Leaving on a Jet Plane

Apologies to the song's artists....
Well, despite my last minute rush and the storm through central Florida, I made it to Orlando airport and now sit in Detroit awaiting the departure to Roma. Thanks, Gordon, for the photo glimpse of the Amalfi Coast. I am so glad this arrived on Monday and not sooner. Otherwise, I would have really been a difficult one awaiting this day. Thanks, sis, for hanging out at the abode with Elvis.....
Just got a note that we are arriving in Sicily during a very special time:

Palermo - The Feast of Saint Rosalia - 'U fistinu 10 - 15 July

The celebrations for the Feast of Saint Rosalia (d. 1166 AD), the patron saint of Palermo, Sicily, is held between 1 and 15 July. The feast is, along with those of Saints Agata and Lucia, the main religious event dedicated to a female Sicilian historical figure. Other important celebrations are also held, on the Island, in honour of Saints Cristina, Ninfa and Oliva.

According to legend, Rosalia was born in 1130 of a Norman noble family that claimed descent from Charlemagne. A very pious young lady, she retired to live as a hermit in a cave on Mount Pellegrino, where she died in 1166. No one knew anything about her demise. In 1624, a horrible plague haunted Palermo, and during this hardship St. Rosalia appeared first to a sick woman, then to a hunter named Vincenzo Bonello to whom she indicated where her remains were to be found. She ordered him to bring her bones to Palermo and have them carried in procession through the city.

The hunter climbed the mountain and found her bones in the cave as described. He did what she had asked in the apparition, and after the procession the plague ceased. After this St. Rosalia would be venerated as the patron saint of Palermo, and a sanctuary was built in the cave where her remains were discovered.

The celebration, called the "festino", is held each year on July 15. It is a major social and religious event that involves the town's Confraternite, the oldest of which, known as the "Confraternita di Santa Rosalia dei Sacchi", formed by the barbers and shoemakers of Palermo, was founded in 1635. Hundreds of thousands between faithful and tourists attend the feast, consisting of a main procession and numerous entertaining shows. The peak of the celebration is the night of 14 July. The "Santuzza", thè term of endearment used by the locals to invoke her, is carried triumphantly on an enormous wagon conveying the grandiosity of Palermo, an immense ship-stern with numerous musicians on board. A holy processions forms in front of the Palazzo dei Normanni, seat of the Sicilian Regional Assembly, and through the town centre reaches the seaside, where the "fuochi di gioia", a triumphal fireworks display rises over the sea.

The main spectacle is provided by the city of Palermo. In the days preceding the Saint's Day, excitement and joy can be felt in the streets and alleys of the Sicilian capital, as these are decorated and prepared for the big event. The celebration is also an opportunity to enjoy the foods of the "tradizione palermitana", the "pasta con le sarde", and the "babbaluci" (boiled snails flavoured with garlic and parsley", and many others.

Love ya, Rosie!

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