REDBOOK Reads: Q&A with Ann Leary

We are staying near the town of Taormina on the eastern coast of Sicily.  In Taormina, as in many areas in this regions, Mt. Etna can be seen in the distance.  Mt Etna is the largest active volcano in Europe.  It’s a heavy smoker.

Mt. Etna from Taormina

Yes, we are in Sicily.

Yesterday, we spent the morning on the beach and then we took a little drive.  Our travel agent, Rosemary,  had told us not to rent a car because she thinks the driving is difficult in this area.  ”Most Americans find it to be a little intimidating,” she said.

We are NOT most Americans, so we insisted on the rental car and yesterday afternoon, we set off for a drive to a scenic town that a man named Enzo had told us about. We met Enzo on the beach yesterday morning. Enzo doesn’t speak English very well, and we don’t speak Italian, though I am constantly trilling, “Buongiorno” and “Grazie” and “Permesso” at hapless waiters and passersby, gesticulating wildly,  all my accents on the wrong syllables and my spittle bouncing off the wrong consonants.