Arrivato in Sicilia!

Well, I made it to Sicily and am having a great time so far.  Francesco and Claudia picked me up at the airport in Palermo, and we drove an hour to get back to Mazara, which is the small town where they live.

We had a great lunch at Francesco's parents house, starting with a homemade pasta with pesce spada (swordfish), mixed with eggplant and fresh mint.  I didn't break out my camera until the second course of gamberretti (little shrimp), shown below, which were delicious.

The course to follow were calamari, but unlike the fried ones we are accustomed to, these were baked and stuffed with a breadcrumb filling and fresh herbs.  Really tasty, with some sautéed zucchini and all washed down with some prosecco.

After lunch, we headed to the beach, which is an everyday thing here for these guys.  Francesco is shown below.

Okay, I will finish this post later.  Right now, we are shopping for Feragosto, a big August pool party Francesco and his friends are planning to host in two days.

Ciao for now!!