We are in the middle of the annual Festival of Sant'Agata, the patron saint of Catania. We were invited to the home, pictures, of our WR Gregorio to watch the start of the big parade in her honor. Gregorio's family lives on the second story of a building that overlooks the parade's
starting point. His mamma, Katerina, is a great hostess and a marvelous cook. She and her friends made all sorts of antipastos, pastas and dolci to feed the 50 people who were there as spectators. MANGIA, MANGIA, MANGIA! You can hear Katerina speaking on the second DVD telling us about some of the parade's traditions. GOOD PEOPLE!
If I can upload my videos you will really get an idea of the local color of Catania. It's a BIG if.
The people in the first video carry these very heavy gold candeli all over Catania for two days. They wear white tunics as a sign of penitence. As near as I can tell, they wear the black hats solely because they look cool and Sicilians are all about style!
The second video highlights the people pulling Sant'Agata's reliquary by two huge ropes. Along the parade route, people offer yellow candles, money, jewels, flowers and anything else they can to thank Sant'Agata for her protection of the city.
It was all very interesting.
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