37 30.255N 013 04.694E Ribera, Sicily

Pipedream
Sat 3 Sep 2011 21:41
Had a pretty good day. Got the Vodaphone internet going again here in Italy. Skype is just not working fast enough however to support a real phone conversation. Took the bus to Ribera today to visit my great grandmother's home town. She came to America and Ellis island about 1902? with three sons after her husband was taken out by the local bad guys or so the story goes. I had a name to find from my mother but my Italian is so bad I don't think I could have made them understand I am the long lost cousin from America. Nice town... pretty much modern rural Sicily. Lots of irrigation and grape vines. I first met a couple of LDS Mormon guys getting off the bus form Utah. White shirts, ties and a bible. They spoke Italian and were just finishing up their two year missionary tour in Ribera and Agrigento. Showed me the main square and cathedral. We talked boy scouts and apple pie.

I walked around a lot and went to the local park where a guy with a bunch of emblems on his shirt was holding court... people arguing with him and a side kick, only two very fit young men were standing about 20 feet away on both sides of him. I didn't take any pictures. I was looking for a place to eat lunch and ended up a bakery where I bought a loaf of sesame seed bread for .70 E and stopped at a cafe for a mineral water and ate that for lunch.

I was then lost... looking for the bus station back to the boat when I asked a young guy if he spoke English... sure he says I spent several months in New Jersey. He walked me back to the Dumo and pointed the way to the bus station. He asked what my grandmother's name was and said he knew of several people with the sure name still in town.

Michael and I had dinner at a local fish / pizzeria on the water front. The best pizza I have had yet here in Italy! Carafe of local white wine and a couple of coffees back here at the marina. Hope to leave early to beat the winds.