughter and Dustin, and with my son Jon and Steph. But as always our biggest complaint in the winter trips to the states was the weather. We just missed some record snow falls in New York City as well as western New York. New York City, Boston, and Amsterdam were brutally cold, but then we came back to cold and rain here in Sicily. The difference is that we know the cold will not last here, and it was 70 degrees out in the sun on the porch this AM. I look forward to more winter sun and garden growing here, but unfortunately, the week’s weather forecast for Carnavale, which started the day we got back, is not great.
We started out in Amsterdam, meeting my sister Roz and Mike, and had a very enjoyable 3 days there with them, as they are veterans of this city and know all of its ins and outs. It was at the Indonesia show there that I discovered the ginger tea, which is just wonderful. We flew from Amsterdam to Milan to Boston and met Jon and drove to Buffalo in a 23 hour marathon of staying awake for Steve, who drove all the way. Jess and Dustin joined us there and we all made our way to Jr’s house and found beds for everyone. We stayed for five days and then it was on to Mexico for two weeks. That was grand! Our time share continues to be a marvel of competence and incompetence, and the weather was just about perfect. I had my first pedicure and stepped on a sea urchin the first day, so I became foot obsessed while there, as those prickers never did all come out of my heel. Carl joined us for 6 days, then Tracie and Donna for a week. We ate, shopped, swam, lay in the sun, read, and enjoyed every minute that we could outdoors. We also enjoyed the various drinks at the bar, which were part of the all inclusive price, and I discovered the mojitos, which contained lime and mint crushed together and mixed with rum and sprite. Delicious!
Back in the states, we took care of whatever business we could and enjoyed a Valentines Day/Anniversary dinner with Jr and Jo with their chef-friend York, who is clearly a genius, a diamond-in-the ruff. We said our final good byes to the family and flew from Buffalo to New Jersey to meet Steve’s high school friend Ric for the first time in over thirty years. Jersey City was actually kind of nice! But New York was across the river, calling us, and we soon arrived at the Novetel there, where we spent three days in the exciting city atmosphere. It was here that we first had the delicately fried grapes, with an open faced Brie sandwich with caramelized green onions. Delicious! We saw an off off Broadway show, saw Brokeback Mountain, and shopped and ate deli and flopped in front of the Tv exhausted. Then it was time to fly to Boston, and a night in a Wyndham hotel near the airport. Lobsters to say farewell to Boston seemed appropriate, so Jon and Steph accompanied us to a Legal seafood and a last family good bye. Then on to Amsterdam-but not with our baggage! There was a wildcat strike and, well, they were in Milan, not Amsterdam. We washed out our clothes and enjoyed one more day at the fabulous Hotel Valk near Schipol airport. It was then that we found the cinnamon flavoured chocolate-delightful!
Finally on to home after 33 days…..exhausted!

Friday, February 24, 2006

COMING TO AN END....

Our trip is over and we are back in sunny (rainy) Sicily, just in time for Sciacca Carnavale. My son Jon has informed me that new and better things are planned for this page, so I am trying out two new formats, flickr.com, and blogger.com. Soon this page will be automatically updated using those formats. I berlieve if it all works out ok that you will be sent there from here. See what you think of it and get back to me.
Gee, but it's great to be back home!