Christmas party 2019 of the Fiat 500 Club Italia – Catania branch
Andreas, father Christmas and Giuseppe Cuscani, treasurer of the Catania branch
When Andreas, a staff member of the Axel Gerstl team, answered a sponsoring request from the Catania branch of the Fiat 500 Club Italia by suggesting that he might travel to Sicily himself to deliver the promised 100 Axel Gerstl Christmas wall calendars, he meant it as a joke in the beginning. But that gag soon materialised into a veritable plan – after all, we had been actively in touch with the Fiat 500 enthusiasts from the island at the toe of the Italian “boot” since the end of 2018. Davide Cappadonna, chairman of the Fiat 500 Club Italia in Catania and, at the same time, author of a photo featuring his Giardiniera in the 2020 edition of the Axel Gerstl calendar, was immediately hooked when he learned about the idea of an Axel Gerstl “brand ambassador”, owning himself a little Fiat 500 L, coming over for a spontaneous brief visit.
Davide and his Fiat in the Axel Gerstl calendar
Andreas started his trip to Catania on Saturday 14th December, 2019, as the Christmas party – 2019 featured the 13th edition of this Fiat 500 branch meeting which has meanwhile become a tradition – was scheduled for the following Sunday early in the morning.
On that day, the almost 100 participants and their Fiats 500 gathered at 8:30 in the morning. With typical Italian nonchalance and aplomb, they lined up in the little town of Santa Maria di Licodia. (please see video 1, video 2, video 3 and video 4.)
While waiting for some “stragglers” to show up, the others joined a guided historical tour of this little town located about 25 kms north-west of Catania. This was the perfect pastime for Andreas who is highly interested in history.
Around 11 a.m., the awarding ceremony for the three Fiats 500 with the loveliest Christmas decoration took place, featuring a tombola.
Andreas was also eager to congratulate the winners and to have a photo taken together with them.
He was particularly delighted when Davide asked him to come up to the podium during the awarding ceremony so that he had the occasion to deliver a welcome address on behalf of the Axel Gerstl company and team.
After the obligatory cruise, (see video 5 and video 6) it was time to head off for Belpasso to have dinner at the “Casale del notaio”, a popular restaurant destination.
But Andreas had no idea of what was awaiting him there: hours of eating at the highest level!
He enjoyed the “very intimate atmosphere” and absorbed the “good vibrations” all over the place – this is how he put it himself.
With the end of the Christmas party, however, the journey was by no means over yet for Andreas. As recommended by Davide, he visited the towns of Ognina and Noto the next day and let himself be enchanted by the architecture from the late baroque period, especially in Noto.
Moreover, he could fulfil a “long-cherished private wish”: seeing the world-famous floor mosaics of the Villa Romana del Casale, a UNESCO world heritage site from the Late Antiquity.
On his way there, he discovered another awesome photo subject: a Fiat 500 Giardiniera converted into a sales booth!
After his return to Germany, Andreas highly praised the overwhelming hospitality the Catania branch of the Fiat 500 Club Italia showed towards him. He said that he was warmly accepted wherever he went and that he could also establish new ties of friendship. And of course it is beyond all question for him that this was not his last trip to Sicily, and especially to Catania.
