1999: Jumping Off the Big Boot
by Carl Russo
1.
The odyssey I dreamt about was coming true as the plane touched down at Fiumicino Airport in Rome. I had spent the previous week camping with my girlfriend in the Trinity Alps of California, my nose buried in travel books to tack together an itinerary. Suffice it to say, Vanessa was not very happy: her vacation was ending while mine was staring me in the face.
The idea is old as the hills (or at least as old as Alex Haley's Roots) for I, Carlo Ratissimo Russo, was poised to kiss the rocky yet fertile soil from whence sprang my Sicilian roots.
Join me, if you dare, on one white boy's sojourn that began at Rome's Hotel Kennedy (how they love JFK over there!) and ended in the gruesome catacombs of Palermo. And then there's the surprise ending...
And what's that above? A Roman band greeting my arrival with the theme to Groovie Movie Soundtracks? It's really true what they say: such a warm people!
[
Italy: Sicily 1
|
Spain, Portugal, Morocco
|
France
|
Greece
|
Italy: Rome
|
Italy: Sicily 2
|
Italy: Mezzogiorno
|
Italy: Sicily 3 & 4
|
Italy: Sicily 5
]
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