Sicilian Christmas

For the first time in my life, I spent Christmas away from home.

But I had time to prepare for this. For quite a while, I knew that this year I wouldn't spend time with my family. I knew that I wouldn't eat my favorite holiday foods. I knew that I wouldn't open presents under the tree. I knew that this year would be different-that it wouldn't feel like Christmas. And I accepted all of that.

But what I didn't know, was how great it would turn out to be thanks to the kindness and generosity of a good friend of mine and his family.

If you will remember, last fall I visited one of my best friends Tyler while he was studying abroad in Paris for the year. Well, he loved it so much he decided to return and go to graduate school there. Meanwhile, his parents are living in Sicily, Italy as his Dad, who is a doctor in the Navy, is currently stationed there.

Since I had no visitors or plans for the holiday, Tyler and his family generously invited me to spend it with them. So, with a little help from my parents, I accepted the invitation and bought my plane ticket to Sicily.

Lunch in the airport
I literally moved into my new apartment yesterday, and I am already off to a new adventure.
Sheesh.

Turns out, getting to Sicily is no easy task and finding a direct flight is next to impossible. Consequently, it took me 8 long hours to reach the island next door. And so it was with a sigh of relief and a big smile when Tyler and his parents finally greeted me at the Catania arrivals gate.

On our way home, we stopped at a small pizza place to grab some dinner to go. As we headed up the narrow street I quickly paused in front of the door and prepared myself for my first Sicilian moment. Ever since I went to Italy for the first time, I have been itching to return. (And to return to Sicily of all places! How can it get more Italian than that?) I finally walked in, and a grin instantly spread across my face and my eyes filled with hunger as I stopped and stared at a large man behind the counter in front of me, kneading dough and pulling pizzas out of a wood-fired oven. And as if that wasn't enough, a friend of the Mitchell's brought us bruschetta to snack on while we waited for our pizzas. And as I took a long awaited bite out of the delicious Italian appetizer while standing in the middle of a real pizza joint, I beamed as I thought, "Yup, I'm back in Italy." [Awww yeahhhh]

After we got our pizzas, we headed home to a cozy living room complete with a Christmas tree, comfy leather couches, and a fireplace. I patiently enjoyed my tasty Sicilian pizza with Tyler, his brother, Kyle, and his girlfriend, Ashley, and his parents, and soon after snuggled up into a warm bed.

The next morning, I awoke to homemade Christmas cookies for breakfast (in a beautiful Sicilian home, I might add). I should mention that of course my favorite cookies are my Grandma's cookies. But Tyler's mom's cookies were also very tasty.

Where do I begin?

The Mitchell's Sicilian home in a tiny town called San Pietro Clarenza

Great view of Mount Etna, the tallest active volcano in Europe

Seriously, that thing could explode any minute

View at sunset

The yard

On my first full day in Sicily, we took the bus into Catania, the neighboring city with lots of shops and Christmas Markets. We had a delicious lunch featuring Octopus Salad, which is a Sicilian tradition and favorite. Then we strolled through the city, checking out the Cathedral and more Christmas Markets.

Octopus salad. MmmMmm.

The Cathedral

Inside the Cathedral

 

Christmas Cheer

Amazing sunset in the clouds

Christmas Market

When we were ready to go home, we walked to the bus stop to catch our ride. But, to our (non)surprise, the bus was a half hour late, and then when it finally pulled into the station, the bus driver immediately got off the bus and proceeded to take a 30 minute coffee break. This delay would have been annoying if I were in the United States with things to do on a tight schedule. But instead I found it quite amusing since I was in Sicily with absolutely nothing to do on a wide open schedule. So I was able to smile at the oh-so-typical situation.

That night we enjoyed some leftover pizza and red wine while we watched (can you guess what?) The Godfather. No kidding. I mean, sure, it's a bit cliche, but come on- I was in Sicily! And somehow actually being in the motherland made the movies even more entertaining.

The next day we took a trip to the U.S. Navy base, which was quite an experience for me since I had never been to a military base before, much less in another country. One of the most interesting parts for me was the Commissary, which is basically an American supermarket transplanted onto the base. It has every American product you could want from Hershey's chocolate to Crest toothpaste to Hot Pockets. They even have a small produce section marked "Taste of Italy," which I found particularly amusing. It was strange to walk down the wide aisles full of American brands with labels written in English, and with other Americans at that. At first, I frantically looked around, almost hysterically trying to think about anything American I could want or need. Toothpaste? Cookie dough? Ranch dressing? I found myself with a desperate desire to stock up on all my favorite American comforts. But after five minutes of scampering around the store, I made myself snap out of it. I kindly reminded myself that first of all, I had only been out of the country for one month, and therefore could not possibly need anything at the moment. Then I more forcefully reminded myself that I came to Spain with true intentions, one of those being to live as a Spaniard. And that means buying Spanish things in Spanish markets, and letting go of my comfort zone. So I put down the bag of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and moved on.

Later in the week, the Mitchells were also kind enough to take me on a few day trips to see other parts of Sicily.

One day we drove to a small town called Caltagirone, which is famous for its ceramics. We wandered around taking photos, and had the fortune to stumble into the most fascinating nativity scenes I have ever seen. 

The iconic steps at Caltagirone

Beautiful view of the city at sunset from the top of the stairs

Here's where it gets interesting...
Nativity scene with....Winnie the Pooh? Teletubbies? Mickey Mouse?
.....what?!

And my favorite: Nativity scene featuring all of the Disney Princesses
Hilarious!

A real (and absolutely huge) nativity scene
Now that's more like it.

A depiction of the steps of Caltagirone

Another day we drove through beautiful Sicilian country to a lovely hillside village called Savoca. It's actually quite famous as it is featured in The Godfather Part I (indeed our Godfather series binge sparked our interest in visiting the town). In the movie, it is depicted as the town of Corleone. However, the actual town of Corleone was not used as the filming location because the filmmakers thought it was too developed for the period of the film. So they came here instead! You may remember it from the photos as the setting for the wedding between Michael Corleone and his first wife, Apollonia (who was played by an actress who actually came from the village of Savoca). It is my favorite place I've visited in Italy. To me, everything about the village just breathes Italian!

The hillside of Savoca

The ancient entrance to the city

Bar Vitelli
Look familiar?

Scene at Bar Vitelli from the Godfather Part I

Just call me Michael Corleone

The hillside church

The photos really don't do justice to its beauty

Here is the scene from the Godfather Part I:

Tyler and I reenacting the wedding

We also took a trip to a nearby and popular city called Taormina. We wandered around the narrow streets, window shopping and enjoying the beautiful coast line.

We also visited the amphitheater in Taormina which sits perfectly on the edge of a cliff overlooking the water. This kind of scenery always gets me- I still can't wrap my mind around what a place like this would have been like in its prime. I imagine the rows of stone stacked with people, with great performers and orators standing tall against the backdrop of the sea.

I also got to enjoy some authentic Sicilian cannolis...

Leave the gun, take the cannolis.

 And some Christmas lights under the night sky...

In between day trips and excursions, we spent most of our days lounging around the house, eating Christmas cookies and watching Christmas movies. In fact, I think I watched the most Christmas movies in one week than I ever have before. We fit in all of my favorites: Elf, Home Alone, The Santa Claus, Rudolf, The Grinch, and more. And of course, we also spent our time watching the rest of the Godfather trilogy. (When in Sicily, right?) And so, to my delight, I spent my nights curled up in a comfy leather chair, eating delicious Italian food, drinking red wine and watching the best mafia movies ever. (And I thought to myself, well if this isn't a Sicilian holiday then I don't know what is.)

On Christmas morning I awoke to the biggest surprise of the trip: presents under the tree. A surprise I honestly had not even considered before. But turns out Santa Claus is still keepin' tabs on me, and was nice enough to give me a Befana, which is a figurine of a hideous witch on a broom, apparently a Sicilian holiday tradition (and a hilarious one I might add), and a lovely scarf. It was at this moment in particular that I was extra grateful for the thoughtfulness and generosity of the Mitchells, I mean, Santa Claus, and my heart unavoidably returned to that familiar feeling of utter contentedness.

Christmas Day we went to a family friend's house for a delicious Christmas dinner. We spent the night chatting with fellow service men and women who work on the base with Tyler's Dad (which of course meant that I got to chat with some fierce ladies. Sweet!) I also met a friendly and quite interesting dog named Max who has successfully completed seven tours, including one to Iraq, and is now happily retired (now that is a cool pet) We ate more food than I could barely hold in my belly (isn't that how all holidays go?) and ended the night by singing Christmas carols on kazoos.

The family

While I was planning my trip to Spain, a lot of worry came from my family and myself about the holidays. What would I do? Who would I spend it with? What would I eat? And the thought of spending it alone seemed quite tragic. But to our pleasant surprise, I spent it surrounded by comfort, laughter, love, and plenty of holiday cheer.

...and did I mention I spent it in Sicily?