Beach time with Igea.

Lido Mondello.
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Today, Michael’s cousin, Igaea (sister of Pasquale) picked us up to take us to the beach a Mondello on the other side of Palermo. Igaea is in her 50’s and is absolutely gorgeous --- she reminds me of a blonde Sofia Loren. She speaks little English (perhaps a bit more than Pasquale), but we had no difficulty in chatting the entire time.

Igaea and her husband, Lilo, have rented a cabine (little beach hut) at Mondello for more than 20 years. Thus, they seem to know everyone. We got situated as Luca and Jeremy took off to swim. Igaea’s and Pasquale’s sister, Nanetta, arrived a little later to spend the day with us as well. We had a lot of fun swimming, sunning, and chatting with the family. Lilo set up a gigantic picnic (pizza, sandwiches, arancina, melon, beer, etc.) and we were barely able to consume half of it.

Cynthia with cousins Igea and Nanetta.
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Igaea, Michael, Luca and I went for a stroll while Jeremy decided to stay behind and nap. We walked into the town of Mondello and found a gelateria. When we got back, it was clear that Jeremy had fried (despite SPF 30). Poor guy…

We headed back to our apartment, got ready, then were picked up by Pasquale to go to dinner near his summer home in Altavilla. We went out for pizza at Pegaso, a local hotspot. Once again, we had more food than we could eat, but the leftovers will come in handy for snacks over the next day or so.

Noel and company (5 of our 21 students) arrived this evening and Noel kindly is allowing them to crash in his room. They all came together on the train from Naples. His apartment is directly below ours. Work begins soon…

Home late --- almost 1:00 a.m. Another profound night of rest.