PhotoClub Trip #1: Caltagirone

We were super busy today. This morning we volunteered at our MOMS Club Beach Clean Up in Gela. That was really cool. I'll post another update on that, when my friend sends me the pictures she took.

What I do have photos of today, though, is our first ever Photography Club's "field trip." For our first, we chose Caltagirone to photograph the area around the city's main attraction of Scale di Santa Maria del Monte, which is a set of stairs with 142 steps tiled with hand painted tiles (no two levels, or tiles for that matter, are exactly alike.) We had a blast and thankfully Carlee was so well behaved, even after being in the sun and sand all morning! It was so much fun to spend time with people who also love photography, people watching, and of course eating! We found a little pizzeria with awesome bruschetta pizza and lemon granita! (*edit* I originally said gelato, but it was in fact granita, a flavored shaved ice type of treat, not ice cream.) Very nice! Here are my favorite pictures from the day:

I loved this window.
I love how the guy is looking at the clover in this one:

I think this is going to end up being my signature photo. LOL

This was us at the very top of the stairs (our first time ever climbing to the top!)

These were at that little pizzeria... I so wish they had been vegan. :) But they were very pretty.

An afternoon in Ramacca

Today we went to Ramacca's artichoke festival. We finally found some grilled artichokes! Can't you tell how ecstatic Tony was?!? (We went to Niscemi's artichoke festival about a week ago, but went too early in the day, and there was no grilled artichokes to be found.) Ramacca's festival this year seemed a lot bigger than last year, but it could be because we went during the day this time when the huge market was still open. There were so many pictures I wanted to take, but since Carlee's stroller was full of 8 kilos of blood oranges (5 euro) and a whole crate's worth of artichokes (2 euro,) I was having to hold her hand and make sure she wasn't kidnapped by gypsies (just kidding.) But I didn't want to lose her in the mass of people that's for sure.

The day was nice until after we ate, and then Carlee caught sight of a balloon unicorn she wanted from a toy vendor. ugh, I dread facing those guys, they will pretty much shove things in your kid's hands to make you buy them. Well, that's exactly what he did, he immediately took the unicorn off and handed it to Carlee. Tony asked how much. "Five euro," the guy said. 5 EURO! for a plastic balloon toy thing! (Right at this minute, 5 euro is $7.86!) Tony took back the balloon and gave it to the guy. He went down to 4 euro giving it to Carlee again. No thanks, Tony gave it back. I think he went down to 3 euro (which I think was what he was charging Italians to begin with) and which I would have paid but we were trying to walk off. He caught up with Carlee and gave it to her again, angrily saying, "Regalo!" (a gift!) ugh. He knew we weren't going to walk off without giving him something for it. Tony ended up giving him a 2 euro coin. He angrily said something to Tony about how we could just afford to eat the artichokes and pay for that but we couldn't pay for a balloon animal.

Ohhh I wish I knew more Italian. I mean seriously there's a big difference between lunch for 2 and 1/2 people costing 4 euro (for 8 grilled artichokes) and paying 5 euro for a balloon toy that was cheaply made in China, and will inevitably end up in the trash. Plus I would have reminded him that for us, the euro is way more expensive that what they are used to, and if we didn't want to buy a toy, then that's our choice as a consumer, so tough. oh I don't know... Sometimes I think we're just getting a little burned out on being here. Just a little.... lol. On a more chipper note, Carlee fell in love the unicorn and played with it all afternoon while we cooked dinner. I did feel like we should have paid 3 euro for it, but if the vendor would have just asked for 3 from the beginning, instead of trying to get the most out of the Americans, he would have gotten the 3 euro.

Rome Post... Finally!

Like I said, our trip to Rome could have been a little better. I was pretty much not feeling good from day 1 and soon after, I was in pain the rest of the time. So, poor Tony had to deal with Carlee the entire time, AND deal with me. He was great though. So, we didn't take too many pictures, and a lot of the ones we took (especially in St. Peter's Basilica) came out really dark.

We flew into Rome on Saturday the 22nd, and immediately started touring. The first day we took a Church tour on the bus. We first went to Church of St. Paul. I loved the front of this church. You can't really see it in the pictures, but the background of the paintings were this shimmering gold. It was so awesome.
We were amazed at the sight of statues like this one. I mean seriously, how do they get stone to look like flesh or fabric? It was so awesome to see.
On Sunday, we hit the Coliseum and the ancient Roman ruins nearby. We also saw some other sites, including some churches and the Pantheon. I think this was honestly my favorite tour. It was so awesome to walk through the ruins, and the Coliseum is so enormous and incredible. It helped that I was only mildly feeling bad by then, the pain was still tolerable.


(if I remember right) This is the arch of Constantine, and everything was recycled from other places to make it.

Where Julius Caesar was actually murdered. It's now become the local cat haven. :)
Monday we toured the Vatican. We stood in line F..O..R..E..V..E..R.. to get to the museum. I was feeling horrible from the start of the day. I probably should have stayed at the hotel, but I didn't want to miss it. Honestly, I didn't enjoy the museum at all. Not one bit. Why? Well, for one I was hurting. Two, we stood in line for hours before finally making it in, and then the people who were shoving in line for those few hours were still shoving and hurrying through the museum. So imagine being shoulder to shoulder with people (who aren't in your tour group) forcing you to go faster than you want and being hit and shoved (which each time it happened sent a sharp pain through your back,) not letting you look at anything for more than 2 seconds. It sucked. After making it through the museum like a huge pack of fish trying to make it up a tiny stream, we arrived at the Sistine Chapel, which was even more packed with people, shoving you around. Never again, no thank you, I'll buy a book and actually enjoy the paintings.

I don't have any pictures of the museum, because cameras were not allowed, but here is the line we were standing in. Triple this, because as soon as we turned that corner in the middle of the picture, it was this long all over again, and when we took this picture, we had just waited through a portion of line that was this long as well. And the tour guide said this was a normal line. Awesome.
After the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel, we went to St. Peter's Basilica. I really wish I had been feeling better, because I would have liked to enjoy the Basilica more. If I go back to Rome, I'm definitely going back to it. It is enormous, and so beautiful and elaborate. Did I mention it was huge? I wish more of our pictures would have come out better, but it was so dark.

St. Peter's Basilica is filled with so many beautiful statues. I hoping on finding a book on St. Peter's and hopefully see what everything was and meant, because I couldn't concentrate much on what the tour guide was saying. Neither could Tony as he was trying to keep Carlee happy; she decided to act up at this point.
The reason you can take as many pictures as you want in the Basilica: the "paintings" are actually all mosaics. It's incredible! I couldn't believe it until I got up close to this one:
A view of the Vatican after coming out of St. Peter's Basilica. I had to go get Carlee's stroller from where they made me check it in, so I missed where the tour guide said the Pope lives. :(
And those are our best pictures. After leaving the Vatican we went to a little gift shop, where Carlee couldn't touch ANYTHING! haha. Then we headed back to the hotel on the city bus. The city bus is an adventure all on its own, it was constantly packed. The first time we had used it before, we got on it toward the middle of the bus run and were crammed in by the door. Each time the door opened, Tony and Carlee were flung around, and this poor Italian kid kept trying not to be pinched by the door's spring. This time, however, we got on at the very beginning of the run, so we were able to get seats. We went to the hotel, Tony and Carlee rested up, while I tried to, but only went downhill.

We were supposed to be going to Christmas Eve dinner at the hotel's restaurant at 7 pm and then, we were supposed to head to Midnight Mass at 9 pm. Neither happened, because at 6:30 pm I was in so much pain we had to call a cab to the ER. And from then on, the last two days (our free days) I spent taking pain killers 3 more times than I was supposed to, and waiting for Wednesday, when we would head home.

And that, ladies and gentlemen was our trip to Rome. :)

We made it home....

Me, barely though. :) I'm talking about our Christmas trip to Rome. Rome was beautiful, but personally my trip could have been a lot better. We left on Saturday, and I was feeling a little sick, but of course with all the nonreturnable money we had spent on this trip, I was definitely not going to stay home.

On Sunday I started feeling a little bad. My kidneys were hurting, yeah that was all I needed walking around Rome. Monday was somewhat tolerable, Tuesday during the day was really starting to get to me, and that was the day we did the Vatican, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica, so obviously I didn't get to enjoy them too much. By Tuesday afternoon at the hotel it was getting worse, and by 6:30 I couldn't handle it anymore.

We went to the Italian ER where I was in pain for a while, but they labeled me with "green" importance, so I waited forever. Thankfully the worst of the episode didn't last too long, and I was able to sit around in only a little bit of pain. They finally saw me, and gave me an iv with fluid and painkillers, ran a few tests, some x-rays (they thought I had kidney stones,) and told me, "yeah you have an infection, but we don't know what." I think they did know, actually and just didn't want to give me their antibiotics since I would be leaving in two days. Which surprisingly I'm not mad about, because health care is free for Italians, and I don't think it very highly funded. They probably knew I would make it home okay, and wanted to save the antibiotics for someone with greater need.

I was somewhat shocked at the ER. They had it set up like a triage, with a good 20 to 30 people crammed into one room, with no dividers, that I had to walk through do get to the bathroom to do my urine test, which even their instrument for that was a little plastic drinking cup. Nice. I knew I had a kidney infection, and if I knew they HAD to know it. Both my doctors and my tour guide (who was translating for me when she could be there, she kept having to go back and forth from me to the group) kept asking, "How do you know it's your kidneys? " I wanted to say, "Because I F'N know where they are, and they F'N HURT!" I guess Italians maybe aren't too keen on listening to their bodies, because they were surprised that I seem to know something about my own body.

Anyway, they offered that I could stay there for the night, with more pain killers, I said no. I wanted to get back to the hotel, not be in that run down room without my family for any longer. Unfortunately, because of this I was unable to attend midnight mass, which I had been so excited about. Oh well.

I was fine all night, but around lunch the next day, the painkillers were wearing off, and I was beginning to get miserable. Tony walked to probably the only farmacia open on Christmas and brought some over the counter pain killers for me. (My Hero!) I lived on these until we headed home yesterday. And when we arrived at the parking lot where our car was, we ran into it and headed to our ER, where I was in heaven. They didn't doubt me for a second, immediately gave me some painkillers and fluid through an IV, ran some tests, and pretty soon had me on the antibiotics that I knew I needed. I was so relieved. We stayed there for a few hours, then headed home, where I thought I would be able to get a good night's sleep, but unfortunately I was still being attacked with cold chill and intense fever episodes which made my night pretty miserable still.

Anyway, so I will post about Rome later, because I need to get the MOMS Club newsletter done today, and I know the Rome post is going to be a very long one.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas!

My week with our First Guest Ever...

My new friend, G, arrived last Saturday. I say my "new" friend, because actually I had never met her before, until we picked her up at the Catania airport. She is my mom's friend's daughter, and when my mom had told me that G was taking a Eurotrip, I told her she could definitely stop by our place here in Sicily. I was excited to help G out, to give her another stop on her trip, especially to Sicily, where there is so much history all around. But I was also excited for myself because I knew that having a guest would force me out of my routine and comfort zone, which it did.

On Sunday, Tony and I took G to Niscemi, the town near where Tony works. There was supposedly a culture festival, (that Tony swore he'd seen a poster for) but when we arrived in town, nothing out of the usual was going on. So we stopped at Bar Fortuna where our friend C works, and even he said, "An event? On Sunday? No way!!" and just laughed. So we enjoyed tea and cappucini. Afterwards, we went in search of food, but weren't able to find anything open. So we had to run to Tony's work to eat his stocked up frozen veg food, and whatever chips and such that we could find.

After leaving there, we had decided to go to Agrigento to see the Valley of the Temples, but after realizing what time it was (almost 4:30) we knew we wouldn't get there in time before it closed. So, we went to nearby Caltagirone instead. We found Scale di Santa Maria del Monte, which is a set of stairs with 142 steps tiled with hand painted tiles (no two are alike.) They had a nativity scene set up, so it was a very pretty sight. In the piazza there was some sort of Christmas celebration going on with live music and tables set up by people selling things, or looking for donations for their charity work. We went inside a building that turned out to be an art & culture center, and as our luck would have it, a Pupi show was scheduled for 5:30. So we stayed and people watched until the show began. Afterwards, we headed home as we were all cold and tired of walking around, up, and down the hills of Caltagirone.

Scale di Santa Maria del Monte

Two Pupi Fighting

On Monday, after getting G set up with a base pass, we headed out to Catania for a little sightseeing. We took G to see Elephant Square, the church, and our friend T even showed us a Greek theater that Tony and I had never seen before. It got dark fast though, and I needed to study for my accounting final, so that trip was cut short.

Part of the Church:
It was so pretty with the sun setting.

The back of the Greek Theater with city buildings and traffic all around.

Tuesday, I took my final early in the morning, which went pretty well. (I ended the class with a 93!!!) After I got back home, we decided on our first day trip with me as the driver and tour guide. We decided on Syracusa, which I wasn't nervous about much, since I had driven there before. The drive was nice, since it was filled with welcomed conversation. When we arrived in Syracusa, we followed the signs to the Greek Theater, and were not disappointed with it. It was beautiful, and soooo awesome to see. I was so in awe of the theater and of the surroundings, it was truly breathtaking. Right next to the theater is an archaeological park with the Ear of Dionysius. The pictures I had seen of this cave do not do it justice (mine don't either.) This cave is amazing! It's huge, and it's shape is so interesting, and from the inside looks like an upside down cavern. It was amazing! The surroundings were so peaceful, with the garden/orchard like setting with the quarry in the background. It was a nice relaxing walk.

After that, we headed to the Papyrus museum, which ended up being closed. So we decided to head out to Ortygia Island. Driving there was a little tight, roads were so narrow, but we eventually found a parking space. We walked the whole island in probably about an hour. We found the Fonte Arethusa, the Duomo, and the Papyrus tree that grows behind the Aquario. We enjoyed the walk and G really loved the sea side scenery in this town.

At the Greek Theater:

The Ear of Dionysius from the outside:

From the inside (see the grown man walking out for perspective on size.)

My favorite picture from the inside:

Duomo at Ortygia Island:

After getting home, we found out that the truckers had gone on strike, and that the gas stations were out of gas!!! And we only had a little over 1/4 of a tank, which would get G to the Catania bus station on Friday, and us back home, but that would be it. I was so disappointed since I thought I wouldn't be able to take her anywhere for the rest of her trip. Wednesday, we ended up making the best of the situation and hung out at Angie's house, watched Because I Said So, snacked on popcorn, and drank some really yummy apple cider. It was a nice afternoon, and G had mentioned that it was so nice to just do something American since she hadn't in 3 months. I hadn't thought of it that way, until she put it like that. I loved G's constant optimism. :)

Thursday morning, my dear husband called me from base to tell me that he had heard that the Esso gas station near our house had received a delivery that morning. So, of course, I raced out the door to check, and when I drove up I was so relieved to see that there was no signs on the gas pumps, and the station was busy.

With a full tank of gas, we headed out for our next day trip: Agrigento. Probably my most favorite place I've been to on the island, yet. I could never get tired of going to Agrigento. It is just so incredible to see the temple ruins. G shared my feelings, I think. It was a perfect day to go, too. Sunny and warm enough to not need a sweater, but not to warm to be uncomfortable with all the walking. There were hardly any people around either (likewise in Syracusa as well,) so we had the whole place to ourselves. We enjoyed it. We were going to stop by Piazza Armerina on the way home, but decided not to, as we were all quite tired.

Friday was G's last day here. I had intended on taking her to the Mineo Market (as Angie and I have been going each Friday lately,) but Tony had scheduled a legal appointment that his work has been on his back about for our normal market time. So, thankfully, Angie (being the wonderful friend she is) took G along with her, since she was still going anyway. So, they got to have fun, while Tony and I sat through gruesome scenarios of our various orders of death, and whose will would end up being used... What a nice start to the day.

After getting home and eating lunch, we headed out to Palermo, where G would be flying out of that night. The main thing we wanted G to see was the Catacombs. When I told her about it, she mentioned seeing a show about it on tv once, but never thought she might see it in person, so I knew she just had to see it. She was definitely a little freaked out I think, but excited at the same time, lol. The same feelings I had the first time I went. It's such a sight, and it makes you wonder why they wanted to preserve their bodies, who these people were, etc. So many thoughts go through your head while you're jumping at catching a corpse's scary expression, or turning and seeing an arm reaching out at you. I wish I had pictures, but no cameras are allowed. :( I really think G liked the catacombs though. She said she was excited to be able to tell her brothers about it. :)

Afterward, we drove around trying to find something to eat. We ended up passing by a huge church, so we decided to park and walk back. It was such a beautiful church to see at night. It was huge! and lit so beautifully. I took a few pictures, but not many came out since it was so dark. I wish I had brought my tripod, then I could have just left the shutter open, and they probably would have come out better. We're definitely going to have to go back. After looking around there, we walked around and found a little pizzeria to eat at, then headed to the airport, and said goodbye to G, our first ever guest here in Sicily.

Part of the Church:

A funny Pic:
G tried to take a pic, but accidentally hit the timer button, so we were waiting, then struck a pose lol :)

I had a blast showing her around, and I really hope she had a good time here.

A quiet house...

I sit watching the steam float above my hot cup of tea, waiting to be sipped. My thoughts are swirling around aimlessly, not wanting to settle. I figure I should just write them, and hopefully I'll be able to sleep.

Today marks the beginning of the Christmas season for many people. They put up their decorations, start their plans, begin shopping at 4:30 AM with a million other mad people (I could never understand that,) play Christmas music, and of course hang up the lights (or for the people who keep them up year round, simply plug them in.) Unfortunately, we had none of that today. I had hoped to set up the Christmas tree, and start on making my ornaments. I decided that I wanted to make salt dough ornaments this year, and have Carlee and I decorate them. But, Tony wasn't much in a holiday mood.

Last year, after Christmas flew by, I had made an entire list of family 'traditions' I had wanted to start. Carlee's getting old enough to understand the holiday, and it was really exciting. However, this past year has flown by, and December is rushing here way too fast. We have decided not to buy Carlee so much stuff, like we did last year. We went all out for some reason, got carried away in the Christmas shopping hoopla. She played with the toys for a bit of course, but not as much as we had imagined she would. So, this year I want to get her one main present, an easel/chalkboard combo, and I keep waiting for the NEX to get one in, but they still haven't. She's much more of a creative child anyhow; she loves to simply play and create with paints, colors, play dough, and play pretend.

This year, I am personally very excited because I think that we are going to be reflecting on the real meaning of Christmas much more this year than we ever have as a family. We're going to Rome for Christmas, and we've got tickets to go to Midnight Mass at the Vatican! A friend of mine asked me the other day, "Well are you going to take presents in your luggage?" I was so baffled. I couldn't imagine why I would do that, when this would be the best opportunity to let go of material things and to celebrate Christmas with Jesus and God as the main purpose, instead of what's inside the pretty wrapped boxes.

Now, my husband is not Catholic, and not very religious at all in fact, but I'm so grateful that he agreed to this trip and is being very positive about it. I feel that for me, this is going to be something I will never forget.

Religion is such a complex issue for me. I was raised Catholic, which I still consider myself, although I honestly don't go to Church, my marriage is not recognized (therefore I cannot receive Communion,) and honestly there are things that I don't agree with that Catholicism includes. On the other hand, there are also many things that I do believe in, that Catholicism at best dismisses, and at worst condemns as sins. So, my faith has always been something I've struggled to label. Personally, I believe that God honors any way that people choose to worship him, although not many people share my acceptance of religions, which is really sad.

Anyway, back to the trip. I'm very excited about it, and I'm really looking forward to experiencing Christmas this way. And to visit a place with so much history is going to be simply amazing! I'm counting down the days!