Mette, who said she had previously gone diving in Greece, was the only one out of the three of us who had any previous diving experience. So earlier in the week I asked Pat, a diving instructor, who just happens to be one of my good friends -- and co-worker, if he could take us out and show us the basics. Just enough as to where we could go out and enjoy a fine day under the Sicilian Sun in the water scuba diving. He agreed and we made plans to meet Saturday morning around nine o'clock in the morning.

I was up early and began making some coffee. I wasn't sure what the girls normally ate for breakfast, so I whipped up a loaf of Lemon Seed bread and had it ready for them when they woke up around eight o'clock. Yes, the bread was from a Betty Crocker box, where all I had to do was mix in a few things such as water and eggs, but HEY!, I'm just a bachelor! Haha. :-)

I called Pat and told him that we were getting ready and that we should be there no later than 0930. We finished up breakfast, and packing up some scuba gear I had borrowed from one of my friends, and headed out the door.

There are a few different ways to get to Pats place from where I live, and I choose the one that goes right through downtown Catania. Not only could Mette and Karen Marie get a better sense of the chaos that goes along with driving here in Sicily, but so they could get a glimpse of the city, one of the largest on the Island. Also, the road I took skirts right along the coast, so they could see the black lava rock beaches and get a feel for how active Mount Etna really has been in the past, and how it's effected the history of the ancient city and it's surroundings.

When we arrived at Pat's, which is by far the most exotic home of anyone I know personally here in Sicily, he was pretty much all set and ready to go. We walking down the stairs from his fourth floor patio, overlooking the Ionian Sea, and helped carry his gear down and packed it into the trunk of my car.

We had to make one stop on the way to pick up a few miscellaneous items such as tanks, a couple extra regulators, and weigh belts, but by 1130 we were on a small pier dividing up the gear and getting suited up for the dive.

Pat took a few minutes to show me all the ins and outs to the gear, briefing me on potential problems and solutions to each one, then turned and began giving the same brief to our two guests. Afterwards, the girls and I suited up, as Pat finished putting their gear together for them.

We were all dressed out and ready to go when all of a sudden, as pat was putting the finishing touches on the last regulator/tank, there seemed to be a leak coming from the tank valve. Not the valve itself, but air was coming through the gasket that completed the seal between the valve and the regulator when Pat opened the valve to test it after hooking it up. He tried a few different things to stop the leak, but nothing helped.

Finally I said, "Ok, if we can't get this fixed, I'll go ahead and stay behind while the three of you go and dive, ok?"

Well Pat wasn't settling for that just yet! Determined, he tried a few more things but nothing seemed to help.

Finally Pat asked if I would go back to the dive shop where we got the tanks, and see if the shop owner, Nino, could fix it.

Hesitantly I got back into the car, drove it off the pier, and headed for the dive shop.

Within two minutes Nino found the problem. It turned out that there was no rear seal on the valve, which needed to be unscrewed with an allen wrench to see. No wonder Pat couldn't determine the cause of the leak. Oh well, within five minutes the tank was fixed and I was fighting my way back through traffic returning to the pier. Ugh! And you wonder why I was hesitant! :-)

Once Pat was satisfied that the problem had been fixed, we headed into the water. Me first, then Mette, followed by Karen Marie. He helped each of us put on the BC's (life vest), as we took turns sitting down at the waters edge on a step used by boat passengers to embark and disembark. With our legs already in the water, we each shoved of the pier in one fluid counterclockwise movement. One after the other.

Hanging onto grooves embedded along the pier, some with small crabs resting, we waited as Pat descended into the water. Once all in, we headed out straight out about 30 feet (9.1 meters)and received redundant instructions from Pat. He wanted to make sure that each one of us knew exactly what to do, then check our equipment again.

Finally he gave us the signal to submerge. In unison, we all raised our pressure switches, pressed the BC's release valve, to let out all the air in our BC's, and we began to descend.

Silence. All I could hear was the sound of my regulator as I breathed, and the cloud of bubbles surfacing as I exhaled. Bliss.

It was a beautiful day with few clouds hanging over where we were diving, making it a very clear presentation underwater. Visibility was well over 50 feet (15 meters) and there were a lot of interesting features to the bottom contour of this area to see. Coral and sea life appeared everywhere, with even a few out-of-place items such as tree branches, etc. Schools of minnows swimming through the water, and even a few of their potential predators lounging around the bottom, could be seen all around. It was very beautiful.

After a few moments, we gathered around Pat and gave him a thumbs up, signaling we were alright.

Never getting too far away from the group, I took off and started exploring the bottom. Twenty or so minutes had passed by as I glanced at my gauges and discovered that I only had about ten minutes left to explore before I needed to start heading back.

Because I hadn't stuck close to the rest of the group I wasn't sure how much air they had left in their tanks, so I stayed out all by myself and swam back around near the pier just to play it safe. The others were with Pat so I knew I didn't have to worry about them.

Reluctantly I surfaced and placed three Starfish I had found, clinging to a rock, on a huge slab of concrete I could easily get to after getting out of the water. Then, slowly skimming the surface, I made my way back to where we entered the water and climbed out.

Because Pat had assisted me in putting on the BC with the tank strapped to it, as I was climbing out of the water, I was only now just realizing how heavy the entire assembly was. Finally, after taking off my fins, I stood up straight on the pier and walked over to the car. I undid all of the straps and bindings then sat down and waited patiently for the rest to come back.

Goodness, was I thirsty! And having a bit of salt water leak into my mouth as I got out of the water wasn't helping any! Unfortunately, before getting into the water, I had given Pat my keys to hold onto because he was the only one with zipper pockets. Boy, I was regretting it now! There were two liters of fresh water in my trunk and I couldn't get to it! Agh! Oh well, that's probably a good thing because I knew that if I felt this way, so wouldn't they when getting out. And if I had my keys, there probably wouldn't be anymore fresh water to go around when they returned. :-) Haha. (just kidding)

After awhile the rest of them came out of the water and over to the car. I think I gave Pat all of about thirty seconds and said, "Pat, I need my keys...right now!" Haha.

"yeah, I thought you might be wanting those..." he responded.

We just laughed at each other as I opened the trunk and passed around the two bottles of water.

We drove back to the dive shop to turn in the gear we had used, but Nino's store was closed. He had warned Pat that he would be closing up the shop for a lengthy lunch. He also said that if he weren't there when we returned, we would have to come back later in the day. So, we headed up to Pats house for lunch/dinner and made the best of it.

Mette, Karen Marie and I spent the next couple hours soaking up the sun from Pats deck, while he slaved away in the kitchen. I must admit, he's quite the chef. But sometimes he goes just a little bit overboard when it comes to mocking me about how little of the local cuisine I eat. Sorry dude, but if pasta, eggplant and mozzarella is all this is...well you get the picture! :-)

Nevertheless, the food he had prepared that afternoon was some of the best I'd had since arriving in Sicily. He brought out a huge platter of spaghetti, in a clam and squid tomato sauce. Then for a side dish, we had sliced eggplant covered in a tomato sauce and topped off with melted mozzarella. In the middle of all this was a loaf of Italian bread, complete with olive oil to dip it in. Oh, the luxuries of getting fat! :-)

After dinner, Mette and Karen Marie stayed around the table talking with Pat while I headed for the couch, to try and get rid of a headache that had been creeping on.

About an hour later the girls and I said our goodbyes to Pat, gathered up our things, and headed down to the dive shop to turn in the gear.

It had been a pretty full and exciting day so we called it quits and just spent the evening around my home watching a movie.

As any Sunday should be, we took it easy and relaxed most of the day. I was up first again, making coffee and preparing a little something to eat.

Karen Marie came out of their room first. We just kind of sat around talking about what we were going to do that day as I fixed her a plate of sliced peaches, with a few strips of bacon, surrounded by a ball of cottage cheese. She seemed to enjoy it so I was happy.

Mette came out not too long afterwards, and despite saying she didn't eat breakfast very often, seemed to have no trouble digging into the plate I had prepared for her. :-)

I called Darin to see what was up and when he wanted us to come over. It was close to noon by this time and he wanted to know how come we hadn't left to go there yet, haha. So I gathered up a few things for the BBQ and we drove the lengthy two blocks to his place.

Pam, Darin's girlfriend, had previously invited us down to her house to go swimming in the pool, so we decided that after lunch at Darin's we would head on down there for some fun in the Sun!

Now Pam hadn't been introduced to Mette and Karen Marie yet, and seemed a bit uneasy with what was going on. She knew that we had met them up in Chamonix on our boarding trip, and I tried to reassure her we were all just friends -- nothing more, but she seemingly still held reservations about how she should interpret their visit. Obviously I can't tell you exactly what she was thinking because I'm not her, however, it was interesting to see the interaction between them. Even so, we sat down around Darin's living room, watching "The Sixth Sense," starring Bruce Willis, as the food was cooking on the grill.

Since Mette and Karen Marie woke up a bit late, and had a good sized breakfast, none of us three were really too hungry when the food was ready. So we just sat back and finished watching the movie as Darin and Pam had their lunch. Soon after the movie was over, we all gathered out things and headed down to Pam's house.

Surrounded by orange groves on all four sides, Pam's pool made a lovely setting for some afternoon summer fun! The pool itself is quite unique too. Standing nearly fourteen feet (4.3 meters) above ground, encased in walls of concrete. The shallow end of the pool is approximately six feet deep (1.8 meters), descending to nearly twelve feet (3.7 meters) on the deep end. Better than most in-ground pools I've seen!

When looking at the pictures on the left, you can see that the orange trees are only marginally taller than the pool itself. So you can imagine how it looks from the side. For being just a private pool, it's huge!

Two or three hours must have passed by as we swam, relaxed and had fun. The water was quite cool, and since the house shadowed more than half of the pool at that hour, I stayed on the sunny end. Sometimes in the water, but mostly I just sat out working on my tan. :-) Darin and I took turns taking pictures of our guests as they took turns trying to drown us! Haha. We had fun!

Afterwards, as the Sun began to set, we gathered up on the western wall of Pam's patio and soaked up as many rays as we could as it slowly descended down toward the countryside. All around us were orange, lemon and olive trees for as far as the eyes could see. Up close, the islands landscape is somewhat dirty and polluted. But from a distance like this, is a scene cut straight from a foreign film. Beautiful and magnificent!

Regrettably, Darin and Pam had a previous engagement so they had to get ready and leave. I, on the other hand, hadn't planned anything for us that evening, so we headed back to my house for showers.

On the way back I decided tonight would be a good time to go down and show Mette and Karen Marie some of downtown Catania. So after a unanimous vote, and the showers of course, we took a chance with our lives through traffic and found a not-too-outta-the-way parking spot in greater Catania.

Sunday night is always a good time to be out and about in the parts of Italy I have visited. Entire families come out to spend the day together and just enjoy each others company, or not in some cases I suppose. But all in all, it's a day set aside to express the importance of family and belonging. A tradition I someday hope to adopt.

Taking Mette and Karen Marie to the heart of Catania seemed to be the best idea. We strolled along one of the main streets and entered the square, which just happens to contain one the best archeological sites around, at dusk. Only about one-quarter excavated, sets an ancient amphitheater that illustrates just how old and important Catania's focus must have been. In the 1600's Mount Etna had an enormous eruption that left this fruitful city covered with a blanket of lava. Today you can see just how far down the cities floor had been from looking down into this ruin. Nearly twenty feet (6.1 meters) down the seats begin to rise up above the stadium floor. It really is quite a marvel to see. Along the outer rim of the fenced off dig, one can see where the remaining three-quarters disappears underneath the rebuilt streets and buildings that surround the structure. It's too bad this site has not been freed in it's entirety. Oh well, just another place in the world where complacency and commerce have won over archeology.

With the exception of a few cathedrals and other infamous sites, which by this hour were closed, there really isn't too much to see around inner Catania. So after a few minutes of walking through the crowded square, we grabbed ourselves a seat outside at a local favorite Irish Pub just around the corner from the main street, called Waxy's.

It's a pretty cool establishment, decked out predominately in the traditional Irish green, complete with cold Guinness on tap! What more could a man what? Haha...

We ordered a few drinks and discussed all we had seen and done so far this week. By this time, I could sense a little boredom from them and tried to reemphasize that as the week progressed, so wouldn't the activities I had planned. There was still lots to see and do, but personally -- just between you and I (Hehehe), I would have been just as happy going back scuba diving instead of seeing the Valley of the Temples or the Siracusa Amphitheater. :-)

It was getting late so we headed home after only a couple of drinks. And just for the record... I only had one alcoholic beverage, a sweet and plentiful Guiness, then followed it up with a Coke. Why? Because Tony doesn't drive anywhere, with anyone, intoxicated!!!

***Be Smart, Don't Drive Drunk!***

For our trip to Taormina, Darin was able to persuade his girlfriend to let us use her bright red Jeep for the day. Granted, there wasn't any necessity for a 4X4 to get to where we were going, but we couldn't help but feed Mette's drooling envy for the vehicle when she saw it for the first time the previous day. She went on and on about how she dreamt of owning one, and seemed pleasantly content to ride shotgun both to and from our destination in it, while Karen Marie and I sat in the tiny back seat. Darin of course drove.

Because it was already approaching noon, and wanting to get as much sun as possible before it set over the western hillside, we took to the beach first. We found a nice seaside resort that had lounge chairs, complete with umbrella's, on a pebble stone beach. Setting inside almost what could be classified as a lagoon, where a sand rift stretched out to a tiny island 75 meters off to the right, we laid out and began working on our tans.

The sun rays were intense as I lay back trying not to think about the half-dozen topless women encompassing our chairs.

Mette and Karen Marie headed straight for the water. Heck, I would have too but of course I was too busy trying to remind them to bring their bathing suits, resulting in me forgetting my own. Oh well. I just rolled up my knee-high shorts, took down the umbrella and laid back. Compared to Darin I was white as a ghost, so I need this... I needed this bad!

After a couple of hours of roasting our bodies, we hoisted the umbrella's and satisfied our hunger with lunch. Panini's all around!

It wasn't more than ten minutes later everyone but me went back into the water. I watched closely as Karen Marie, who had already proven herself to be quite the strong swimmer, swam about 100 meters out. Now I don't know about what you used to be told, but in the back of my mind I could hear my mother telling us kids, "After eating, wait at least thirty minutes before going back out into the water! If you get a cramp you could drown!!!" So here I sat, nervously watching for the slightest of motion that might indicate Karen Marie was in trouble. I would alternate between glancing over at Darin and Metter, who were busy intimidating each other close to shore, then back out to Karen Marie. Finally after about 10 minutes she slowly begun getting closer and closer to shore, till finally she joined up with the other two who were now sitting half in the water and half on the beach. I tilted my chair back down, turned over and let all light fade to black.

Mid-afternoon came and went as we gathered our belongings and walked back to where we park the Jeep. Hopping back into our places, we pulled out and took the narrow windy road up to Taormina's main attraction - a Greek Amphitheater constructed in 3 BC.

Buzzing with the usual hordes of tourist, Taormina's center was filled with life. Most of the Gelitaria's (Ice Cream Shops) terraces occupied with attempting-to-cool-down onlookers as multi-lingual tour guides gave their speeches about the history of this infamous Sicilian City.

Falling victim to the urge, the four of us entered one of the shops and ordered up a mixture of flavors. I don't recall Mette or Darin's order, but Karen Marie chose a strawberry and chocolate combination while I went with a banana blend. Hmm, Hmm... Tasty! :-)

Walking up a narrow street lined with trinket souvenir and linen shops, we arrived at the Amphitheater entrance and took our place at the end of the ticket counter line. It was very busy with probably thirty people ahead of us. This one lady in front of us, short yet attractive - and obviously alone, turned and commented on something Darin had said relating to the wait in line. She was American. Not too uncommon around here in the summertime, but nice either way.

Standing about 5'2" (158 centimeters), wearing a low-cut white blouse and skirt, she turned back around and kept looking onward toward the ticket booth.

"Excuse me," Darin said, obviously trying to get the woman's attention again.

No response.

Standing closer to the gal, I gently tapped her on the shoulder and asked in a curious tone, "Excuse me, where are you from?"

"New Jersey," She politely said. "I'm just here visiting family in Malta (a small island off Sicily's southern coast), and decided to come up here and take in the sites today."

Darin joined in as we briefly engaged in conversation while waiting for line to shorten. She seemed pleasant and we wished her farewell as it became our turn to purchase tickets.

Walking up a long set of stairs carved out of the hillside, Mette fell a little behind. She was obviously not comfortable walking up such a flight of steps in the hot 100+ degree (37+ C)humid heat. Karen Marie and Darin on the other hand, seemingly raced to the top, while I maintained an in-between distance to keep my eye on everyone. There's nothing worst then getting split up and lost in a strange place. Of course it's a small attraction so the likelihood of that was minimal. I wasn't worried.

For the next forty-five minutes we circled the outer rim of the amphitheater, taken pictures of us overlooking the Ionian Sea, and taking guesses as to what possible activities might have occurred here two thousand years ago. And even though I've been here twice before, it still amazes me each time.

A new stage had recently been built for a film festival that took place a the previous week, where Tom Cruise and his wife Nicole Kidman were in attendance to show Tom's new movie, Mission Impossible 2 (MI2). Now though, there stood on the stage a mocked up version of an ancient sea-going vessel, perhaps for a theatrical play?, I couldn't say. I didn't see any fliers around advertising the show, but then again I wasn't looking for one.

Shortly thereafter we strolled up the main street window shopping, occasionally walking into a few to further examine something that caught one of our interests, but by this time our main focus was on food. Along the way there were many coffee and ice cream shops open, but unfortunately none of the restaurants were open. It was nearing 5 o'clock in the afternoon (17:00) and I could hear a rumbling sound off in the distance... Was Mount Etna erupting? Oh no, ok. I know knew was it was... That was just Darin's stomach telling us all that he was getting low on his energy level and needed to feed! :-) (Just checking to make sure you're paying attention, hehe). Finally, as we were leaving the towns center, we found one restaurant that was open. We took seats in a booth-type table next to an open wall-sized window where a bit of a breeze was coming in.

We hadn't been sitting down more than five minutes when Darin noticed the attractive woman that we had briefly spoke with, outside the amphitheater, walking across the street nearby. He called out to her, as if to invite her to join us, but she didn't hear him. She seemed too busy looking at a tourist guide, then glancing up at some signs that were hanging on a light pole, then continued on down the street.

We ordered and ate, then hopped back into the Jeep and headed back to my place for showers. We all seemed a bit worn out from the days activities, but it had been talked about to go out for a couple drinks afterwards. So, once we were all cleaned up and changed, we had Darin drive us up to a little pub in Motta, called Over-the-Top.

Darin had to bring back Pam's Jeep to her, but promised that he would return shortly. Meanwhile, Mette, Karen Marie and I sat towards the front of the pub where there were three comfortable leather couches and an old Lay-Z-Boy centered around a long coffee table.

For the next hour, to open the floor to discussion, I asked inquisitive questions that have recently been debated in public. Such things as the future of technology, DNA mapping, cloning, etc. Of course I tried to include other topics more geared towards their area's of interest, but I'd generally just bring one up, then sink back down into my seat and listen. Taking note of all the advantages and disadvantages being discussed, and slightly intoxicated by the accents in their voice, just sitting back and listening was good enough for me. I was content being just a mediator. :-)

Darin strolled in about an hour later and we eventually stumbled upon one of Mette's favorite past times - videogames. Being a person of such competitive spirit, she relished in the suggestion that we head down to one of the other local pubs that had a few game machines - Area 51.

I had told Mette there was a skiing game there, you know the ones where you actually get to stand on a mocked up pair of ski's in order to move the player on the screen, but unfortunately that game was no longer there. Of course, I'd only seen it there the one time I had been there before, but that was alright. There were plenty of other games to play. 

Come to find out we couldn't even do that. The person working told us that he was no longer issuing tokens for any of the videogames, but said that we could still check out some pool-balls instead. So, as if in continuation from the games we played in Chamonix, Darin teamed up with Mette while Karen Marie and I took on their challenge.

Proving her competitive self, Mette made several attempts to distract my teams focus as we played two lengthy games. When all was said and done, Mette and Darin were 2 and 0. (#$%^&* em') Haha. Oh well, seeing how I'd made them feel pretty worthless when we were up north, I guess it was only fair to take the whipping respectfully. :-)

Knowing the Sun would be rising in a couple hours, we headed out of there and walked down towards my place to get some shuteye.

Since Darin didn't have anyone else at his place, and knowing he had a large unoccupied guest bedroom, I suggested that Mette follow along with him so she could have her own bed that night. Darin didn't have any problem with that so they turned off the main street and walked off to his place, while Karen Marie and I continued to my home. 

She and I continued to talk awhile, drinking almost two 1 liter bottles of water to replenish our fluids, then headed off to bed.

Karen Marie continued sleeping for a bit longer, but was up and just getting out of the shower when Mette rang the gate buzzer just after eleven o'clock. 

"Did you get a good nights sleep over at Darin's in that big spare bed all by yourself?" I asked.

"Yes actually!" She responded. "It was very nice not having to share the bed for a change."

Laughing, I acknowledged the truth about it and continued gathering a few slices of the lemon seed bread for breakfast.

Apparently Darin had a few things to take care of, but was going to meet us over here at my place later that afternoon. We had planned on spending the day in Agrigento but later agreed it would be best to wait till later so that we could straddle the daylight and early even hours. That way, we would not only get to see it in the daylight, but could also witness the lighting of the Temples after dark.

To pass the time, while waiting on Darin, we didn't do too much except hang around the house watching a bit of television and talking. It was nice though. A nice change of pace. Instead of rushing out the door trying to get somewhere we simply relaxed. Calm.

Darin eventually arrived in his car and we loaded up. Making a short pit stop on our way, we went onto the base and pick up a few last minute items before driving the two hours it would take to get to our destination that day.

Subway sandwiches and bottles of water were brought along for the trip while, still tired from the night before, Mette, Karen Marie and I slept almost the entire distance to the Valley of the Temples. I don't think Darin was too happy about not having anyone to talk to, keeping him alert and awake too, but he brushed it off with his natural ability to produce humor and made the best of it.

Passing through a tunnel, bored through a mountain, we finally were able to see the ancient Temples on a hillside overlooking the distant southern coastline. At a stoplight near the bottom of the valley, the girls were able to catch their first glimpse of an Italian sheep herder tending to his livestock in a field just off the side of the road. Actually, there were two Shepard's tending to the sheep. One overlooking the ones grazing while the other tried to keep some strays from running out into the road.

Standing magnificently, we all stared at the marvel ruins on the hillside as Darin took the last remaining turns towards a parking area near the entrance of the site. Then, after locking up our personal things in the trunk of the car, we hiked up to stand among the ancient ruins and examine what clues of history they could provide during the daylight.

Now I'm not usually too surprised by the ruins around Sicily because I've spent quite a lot of time exploring them, however, these temples proved to be something other than what I've seen in the past. It wasn't until after staring at the first temple's magnificence that we discovered seashells embedded into a majority of the what looked like rock hillside, from which the temples had been constructed. Amazingly enough, all of what was around us was old coral. Everything, except for what had been built in the past several years for tourist the safety, was coral! Meaning that, at one time, all of this was the Mediterranean Sea's floor! I was astounded! Now, all of what science tells us is that at one time all of the earth was covered by water, at some given time in Earths history, but to directly see the results from that - currently 300ft above sea level, was new and wonderful to me.

Reaching the top of the hill, and observing the last of the temples, we sat and rested on a set of coral steps shaped like a miniature grand stand of sorts. The Sun was beginning to set and we had an awesome view of it. Light auburn and orange skirting the sky brought out the true color of the temples and made for a postcard setting. It was beautiful.

It didn't take too long for Darin to make our belly's hurt with his best impressions of "Fat Bastard," one of the characters Mike Myers plays in his recent comedy, Austin Powers II. He had up practically rolling off the steps! It was cool!

Since the lights highlighting the Valley of the Temples would soon be turned on, we headed back down the hillside to the car to finish eating what we had left of our submarine sandwiches. 

Adjoining to the parking lot was a little cafe' with tables and chairs, so we ordered a few miscellaneous items to sample as we waited for the temple lights to be turned on. 

Deciding not to go all the way up this time, we simply strolled halfway up and enjoyed the scenery and accents the light show provided us. On our way back down, however, Mette and I walked up to one of the badly eroded temples that we hadn't looked at before. At first I thought that both Darin and Karen Marie had continued on down to the parking lot, but suddenly Karen Marie appeared out of the darkness and joined us.

We walked around the open temple, which was not fenced off like the others, and sat on a few of the long since fallen pillars. We looked on as one couple, newlyweds dressed out in their wedding attire, were having their picture taken by a photographer. It truly was that beautiful of a place to have such photographs taken. Very romantic, in a medieval sort of way.

As we stood up and began walking back, the photographer stopped Karen Marie and I, politely asking if we were boyfriend and girlfriend. In the best Italian I could muster, I told him no, that we were just friends. He looked a little disappointed, but optimistically continued to ask if we would mind posing in one of the pictures. What he wanted was a couple kissing in the background, behind the bride and groom. I turned and presented the idea to Karen Marie. Obviously shy, and blushing a little, she reluctantly agreed to do it.

The photographer positioned us off axis to the couple, then began giving me instructions on how he would signal when to begin and end our embrace. Standing face to face with Karen Marie, I placed my arms around her while she did the same. Staring eye to eye, we both giggled a little with embarrassment, and I could feel the obvious nervousness from her shaking. 

I tried to say something to calm her a bit, but suddenly the photographer gave me the preplanned signal so I just shut up, brought her closer to me, and kissed her on the lips. Immediately tensing up, I could feel her begin to relax a little after the initial shock. Our lips then thinned out as we both began to smile during the embrace. I don't know about her, but the realistic ten second duration seemed to last ten minutes. Finally the photographer spoke up and I gently let go and backed away. We shared a split second eye-to-eye moment before turning to acknowledge the photographers thanks. 

I gave the couple my best wishes then turned and began waking down towards the parking lot with Karen Marie.

"We're going to be on the cover of "Brides" magazine!" I jokingly told Darin and Mette as we neared the car. Karen Marie joined in and told the story of our event as we got into the car and drove off.

Arrived at my home shortly after 11pm (2300), we all sat around my living room watching the two comedy movies, Love Stinks and Deuce-Bigalow, before finally calling it a day and retiring shortly after 3am (0300). 

"Are we going to go to Saracusa today or what?" she asked.

And despite feeling like a sac of potatoes, "Yeah, sure...," I answered.

So far this week, we had been out on the road quite a bit and I didn't feel like going anywhere! I was perfectly content with staying at home and calling it a "Tony's Rest Day!" :-)

Once consuming a couple cappuccino's I confided my thoughts and feelings to Mette. She seemed a bit disgruntled, but eventually became satisfied while watching a movie she had chosen to rent the day before. So we basically just dragged out butts around the house, took showers, then eventually made it out and down to the base to get the pictures we had taken all week developed. 

Afterwards, we dropped Mette off at the house, then I took Karen Marie up to one of the little stores in Motta to get some stamps, so she could mail out postcards to her family and friends back home.

All in all, it was just a cool-down day. Full of rest and relaxation, with nothing much else to talk about.

We did, however, make it out again to a very nice family restaurant in upper Motta near the castle for dinner. Granted it was after 9pm (2100), but most Italians don't even start coming out to eat till then anyway, so we felt safe that it was still open. It was.

Afterwards, Darin and Mette expressed their interest in going back to Area 51, the bar/cafe' we had played pool at Monday night, and play a few games against each other. I wasn't really interested in going and told them I was just going to walk back to my place. Karen Marie said she would join me and so we headed down the street while Darin and Mette drove off.

Nearly two hours after we arrived at my place, Mette came back gleaming. We asked her who won and she gladly described how she had kicked Darin's a** at some car racing game. Haha.

We went to bed early that night. Sometime around midnight.

We were just outside of Motta when I received a call from Darin.

"I hope you guys aren't waiting for me...I'm at work and probably be here till late this afternoon." He explained.

"No, no. We're just outside of Motta on our way now," I said. "From what I understood yesterday, you weren't coming with us to Saracusa today anyway."

"Oh ok, cool. See you later?" he answered.

"Yep, Yep! I'll give you a call when we get back! Talk to you later." I responded.

Displaying my fairly-well-adopted Italian driving skills, I explained to Mette and Karen Marie that the two-way road we were on would eventually become three-lanes on either side in August, when practically the entire country shuts down and goes on vacation. I pointed out the obvious dangers as cars, going in opposite directions, would simultaneously pass slow large trucks ahead of them. The truckers, obviously aware of these typical driving habits, straddle the white lines on the right hand side of the roads (where there are white lines anyway), allowing ample room for the traffic behind to pass in both directions with minimal chances for a head on collision between passing cars.

Once parked just outside the entrance of the Saracusa Amphitheater, we walked through the several souvenir shops just outside the gate and paid our entry fee of eight lire each ($4 or 32DKK).

At first, Mette striped me of my camera privileges and refused to let me take a few shots of her and Karen Marie around the amphitheater. :-( But, eventually she was careless and left it sitting on Karen Marie's bag while Karen Marie climbed up into one of the caves, dug into the upper amphitheater walls. Making an obvious snag, I grabbed it and took a couple of shots while they both sneered at me. :-)

"Ok, I won't take anymore unless you ask me to," I said.

We continued on, exploring what there was to be explored, then retreated to a small sandwich shop just outside the gate. There wasn't much of a selection so each of us bought a spinach and cheese calazone sort-of-thing, which came full of spinach, but almost no cheese. Ugh! I really wasn't enjoying mine at all, but Karen Marie didn't seemed to mind. Mette and I only ate about half of ours then wrapped it back up in the tinfoil it had come in.

In search of a nice sandy beach, I drove south only to discover that most of the waterfront was made of low-level rock cliffs. There were several people all along the shores enjoying the beautiful weather, but that wasn't exactly what I had promised the girls.

I had been down here the previous year snorkeling, which I had to enter the water from a sandy beach, but I didn't quite remember where it was. So we continued on southward till finally I drove past a small one that the girls seemed to be happy with. I stopped and let them out of the car while I continued up the car-lined street in search of a place to park. Within minutes I found one then joined up with them. We setup our spot on the sand then entered the cool and refreshing water.

We only had an hour and a half to enjoy as much of it as we could, but had to be back on the road and across the street from the base by 5pm (1700), because Mette had scheduled an appointment at the tattoo parlor. So, as our time at the beach expired, we headed back on the road and made it back 15 minutes early. :-)

She had come to finalize on a small Sun shaped design while we waited outside for the guy to finish on another customer. I couldn't help but laugh at her enthusiasm. She was all excited!!!

"We have to go have a celebratory beer after this, ok?" Karen Marie suggested.

"Ok, no problem... We'll go next door to the Sig-Inn afterwards!" I answered.

When the artist was all finished setting up new gear for her, Karen Marie followed her in to share in the experience. Karen Marie wanted to get one too, but didn't pursue it. She already gotten one, a Celtic-style rose on her ankle, in Denmark.

Patiently, I waited for the two of them to come out as I sat in a little homemade couch outside under a tree in the shade.

Woken up by Karen Marie as she sat down next to me, I opened my eyes and saw Mette re-taping the bandage over her soar, newly painted skin.

"Everything go alright?" I asked with a smile.

"Oh yeah!" She answered, unable to tear away the perm-a-grin from her face.

I listened as she and Karen Marie described the time they had spent inside getting it done. Listening still, Karen Marie continued to explain how much she had tried to distract Mette from the pain, unsuccessfully of course, and went on about how much she wished she had gotten another one too. 

Being one of the few sailors in the U.S. Navy without ever getting one, I just sat back and laughed.

As discussed, we went into a the pub next door and ordered a couple of beers for them, and a coke for me. :-)

We planned for dinner that evening at a nice restaurant nearby, at the Catania driving range. So I called Darin and let him know that we had finished our business there and would be heading back to my house shortly to get ready. He said he'd meet us at my house in about an hour so we finished up our drinks and drove home.

On our way to eat, Darin pulled over on the side of the road so Karen Marie could get a picture of a lovely sunset in progress. Glaring out in a dark orange, comparing equally to the beauty from the one we witnessed while at the Valley of the Temples, she stood on Darin's trunk to get a better shot of it. Then we were off...

Just missing the Sun's final decent over the horizon, sitting at a table on the back terrace of the restaurant, we settled in for our last supper together. Recollecting all that had occurred this past week, we talked of the good times we had shared.

I tried desperately not to think about the next day when they would leave us, but my thoughts were there. We spoke of what things would happen when I arrived in Denmark, and stayed focused on all things good.

Darin mentioned he had to work the following day, so we paid our bill and proceeded to return to Motta. 

Karen Marie expressed her interest in getting a couple drinks afterward, but Darin said he was sorry and declined the offer. I was ok with it, so I told Darin to drop us off at one of the bars close to my house.

There was only three Italian men and the bartender there at Friends Bar, but we decided to stay anyway.

Karen Marie talked about getting up early and going to an 11th Century cathedral downtown Catania before having to leave. Trying to think optimistically, and realistically - if that would be possible, I presented a choice. One, we stay and have a few more drink, or two, we call it an early night (of course by this time it was already close to midnight), and do as she wished the following day.

Finally a compromise was made. One more drink, then the cathedral in the morning. Oh, how I would have like to make her wish come true!

Mette came knocking on my door at 10:30, "Hey, you going to get up sometime today?"

"Yep, I'm up! I'll be right out!" I answered.

Karen Marie was still sleeping, but Mette had already packed up her bags and was sitting down eating some fruit, watching TV in the living room.

"Guess you guys aren't going to the church this morning huh?" She asked.

"Nope, it's too late for that now..." I answered, fixing myself a coffee.

Karen Marie was up and in the shower not too long afterwards. She went and got dressed, came out for her morning espresso, then packed up her belongings.

I expressed my apologies for not getting up early to drive to Catania, but she let me off the hook easy and said that it was alright.

"Next time!" I told her.

Darin arrived just after twelve o'clock. He helped pack up their belongings in my car, then making one last final sweep through my home, we looked to make sure they weren't forgetting anything. Soon after we arrived at the Catania airport.

Darin and I helped them with their luggage and getting checked in, then lead them to the departure point.

We took turns embracing in a farewell hug, then Darin and I watched on as they disappeared around the corner leading to final departure gate.

Going back home didn't seem to enticing. I knew it would be silent and lonely. But finally, I got back into my car, dropped off Darin at his house, then entered the darkness.

:::Fade to Black:::

THE END :-)