We are in Siracusa visiting still more cousins of Frank. This group includes Toto, Evelina, Antonino, and Diego.  Evelina’s grandmother was Frank’s aunt (his mother’s sister).  So Evelina’s mother, Frank, and Enza were all first cousins.  We met up with the whole family, including Evelina’s mother, Tina, last year (picture above).  Sadly, Tina passed away earlier this year.

I  have known Evelina the longest of all the cousins because she and her son, Antonino, visited us in Venice right before our wedding.

Evelina is a dentist and also a judge for the Miss Italia pageant. She works with the Miss Sicilia program and all the pageants leading up to Miss Italia.  So when she is not at the office, she is wearing formal attire and off to some big event (I took these pictures from her Facebook page).

Evelina’s husband, Toto, is a former city councilman, real estate businessman, and owner of the Andive Sporting Club that hosts sports tournaments, complete with playing fields, hotel rooms, and recreation facilities.  They have an apartment in town, but mainly live in a beautiful house (we went last year) set in a lemon grove next to Andive.  Their son, Antonino, is in dental school in Albania, and their other son, Diego, is graduating from high school and off to university – with a goal to be a dentist as well.

Just like in Canicatti, the Siracusan cousins have rolled out the red carpet – first by taking us to a local place with excellent aperitivo.

And then for pizza – but with a flair – at a Syrian restaurant that is run by Evelina’s good friend. It was very trendy with a fishtank in the floor!

They had amazing and very gourmet appetizers and pizzas.  And everyone knew Evelina and Toto – we had dozens of people stop by to meet us.  (How fun to travel around with real VIPs!)