Savoca (For Fans of The Godfather)

Remember the part in The Godfather, where Michael Corleone was hiding in Sicily, after shooting the the dirty cop and Sollozzo?

"I apologize if I offended you. I am a stranger in this country. And I meant no disrespect to you, or your daughter. I am an American, hiding in Sicily. My name is Michael Corleone. There are people who'd pay a lot of money for that information. But then your daughter would lose a father instead of gaining a husband. I want to meet your daughter and with your permission and under the supervision of your family with all respect."

Michael "asks" Appolonia's father for permission (with two rifle toting bodyguards) while sitting at Bar Vitelli.

Our experience at Bar Vitelli was a little different: "We apologize if we offended you. We are strangers in this country. And we meant no disrespect to you, or your bar. We are Americans, hiding in Sicily. My name is Stefano Giobbi. There are people who'd pay a lot of money for that information. But then you would be losing a customer instead instead of gaining a tip. We want vino rosso and with your permission and under the supervision of your family with all respect." We got our red wine (Okay, this is not how we ordered it, but as Steve says, "no one likes a boring story"!!!).

After the vino rosso, we walked up to the church (see the photo) where Michael married Appolonia. We were two clowns running up to the church at 6:59 pm. The church closes at 7 pm. As the door swung closed, we were content with a few external photos of a beautiful church. But, in keeping with Sicilian culture, the door swung back open with a "buona sera?" (good evening?), and a priceless open invitation was granted into the hearts and souls of the people of Savoca.

35 years after the movie was filmed, Savoca still has it's magic. It's a beautiful village tucked back into the mountains of Sicily. No matter if it is 2007, 1972, or 1472, we don't think that Savoca has changed very much...and we hope it never does.