Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Still Christmas on Dec. 30th.

On Dec. 30th I decided to walk.  And walk and walk.  First I went up to Fleri at the top of the hill.  Lovely little town with a pasticceria, a pizza shop, a bar and 2 meat stores.  And then the honey store.  This whole area in and around Mt. Etna is famous for its' honey.  Then passing through Fleri I came to the town of Monterosso.  Very small as well with 2, yes 2 gas stations!.  Then on the very top of the furthest hill was a church with its' very visible steeple.  So up I went to Trecastagni.  At first it seemed just like any other small village but as I got further into the town and saw all it had to offer, it fast became my favorite little town in this area.  In the center was a small town fair going on.  Being Sunday, it looked like a place where all the families came after church.  In the center of the town square were set up little booths with crafts for sale.  2 guys with chain saws were carving an ice sculpture.  It was about 60 degrees out.  And as I approached this craft fare I heard music.  American music (and in English) sung by Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra.   Christmas music.  It was wonderful.  There was an elderly man roasting chestnuts.  There was a cheese booth with free samples.  Then the song "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas" was played.  So I sat in the sun, ate chestnuts and olive mix and watched (because it was now 1 p.m.) as everyone closed up their booth for the daily siesta.
This was my cue to head on.  So I went down, down, down through the very beautiful town of Via Grande.  Stopped and had a coffee and then on back home through Monterosso again, through Fleri and on home to Pisano.    I walked for 7 1/2 hours with probably about a total of 2 hours at the most in sitting.  I must have walked about 20 miles.  My feet are still recovering.

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