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<\/a>Our first stop on the way was a visit to the Museo Storica della Sbarco in Sicilia 1943<\/em>, a\u00a0World War II museum\u00a0that has an extensive\u00a0collection of actual memorabilia, photos, and newsreel footage of the events of Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily from Africa by Allied forces.\u00a0This operation \u00a0was critical to the Allies\u00a0because it forced the Axis troops north and cleared the Mediterranean. \u00a0I found it strange that I had never heard about it\u00a0before.\u00a0More than 14,000 soldiers from Italy, Germany, the USA and Britain lost their lives during the \u00a0attack. It was heart wrenching to see \u00a0that so many young men \u00a0had to give their lives because of some\u00a0 older men’s quest to dominate the world. And in Sicily,\u00a0\u00a0many families had members who\u00a0\u00a0supported opposite sides.<\/p>\nWe entered a bunker and heard the \u00a0simulated sounds of \u00a0bombings above and around us. This brought to mind stories that were told to me by my dear friend and colleague, Moira, who lived in England during the \u00a0WW II bombings there. When they heard the sirens, the \u00a0school children would be dismissed to run home. Their mothers would meet them and they would run to their\u00a0shelter together. They heard the terrifying sounds of bombs throughout the night. The next morning, they would \u00a0find out\u00a0\u00a0whose houses had been destroyed and whose were still standing.<\/p>\n
Once in Catania, Susanna took us for an orientation walk. The city was full of sailors\u00a0who were in town in celebration of Saint Barbara’s feast day, Saint Barbara being the patron saint of the Navy. The bus took us to our hotel. Our room, called Fantasia, was a suite of two rooms, \u00a0each with a TV. We also had a private terrace and a garden.<\/p>\n Then came dinner. \u00a0Two different Benati reds were served with the meal, one lighter and one heartier. The pasta course was tagliatelle (homemade, of course) with mushroom sauce. The main course was roast beef with chestnut puree, breaded saut\u00e9ed fennel, and salad. The dessert was coffee mouse, not my thing, but the coffee lovers among us raved. We walked 10,021 steps and climbed 50 flights of stairs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Nick \u00a0and I awoke at 5 AM and decided to eat the second half of yesterday’s lunch sandwich. We weren’t\u00a0surprised that we weren’t hungry at breakfast time. We packed and began our journey to Catania, the last city\u00a0of our tour. Our first stop on the way was a visit to the Museo Storica della Sbarco … Continue reading Sicily, Day 15 – December 1, 2016<\/span> <\/a>We split up into smaller groups, some to shop, some to explore, and some in search of food. Not having eaten since 5 AM, we\u00a0were in the hungry\u00a0group. \u00a0No sharing today! My lunch was \u00a0cannelloni in \u00a0 tomato sauce, while Nick ordered chicken with potatoes.\u00a0We enjoyed conversing with our lunch companions\u00a0\u00a0Carol,\u00a0Wendall, and \u00a0Sallie.<\/p>\n<\/a>Our evening activity was wine tasting and \u00a0dinner at the Benanti Winery<\/em>\u00a0on Mount Etna. Their wines were ranked third in a\u00a02016 evaluation. First we were taken for a walk through the vineyard. Then we were refreshed indoors\u00a0\u00a0by\u00a0 sparkling wine, \u00a0with which we enjoyed cheese fondue served in a hollowed \u00a0loaf of bread and \u00a0a sun dried tomato mold dressed with extra virgin olive \u00a0oil, salt, pepper, oregano and mint. Both were exquisite.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>We met the vineyard’s owner, Signore Benati, and one of his twin sons, who\u00a0sells Benati wines around the world.\u00a0Because they said they had met several people named Benanti in their travels and thought they were all related, I asked if they knew Laura Benanti, the Broadway star. They \u00a0said they would love to meet her if an introduction can be arranged!<\/p>\n