February 23, 2026

Monday

Gela, Sicilia, Italia

Monday, Monday, what a day. It is Sicilia, Monday mornings are simply part of the weekend. There are very few things open. Few if any retail stores, only a very few small markets, and even fewer restaurants, at least before 13:00. We spent the morning being lazy. I walked down to Piazza Umberto I, King of Italy 1878 – 1900, and into Bar (Café) Monte Bianco for my morning cappuccino and brioche and got one for Mary to go. The woman behind the counter knew me by site and prepared my cappuccino without asking and did confirm I wanted a brioche with jam. She even made one for me to take to Mary without asking. This is Italian customer service.

Now, let’s delve into who Umberto I was. Well, he was, Umberto Ranieri Carlo Emanuele Giovanni Maria Ferdinando Eugenio di Savoia. He was born in March 1844. He ascended throne of Italy after his father’s, Victor Emmanuel II, death in January 1878. He was a colonialist who wanted to build and Italian Empire. He looked to Africa for colonies, especially Eritrea and Somalia. He was a conservative with authoritarian habits who supported, pre-WW I, the Triple Alliance with Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Umberto I was assassinated in July 1900 by Gaetano Breci during a sporting event ceremony. Gaetano committed the assignation in revenge for the Bava Beccaria massacre, a violent action against protesters in Milan in 1898. He was followed by his son, Victor Emmanuel III, a hesitant and indecisive ruler whose reign was plagued by political violence, instability and war (WW I & WW II). He supported Mussolini which tainted the image of the monarchy such that it led to it abolishment. Does any of this sound familiar to anyone other than me?

After returning with her coffee we just chilled out. We talked a bit about planning for the fall. No clear decision as of yet but looks like Prague and Vienna in September before we go off the Spain and Portugal. There will of course be a few weeks in Italy.

Maria and Carmen don’t work in the morning any more than anyone else in Gela, or perhaps Sicilia. We are going to meet them at the shop about 16:00 to fit and pick up Mary’s new glasses, and fit my frames to me. The lenses for my new glass aren’t ready yet, but they can fit the frame, add the lenses and ship them to me in Torino. Hopefully they will be able to do that before we leave next Monday.

We go out for a walk and hopefully for lunch. There is a place we found, using Google Maps, which isn’t too far and according to Google Maps is open on Monday at 12:30. It is called Disìu Bistro Vico Santa Lucia. Vico means a small street, alley or narrow lane in Italian. You see them all over the small hill towns or historic towns enters. IN Taormina they were small alleyways which were actually stairways up to or down to the next street. Santa Lucia is actually a catholic saint from Syracuse on the Ionian Sea south of Catania on the east coast of Sicilia. She is the patron saint of the blind and those with eye ailments, often see holding a pair of eyes on a golden plate. You probably have heard the song “Santa Lucia”. It is a sales pitch from the boatmen from the waterfront district of Borgo Santa Lucia in the Gulf of Naples. It is an invitation to take a ride in his boat to enjoy the cool evening.

Looking at the lyrics to Santa Lucia in English, you can not understand how this is a sales pitch for a boat ride. They do sound beautiful in Italian when sung. They do evoke the idea of a peaceful atmosphere. They praise the beauty of Naples and the calm sea. So, if you are in Naples, then ok. But we have heard the gondola boatmen in Venezia (Venice) singing the song.

Anyway, we walk towards Disìu in the hopes of getting a nice lunch. We take a route which allows us to walk down some of the side streets in Gela. We are surprised at the number of places for sale. Some of them look like they were built well over 200 years ago and probably don’t have basic services, like water and sewer. They would probably cost a fortune to rehabilitate into a place you could live. Italy will help cover some of the expenses, but generally you can’t tear down a place and replace it with something modern. The outside must look like it originally did. But, it was an interesting walk.

We actually got there just after it had gone noon. It is off of a small piazza which leads to a narrow alleyway. There isn’t anything going on in the piazza, and there is no activity in the restaurant that we can see. However, we remain hopeful and a decided to walk down Corso Vittorio Emanuele to cover the time before the restaurant opened. We got all the way down to the Museo Archeologico Regionale di Gela on Corso Vittorio Emanuele before we turned around. The museum was closed, of course.

When we got back to Vico Santa Lucia just after it had gone 12:30, there was till no activity. No sign that the restaurant was going to open today. So, we decided to walk a little further down Corso Vittorio Emanuele to see if anything was open. We came upon Capital Food Underground. This place is called a “tavolo caldo”, literally hot table. It is a buffet Italian style. The food is displayed behind glass in a steam table, you choose what you want, they put it on a plate, weigh it, and charge you. Sometimes by weight sometimes by what you ask for.

The first time we walked by it looked closed. We doubled back to look at a bar to see if they had panini or something. When we walked back Capital Food looked open. We went in. We were probably the first customers of the day. I choose some grilled beef, oven roasted potatoes, and cauliflower (cavolfiore). Mary got what looked like lasagna made with manicotti noodles instead of the traditional lasagna sheets (the wide, flat sheets), and broccoli. They gave her enough that it could have feed at least two people, maybe more. That was even as she asked for less and for them to stop pilling on the broccoli.

The meal itself wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t particularly good either. Nor was it particularly hot. Warm, yes, hot no. But it is Monday and you get what you can get. We ate most of it, and then headed back to the B&B. After lunch I took a small nap, then we played cards while we waited for Maria and Carmen. About 15:45 Maria called and said they were running late and would be mind coming a bit later, no problem, we are here just for this today.

We finally headed to their shop at about 16:30. Carmen was busy with a customer, so Maria sat us down at the fitting table. After a bit Carmen can in and we started the fitting process. It was after 19:30 when we finally finished up. We paid for our glasses, frames and eye exam, all of about €1,500 ($1,700), about half of what it would have been in California. It also took about four times as long, but the exam was far more through and the choices of frames far more extensive. The fitting was also much better than that we would have gotten in California. Carmen even “repaired” my current glasses and put new eyeglass temples. I fell and tweaked them a while back.

We left the shop very happy with our exams and glasses, even though I will have to actually wait for mine. We asked Maria and Carmen’s o join us for dinner, yes two meals in one day, lunch wasn’t all that great or filling, despite the quantity of food. Carmen had another customer, so it was just Maria and us for dinner. We went back to Due Archi for dinner.

We ordered wine, panelle, roast potatoes, and bistecca alla fiorentina. We asked for a 2 Kg bistecca so that there was enough to take some back for Carmen. The waiter didn’t understand why three people would want such a big steak. We explained there were really four of us, but one was still at work and we would take some back to her.

Maria explained the waiter’s confusion to us. Apparently, people in Italy don’t ask to take leftovers home. You eat what you order, if you don’t eat it all they want to know what was wrong with it. We did our best but there was enough left over for Carmen to have a great dinner. The steak and potatoes were very good.

The wine was a Murdo Tenuta San Michele Enta Rosso 2020. The Murdo winery is located in Santa Venerina on the southern slope of Mt. Edna east of Catania. Here they grown two types of grapes, Nerello Mazcalese and Nerello Cappuccio. Its color isn’t as intense as the other Enta Rossos we have had, but the flavor was excellent and it went well with the grilled meat.

After dinner we said goodbye and headed back to the B&B. Tomorrow is a travel day as we will return to Torino. Back at the B&B we packed and got organized for a 10:00 pickup. We have a car service taking us back to Catania airport.

Buonanotte e caio,

Enrico e Maria.