A PREFACING TID BIT:

For those Italian Americans in the San Francisco area, and those interested in the the Italiana Americana experience....

ITALIAN-AMERICANS AT WORK -- "Con Le Nostre Mani" (With Our Hands) is a photography exhibit chronicling Italian-Americans at work in the East Bay from the 1860s to the 1960s, through June 30, Berkeley Public Library, Central Catalog Lobby, 2090 Kittredge St., Berkeley,

With my fiance never having left the country before, I had to carefully consider his tastes - nothing extreme.

We did Rome and Venice, then hit Sicily, for his very 1st meeting with my relatives - hundreds of them!

He survived Rome and Venice without problem, as there were tourists everywhere,
he could speak English, read signs, etc.

However, in Sicily, it was a different story. What culture shock!

It took us  3 hours to make a 20 minute ride from the airport (we HAD to make stops for ice cream, a beautiful park, to show us the seaside, and to a great coffee shop).

My relatives threw us a reception the first evening - where the meal STARTED at 10pm, and went on thru the night.

Everyone spoke to my fiance as if he spoke Italian.

He spent his first night nodding and smiling - with everyone staring at him.

Between the crazy driving, everyone speaking at the same time, being dragged from one relative's apartment to another, visiting every village and castle on the East Coast of the island, eating all the "different" foods placed in front of him (to be polite, you couldn't say 'no'), as opposed to the typical pizza/panini he'd order up north....

I thought he'd be running to the Pope for an annulment before our stay was over!

Ends up that "reality" he found in Sicily, and with my family was the BEST part of the honeymoon in his eyes. He loved every moment, every experience, every "different" bite.

It was the off-the-beaten-path experiences he relished most.

The true essence of another culture, and not just the the tourist attractions.

He can't WAIT to go back! (Oh - and the family LOVED him!)

PS.On our day trip to Cinque Terre, it was about 95 degrees out, and we didn't bring our swimsuits, but we climbed down from the trail to one of the beaches anyway and jumped in in our underwear- got a few strange looks from the locals.

Talk About Travel (washingtonpost.com)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/
A4992-2004Jun25.html
(About the 65th article, 60% down the page)