The American Embassy of Sigonella: Applebee's!
Last night we hopped in the car, drove a half hour southwest of Catania, made two lefts, and arrived in... SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA!
Wide Boulevards and Palm Trees... are we at The Galleria in Sherman Oaks?
Yes, it was our first visit to Sigonella - the United States Navy Base here in Sicily and home to all things American - for something that is downright Red, White, and Blue: DINNER AND A MOVIE.
Keith, Me, Christie, Matt, and Brandon: American Ambassadors of FUN!
Wings: The reason the boys came!
The trip was arranged to meet our new friend Keith, who is a hockey (yes, hockey) player on Valeria's Sicilian Hockey Team, the Catania Flames. Keith (along with wife Lorie and their two children) is just finishing up his 3 year tour of duty in Catania (Working as a Navy Diver), and came to our last home game, where we all instantly hit it off. Sensing our yearning for a little bit of America, he kindly invited his fellow countrymen to the base to watch the new Will Farrell comedy "Semi-Pro" and to eat something that tasted like home.
After clearing security, our first stop was the "Unofficial" American Embassy of Italy: Applebee's. Now I know what you are thinking - "Applebee's is a big deal? It's just a normal sit-down, serve-12-different-types-of-cuisine-in-a-very-generic-way type of restaurant." I know... I too pass 4 of them on my way home from the mall on an average day in North America. However, after living in Italy for over 100 days now, you do get the slight yearning 'Home Cooked Food' - and for us that involves chicken quesadillas, juicy burgers, messy, sloppy ribs, and of course, soda with ICE and UNLIMITED REFILLS. (Matt refers to this as heaven.) We enjoyed appetizers and blended drinks (also a rare thing for Italy), all while watching good ol' CNN.
TOP TEN SIGNS THAT THE U.S. DOLLAR IS STRONG: The bill for our appetizers was $30 US... I paid with a 50 Euro Bill... and received 48 dollars of change! You gotta love our economy! We later grabbed snacks at the movie -- and tell me if this sounds realistic: 2 bags of pop-corn, 3 drinks, 4 large candy's ... for $10!
The film was great... another classic 'Farrell' comedy of crude humor, obnoxious yelling, and the obligatory 'man fights a bear' sketch. It did hit close to home, though, as Farrell's character, Jackie Moon, is a man after Davide's own heart: he is PLAYER - OWNER - COACH and full-time PROMOTER of an ABA Basketball Team. Perhaps if we steal a few of Jackie's ideas (such as 'Free Corndog Night' or 'Jumping over 8 Cheerleaders on Roller Skates stunt night') we could attract a few more fans? Either way, I took notes and will be sharing them with Davide later today.
All in all, it was a great chance to get to know new friends, share some laughs, and drink as much Diet Pepsi as humanly possible. My kind of night!
The Italians may have invented Pizza, Ice Cream, Fine Art, and Pasta... but we came up with SUPERSIZED SODA!
~ J. Twice
1 comment:
Jayson,
Are you in town this weekend? Our oldest, Lane, has a soccer game on Saturday at 1200 on the base. Are you interested in watching the game and getting some pancake mix?! I don't know the movie schedule yet, but their is a chance Iron Man will be showing. Give me a call.
Ciao,
Keith
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