HELLLLLO AMERICA and Happy St Jopseph's day

I have decided to continue my blog from 2 years ago when I vacationed in Tuscany for 3 months. Currently I am in Sicilia for 4 weeks and will once again visit Tuscana for 4 weeks and finally ending the trip in the lake district north of Milano, stopping at Lake Garda and Lake Como.
Traveling from NY to Marsala was a 22 hour ordeal. My plane arrived late to Milano.  I had to hire il taxi so I could arrive on time for my connecting flight (switching airports in between - e difficile). When I arrived in Palermo, there was a miscommunication with my pick-up. Instead of taking only 90 min to arrive in Marsala, I had to board a bus to Palermo ( 45 min ride ), wait thirty min for a connection, and then take another l'autobus which took one hour and 45 min. Upon arrival there were no taxi's to be had and I had to walk 45 min to my destination. In case you are wondering - iphone 4 does not work in Italia. Their system is more advanced than ours - go figure!!! Sooooooo , 4 hours later after arriving at Palermo airport I arrived at my destination. However, I was reintroduced to the smiling and friendly Giovanni who immediately did what any eye-talian person would do, HE FED ME. Come sit down - we have bread, steamed escarole, prosciutto, dried sausage. pecorino cheese AND to top it off - he made his own olive oil to make sure it was the purest possible product. This olive oil provided flavor and aroma to the dishes at hand and I was in heaven. Before leaving to la casa, Giovanni packed food for me -veggies, fruit, as well as picking a handful of lemons from the tree in his back yard,
I arrived at la casa before sunset and was pleasantly surprised with the accommodations. A very nice open area when you walk in the dining and living area with a kitchen tucked away to the side. Upstairs are 2 nice size bedrooms both with balconies and the house has 2 baths. The flooring is tile throughout including the stairs. There is a lovely patio with lounge chairs outside and the yard is enclosed by beautiful Oleanda trees. Giovanni stocked the refrigerator with beer, white wine, salami, cheese, milk and butter. On top of the counter there were 4 bottles of red wine, cereal, bread and a bottle of his own personal olive oil. As  I looked under the counter I saw a whole crate of fresh oranges which he bought me. (Sicily is noted for  their oranges all throughout Italy).
On Sunday morning I walked to Marsala - the house where I  am staying is about 2 miles away. This is great since I try to walk at least one hour a day. However, there are buses which I later discovered. I entered  il centro ( central part of town) and found the streets ( which do not allow cars) packed with elderly men enjoying their conversations and families taking passeggiata - a stroll through town. OF COURSE my main goal was to once again have the greatest cappuccino and brioche con crema. Nowhere do they make it like Italia!!  BTW - no one here was celebrating St Paddy's day by drinking green beer. Wrong country.
I walked around town for several hours , made some internet connections using free wi- fi  to my loved ones. I returned to il centro only to find that it was now a ghost town at 3pm. Not a single person on the streets??? Only to remember, just like all Italian Americans who grew up in the USA, that Sunday dinner was served mid afternoon and was a big family affair. I found a restaurant opened for this early Sunday dinner and had a delicious meal along with a 1/2 bottle of vino rosso  which cost all of 2.5 Euro ( $3.25). The owner sat in the table next to me so he could watch Il Calcio ( soccer) and we began to talk. When he found out how far I walked to get to town he immediately told one of his waiters to drive me home after my meal was complete. This way he said- you can have an after dinner drink - Averna - and not worry about the walk home. Only in Italia!!!
On Monday I spent the day buying a local cell phone as well as obtaining Wi - Fi. Giovanni was nice enough to take me to town to teach me the ins and outs of Marsala as well as to do some sight seeing.
Tuesday - I decided to go to a local supermercato to buy some meats and groceries. I first stopped at IL Bar for my coffee and pastry when I realized that today signifies 2 things. First it is St Joeseph's day and more importantly it is my younger sister's birthday. Our parents called her Mary Jo in honor of St Joeseph's day.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARY!!! How old are you now? How old are you know ? Ok we will not go into that. Pictured above is a pastry that is made especially for today's celebration both in America as well as in Italia. It is called Spincione di San Giuseppe. If you haven't had one - you are definitely missing out. Uh hum  -  I made this my lunch ^@#*^! Hey - you only live once.
I miss you all and I am thinking of my friends,  family and loved ones all the time.
Vistors are welcome. Come one come all ..............
I will keep everyone updated with my travels.
A presto,
Vincent