Oven-Roasted Grilled Cheese

So, I guess I’ll tell you about Vulcano, which I visited after Stromboli, until October 5^th, when I came to Trecastagni, later. Because this adventure in cooking has to be told now, while it’s fresh on my mind.

So, Friday, October 5^th, I arrived in Milazzo via boat, around 10. Then, I caught a bus to Messina and got there around noon, and caught the first train out to Catania. I must have gotten to Catania around 2, and then found a bus to Trecastagni, the “suburb” of Catania where my Etna contact, Boris Behncke, lives, and where my residence for the month is, and bought a ticket for it. I was told it would leave in 40 minutes from spot 1 in the bus parking lot. Alright. So, I got to the lot and looked for others that were Trecastagni-bound. Didn’t find anyone, but I knew what I was looking for. I refused to set my bag down, as the rocks I have gathered at each volcano has made it weigh a ton, and the worst part of carrying my bag is getting it on my back. I forgot to look at my watch at the time that I was told 40 minutes from now, so guessing, I figured around 2:40. That time came and went, it was probably closer to 2:20 or so when I talked to the guy I bought my ticket from, but it couldn’t have been later than 2:30, so around 3, give or take ten minutes. For those of you that don’t know, I’m TERRIBLE at estimating time. So, keeping an eye on my watch…3:10 passed…ok, so…dang. I started asking around again. Still no one was Trecastagni-bound. Someone spoke good English though! Yay! Hope! He started asking around, in Italian, and found out from a bus driver that said bus would leave at 4. Fine. At this point, I took the bag off. I had already stood around for an hour with iton my back, after all. But the 4 o’clock bus was on time from spot 1! Maybe I misheard the ticket guy, I guess I don’t know. I arrived at i Rustici, my place of residence, and checked in and looked around some. The place is gorgeous, however, I’m in a basement room. And it feels like a basement room. But, it’s cheap, and I have access to wifi and a pool, and I have my own kitchen-ette and bathroom.  So, who am I to complain?

The next day, Saturday, I decided to find food. Find a grocery store and do some shopping, like the grown-up I’m trying to prove myself to be. Found one, and got lots of junk food, and some bread and cheese and butter and milk and juice. Good deal. Grown-up I am. I also got frozen pizza. I got back to my room, having not eaten lunch, around 4 or 5, and HUNGRY and looking forward to my frozen pizza! I read the instructions on the box, and started preheating the oven to 220°C, like the box said. I put the pizza in, because I was hungry enough not to bother with truly preheating. Yay! Pizza soon! Then, I got the fridge turned on and put away groceries before…DARK. The lights went out, including in the fridge. Ok, I shorted the circuit. Great. So I went in search of the owners…and couldn’t find them. Anywhere. Next I looked for the circuit-breaker…again, couldn’t find it. I was texting mom, freaking out now, because I had bought some ice cream, which must have been melting! She says, simply and oh so obviously, well, call them. Duh. But I don’t have their numbers. I text and ask her for them, while trying to find the owners again, and she says she already sent them to me, but before that, I found their numbers on a sign, so all good. I call, and fighting the language barrier, seem to successfully communicate my problem. Her sister will be over soon to help with my ice cream, and they’ll arrive in an hour. Fantastic, not. But at least the ice cream problem will be solved. The sister arrives, and as we’re leaving the building, to go to her fridge, I think, she spots the breaker and flips the switch! Poof! I have lights! Perfect! So, I turn the oven back on, and I’m in the dark again within minutes. I continued this dance a few more times, trying variations, hoping to use the oven. No such luck. So, I gave up, and ate a partially raw pizza. Oh well.

Next day, I just ate cereal, and worked on pictures and relaxing and such. It was a nice day. And, in the evening, Boris came and picked me up, and we went to the Hilton in a nearby town, where he gave a presentation on Etna to a group of American tourists. I think I nearly passed out from excitement. He had so much information, pictures, and videos incorporated. I was…in an unbelievably happy place. And, sitting in the front row, I looked like a freak, my face was so contorted with happiness.

On Monday, I relaxed less and worked more on the same stuff as the day before…I try, but I don’t tend to do so well if I’m taking a “chill day”. But, I got stuff done.

Today…was the first day of a 5 year old in a world of eternal Christmas. I was a 5 year old in a 5 story candy store. I was a 5 year old little girl riding her first pony.

It was AMAZING! I kept Boris very entertained, as he introduced me to different people, and showed me different areas of the Catania branch of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), as I was so enthralled. It was so cool. I met geochemists that sample the gas emitted at Etna. I met a cartographer, and saw lots of great posters and maps that thrilled me. It was amazing. Boris also has a group of German students, mostly high school, visiting, so I met them today. They all laughed when I exclaimed,” I’ll remember your name!” as I was told the name Kim amidst insanely German names. But I seem to have impressed Kim, as I did not forget her name. 

Me and the Germans

Then, the Germans and I were brought to the control room…to stinkin’ cool! There are a bunch of seismic monitor screens and other monitoring screens! And there’s an alarm that goes off in case of a real earthquake, a change in volcanic tremors, or some other changes! And there are live video feeds, both in normal view and in thermal imagery. It was amazing. And I can now die happy. Oh! And I went to a lecture given by Brittany Brand on pyroclastic flows, using Mt. St. Helens as the focus (she’s from Seattle), which was really interesting! So I had a fantastic, and amazing first day at INGV!

The INGV Control Room Screens

The INGV Control Room Screens

For dinner tonight, I wanted grilled cheese. So, I cut two “slices” from my brick of provolone cheese, and buttered my bread. Then, I tried turning on my stove…nothing. I don’t know if it’s some funny business that I don’t understand, or if it just doesn’t work. But no stove. Well, now I have two small grilled cheese sandwiches waiting to be grilled. I know! I’ll use the oven, after all, I had been told to use a particular little symbol on the knob, and use 180 at the highest, so I heat it up to 60, and put my sandwiches in a sauce pan of sorts. The butter melts…but it seems like it needs a little more, so I turn it up to 80…then to 100…then my room goes dark again…SERIOUSLY?! So, I’ll be talking to the owners tomorrow again, this time with Boris I hope, so I don’t have to resort to broken Spanish…as I’ve never learned how to say “going above 100° with the oven causes my room to lose power” and even if I had, I don’t think they have in Spanish. But, I continued to roast my sandwiches, until I gave up on them getting any darker (they were still yellow, rather than golden or brown or even black). They weren’t bad…but they didn’t really satisfy the craving for grilled cheese I’ve had for a while now.

Wish me luck in figuring out my kitchen! And just as I had begun to really settle into this room! I hope I don’t have to move, but I may…I guess I’ll find out!

Ciao!