La Traviata At the Bellini Theater

La Traviata At the Bellini Theater

Catania, Italy

March 18 2018 marks a big day for Craig and I, we celebrated our 50^th wedding anniversary.  We were so young 50 years ago but even then I would never have even wished to be able to see a Bellini Opera in the Bellini Theater in Catania, Italy.  That did however, become our reality.   So many blessing are mine!

The music was amazing, the largest pit orchestra I have ever seen, but the baroque theater itself was breathtaking.  It is amazing that there are no sound enhancements, no wires or microphones used in the performance.  The Opera started at 5:00 PM with intermission at the end of the first two acts and the third act ended at 8:45.  The strength  and power of the voices is unbelievable right to the very last scene.   I am so happy to be able to see this performance, what a way to celebrate a special occasion.  On a side note, if you saw Pretty Woman with Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, he takes her to San Francisco to see the opera.  They saw La Traviata, I have to say I did recognize the first music from that movie.  I am committed now to stream more opera music in our apartment! I will return again before the next 50 years pass.

Near the fountain outside the front of the Bellini theater.

Five floors of box seats, bottom floor is the orchestra seats then the gallery was on the sixth floor and a sold out audience.

There we are after 50 years of wear and tear!

Check out that orchestra pit!

The ceiling and chandeliers are beautiful.

Sigonella Base 2 Base run

Annually Sigonella  MWR sponsors a Base2Base run for all military and dependents  assigned to either NAS1 or NAS2.  It fell on St. Patrick’s Day this year so it was a double celebration.  I was happy to see so many families with kids of all ages in the race.  Strollers and wagons were plentiful.  There were two options available a 7.6 mile run that connected both bases or a half marathon that included a course around the flight line.

I signed up to run a water station through MWR and invited the Anzani and Sorelle to join jus at the #4 water station just outside Marani, the base housing complex.  It was a beautiful March Day in Catania, a little cloudy but temperature was perfect for a race.  

Branch President Fonseca

Best water station crew in the race!

Gatorade added to the mix!

The hydration hand off to the runners!

Zach and Trish Foulk

Zach and Trish Foulk are stationed at NAS Sigonella and an integral part of our Sigonella Branch.  Zach is the Branch Clerk and the Sunday School President, which means he also teaches Gospel Doctrine every other Sunday. Trish is the Women’s Auxiliary Secretary.  They have two sons Noah 7 and Elijah 16 months.  Zach was born in the San Fransico Bay area and met Trish at Lackland AFB.  They were married and the rest is history. We are so sad to say they will be leaving Sigonella for a transfer to Ramstein Germany in August 2018.  Noah is excited to be able to be baptized in Germany.

Zach was a runner in high school doing the 800 and the mile, converted to a distance and marathon runner as an adult.  People introduce him as the fastest man on Sigonella, probably on Sicily and very possible in all of Italy!  That is quite an introduction to live up to; so I ask him what is best record or his favorite run.  He shakes his head and explains he ran the Air Force Marathon and the Navy Marathon with a 2:38 both times and that stands as his best marathon.  He has done a few half marathons along the way with his personal best as 1:10!  What a guy!

Trish has some personal running records of her own but those numbers haven’t been discussed! This Saturday is the Annual Base2Base run, Zack will take care of the boys and Trish will be running.  Fortunately the eight of the full time Anazani and Sorelle  volunteered to managing a water station out side Marani and have the chance to cheer her on.  

The Straits of Messina

We were on official business, as official as it gets here, to do an Azania apartment inspection in Reggio Calabria, which necessitates crossing over the Straits of Messina from Sicily to the lower part of the boot of Italy.

Any English teacher worth her salt would recognize the opportunity to cross the Straits of Messina as an opportunity to relive The Iliad, get in the head of Odysseus and imagine what that trip home from the Trojan War must have been like.  Ten years to travel home included many diversions and stops along the way.  The Cicones, the Cyclopes, the Lastrygonians, Poseidon’s interventions, King Aeolus, The competition between Zeus and Apollo just to entertain themselves cost Odysseus untold complications.   Odysseus lost his ships and his crew and was in a desperate set of circumstances, doomed never to return home. King Alcinoüs listened to the story of Odysseus' wanderings, presented him with rich gifts, and furnished him a ship to get to Ithaca.  In the end Odysseus passes through the Straits of Messina off the coast of Sicily through the perils of Scylla and Charybdis narrowly escaping with his life.  He passes the Island of Persephone, (Sicily) the Hubs of Hades and arrives on the shores of Ithaca. Of course it is a myth, but excellent reading for Freshman English.

Here is the best documentation I could find for the Sicilian adventures of Odysseus.

• Lotus-eaters: Djerba, following Polybius (1.2.17)
• Cyclops: south-east Sicily, near Etna and Lentini (1.2.9); also suggests that Homer "borrowed his idea of the one-eyed Cyclopes from the history of Scythia, for it is reported that the Arimaspians are a one-eyed people" (1.2.10)
• Aeolus: Lipari, among the Aeolian Islands north of Sicily
• Laestrygonians: south-east Sicily (1.2.9)
• land of the Cimmerians: the Bosporus (1.2.9)
• the Ocean: the Black Sea (ancient Pontus; 1.2.10)
• Sirens: either Cape Faro, by the Strait of Messina; or Sirenussae, a headland in Italy between the Bay of Naples and the Gulf of Salerno; or Naples itself (1.2.12-13)
• Scylla and Charybdis: Strait of Messina (1.2.9, 1.2.16)
• Ogygia (Calypso's island) and Scheria: "imagined in fantasy" as being in the Atlantic (1.2.18)

Our adventure did not measure up to Odysseus’s trip but nonetheless fun to see first hand.

Tickets to load our car on the ferry 45 Euro!

Unofficial parking directions are "jam in as close as you can." They wave you in to less than an inch of bumper space and you are required to turn your side view mirrors toward the car so you don't loose them exiting the ferry!

Mostly small cars among the buses and the 18 wheeler freight trucks. Notice the green ramp for exit, one car at a time but at least six lanes wide on the platform.  Rev your engines and get ready for the exit!

This ferry boat goes back and forth all day long and takes 20-25 minutes to make the trip.The wait in line to get on the ferry can be short or hours depending on the traffic and the time of day.  Rush hour is brutal!

Messina siting from the ferry boat. Ahhh Odysseus what a great trip!

Italian General Election

Sunday was a very crowded day on the streets of Motto Sant'Anastasia.  People were gathering at the local school to vote in their national election. The streets were packed and parking was at a premium.
I couldn't find any information regarding voter turnout but I am confident the numbers were high in Motto. Here is a report from a national newspaper and what the results of this election might mean.

Italian General Election

March 4, 2018

Italian general elections were held on March 4, 2018. The election results point to a hung parliament, with no party or coalition winning enough votes to form a government. The election came against an improving economic picture and Italian equities have performed strongly over the last year, outpacing many other developed markets including the broader Eurozone and the U.S. We offer the market and political implications of the election below.

• The strong performance of populist parties in Italy is balanced against Germany forming a new government. We see scope for pressure on Italian and peripheral Eurozone bonds.
• A government involving populist parties might take a confrontational stance against the EU and loosen fiscal policy. We see an increased probability of another election this year.
• At the EU summit this month, the UK will likely seek agreement on a transition deal that avoids a cliff-edge Brexit in March 2019.

Results of the Italian election point to a hung parliament, with no party or coalition winning enough votes to form a government. The strong showing of populist parties complicates the Italian political outlook but is balanced against a new government forming in Germany.

The right wing, Eurosceptic Northern League (Lega Nord) party, led by Matteo Salvini, is emerging stronger than Silvio Berlusconi's center-right Forward Italy (Forza Italia) party within the center-right coalition, which also includes the far-right Brothers of Italy (Fratelli d'Italia) party. The independent and also Eurosceptic Five Star Movement (Movimento 5 Stelle or M5S) led by Luigi di Maio has beaten poll forecasts and won a greater share of the vote than expected - not enough to form a government, but enough to make it a linchpin in any potential government. Matteo Renzi's center-left Democratic Party (Partito Democratico) appears to have fared the worst.

Motto Sant'Anastasia

Welcome to my neighborhood.  This is the beautiful place we get to call home for a few months.  A small city at the foot of Mount Etna of about 12,000 people all nestled around a medieval castle.

Mt. Etna snow covered and erupting at the same time!

The orange crop is in full swing, the trees are loaded with fruit.

The blood oranges are unbelievable!

The tower stands at the top of the solid lava flow.

The neighborhood bakery!

Our hybrid Toyota Yaris manages all the narrow little streets

AHHH! the gelato on a brioche just makes the day complete!

Emily Dianne Keetch Anderson

This was a difficult week to be in Italy.  Monday, Beth Wilson, our niece sent a message of the hospitalization and end of life preparations for our dear sister-in-law Dianne.  She has been suffering with health complications since last summer.  I talked to her just before we left the country and she seemed or at least she made our departure easier by telling us she was improving and feeling much better.  I told her I was counting on her being in UT to greet us as we returned in 2019. She assured me she would be waiting for our stories. That will not happen.

 We struggled most of the week with emptiness and homesick feelings wanting to be there for her service.   The blessing and tender mercy of the week was waking up on Saturday morning to see a post that Kaci flew from Arizona, Mike flew from Colorado and Ashley flew from California then drove for two hours to attend that service and represent our family.  I was overwhelmed by their sacrifice and willingness to take up the slack when we couldn’t. Their smiling faces at the cemetery brought tears of gratitude and love flowing down my face.  I love my family.