On Wednesday, just an hour or so before my electrical converter finally arrived at our hotel in Catania and they sent it back, we hopped on the train to Siracusa, which is about an hour south.  Thankfully we were not arrested, because I went up to the ticket office and asked the clerk for her “orologio” (watch) instead of an “orario” (train schedule).  She proceeded to take it off her wrist and have a good laugh at my expense.

Our hotels have all been clean, lovely, and quaint, but as I mentioned earlier there always has to be something that isn’t quite as expected or advertised.  At the last hotel, the shower was the size of a phone booth, and there was no chance of turning around in it without hitting the temperature knob.  Having had only a couple of years of yoga training, I was unable take advantage of some of the postures I have seen in magazines, such as one that was especially recommended for stretching during long airplane flights: wrapping your ankles around the back of your neck.  I was therefore reduced to shaving my legs in the bidet. 

Here at this hotel, the shower base is the same size, but there is a curtain instead of a door, hydrodynamically designed to channel all water out of the shower and onto the floor.  After much discussion about an effective shower strategy, we can only hypothesize that this is an ingenious Italian plan to reduce water consumption, as the only option is to soap up with the water off, and then rinse off as quickly as possible.  (While we’re at it, let’s get some plumbing technicians over here.  At every public restroom, there are signs warning patrons not to throw toilet paper into the toilet.  You are supposed to throw the used paper into a garbage pail.  I will not dwell on this any further, but leave it to you to ponder the hygienic consequences of this.  I guess since most of the bathrooms don’t have any paper, it’s only a problem for people like us who insist on bringing our own.) 

We’re starting to get into the swing of things here: get up just in time to eat the free breakfast before the buffet is dismantled; go touring for an hour or two until everything closes; sit down for a two hour lunch and maybe a nap; then go back for some late afternoon sightseeing or shopping for necessities; then choose a place for dinner and spend the night eating again before rolling ourselves back to the hotel by midnight.  Sometimes we manage to squeeze in some time for wine or coffee and sweets, and the occasional internet cafe.  It’s a rough life.  And we haven’t even tried the “cioccolatteria” yet.

We’ve noticed that Sicilians seem to be heavier than Romans, and after two weeks here, so are we.  Unfortunately I am allergic to the local specialties – clams, mussels, octopus (and pasta) – but that hasn’t prevented me from stuffing myself with antipasto and fish and risotto and vegetables, all of which is drenched in olive oil.  My favorite new vegetable, and one of the most popular around here, is grilled radicchio – something I never would have thought of at home.  All you need is olive oil and salt.  Allen has discovered the virtues of the latte macchiato, which is something like an inverted cappuccino: a tall glass of hot milk with a shot of espresso.  I go for the “caffe lungo”, which is about what an American espresso is like, but much weaker than an Italian coffee, as it has about ¼ tsp. more water in it.  There is actually one that is twice as strong as a regular Italian coffee!  We’ll wait for your visit to let you try that one…