Alcantara Gorge

The Alcantara Gorge originated when the water flow from the Monte Nebrodi, which flows towards the Ionian sea, was interrupted thousands of years ago by lava from Etna.   The Alcantara eventually wore its way through the rock, which created the gorge.  We met up with several friends and caravanned up to the gorge.  We ate a picnic on the rocky shore then proceeded into the FREEZING shallow water.  You may not believe the word “FREEZING,” but I’m telling you, after a few minutes in the water I could no longer feel my feet.  Greg was hanging out with Brady and I was really hoping that once Juliette ventured into the water the temperature would deter her from going back in.  I should have known better!  That girl was falling in the water, laughing and splashing around.  Most of the adults were sitting on the side and here Greg and I were chasing our children around unable to feel our feet!  Swapping children from time to time, we ended up having a very enjoyable afternoon.  Who needs feet anyways?!

                                                   Brady loves rocks!

Mt. Etna

One Saturday Greg had duty, but we still decided to risk venturing up Mt. Etna. One of the front desk ladies at our hotel warned us about going up because it had erupted a day or two before. Feeling brave, we continued on our journey. The amount of lava rock was astounding. I loved the black of the lava rock against the bright green foliage growing up on the volcano. We stopped for a moment for me to capture some pictures and Brady tried to climb the “tallest mountain.” Before arriving at our destination (I’m not exactly sure where our final destination was, but supposed we would know when we got there) Greg got a call. Life rearranges when duty calls, so down the “tallest mountain we went.


Since moving into our new house, we have seen Etna erupt a couple of times. There is a high rise apartment blocking our view, so in order to see, we have to stand on a ladder in the corner of our balcony. The eruption is chilling and beautiful at the same time. The red lava flowing down the side of the volcano against the backdrop of the black night is truly a sight to behold. I’m still very aware of the destruction Mt. Etna has caused.

Here is a little history from The Rough Guide to Sicily:

“One of the world’s largest volcanoes dominates much of Sicily’s eastern landscape, its smoking summit an omnipresent feature. Etna was just one of the places that the Greeks thought to be the forge of Vulcan, a fitting description of the blustering and sparking from the main crater. Empedocles, who in 433 BC jumped into the main crater in an attempt to prove that the gasses emitted would support his body weight. They didn’t. “

Changing it up!

I'm taking a small break from catch-up blogging for all of our travels to talk about our newest adventure.  This is very important to me and has a life long effect on all of us.  I am changing our diet!  You may ask yourself, "What? Why?", so let me explain.  I have always done my best to buy local produce and manage our weekly menu by what is in season.  Where I have failed quite miserably is in the sweet and snack departments.  Over the past several weeks I have become concerned about Brady's eating habits and what I was doing to reinforce those habits.  Brady is addicted to snacks.  He never wants a meal, he only wants to eat a snack.  He says "I'm not hungry, I just want a snack."  Of course, we make him eat his meals, but I was finding the day was also full of crackers, cookies, animal crackers, goldfish, fruit bars, ect.  Not all of these in one day, however, it was more than what should have been. 

 My job as a stay-at-home mom is to take care of my family and my home.  I do not take this lightly.  The food we eat is bought by me and prepared by me (most of the time).  I'm accepting responsibility for the junk, taking hold of the reigns, and turning this baby around!  Here is where it ends.  We are going down the "real food" road.  I was inspired by http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/.  Whole wheat, oats, nuts, fruit, veggies, dairy, meat, and no processed food, white flour, or processed sugar.  I documented the process of cleaning out our pantry and was honestly embarrassed about how bare it was when I fished out all the processed food.  Brady is going to be in shock when he goes to grab a snack tomorrow!  We are jumping in with both feet, starting tomorrow.  I'm not sure what the longterm plan for this looks like, but I have a menu for this week.  We are in Italy, so there will certainly be exceptions to the rules when we eat out or dine with friends.  The important part for me, right now, is making sure we have healthy wholesome options in our home.  Whole wheat cheddar crackers, homemade granola, and wheat banana pancakes are on the menu for tomorrow! 

                                                              Pantry Before

                                                                 What I removed

                                                               Pantry After

                                                 Pantry stocked with acceptable food items 

Villa Romana del Casale

I would like to begin with some history about Villa Romana del Casale and the mosaics, quoting from the book The Rough Guide to Sicily.


“Villa Romana del Casale dates from the early fourth century AD and remained in use right up until it was covered by a mudslide in the twelfth century. It was then hidden from view for seven hundred years until excavations began in 1950, revealing multi-colored mosaic floors that are unique in the entire Roman world for their quality and extent… Conflicting theories surround the functions of the villa, but most convincing explanation of its deeply rural location is that it was an occasional retreat and hunting lodge. That theory is supported by the many mosaics of animals and birds, including two specific hunting scenes. It’s also immediately clear from the extent of the remains that the villa complex belonged to an important owner, possibly Maximianus Herculeus, co-emperor with Diocletian between 286 and 305 AD…Few enough examples survive of such splendid Imperial Roman wealth- and even fewer with such extraordinary interior decoration. The floors of almost the entire building are covered with bright mosaics of excellent quality, stylistically belonging to an early fourth-century Roman-African school…given their extent they’re likely to have taken fifty or sixty years to complete.”

Leaving late in the morning on a hot summer day, we decided to visit Villa Romana del Casale. I hadn’t read the guide book (shame on me!), what I knew was it was a place that had mosaic floors and it was enclosed in glass “greenhouse” style houses. I had visions of us sweating our way through the exhibit and was concerned about whether it would be worth it or not. Let me tell you, it was worth every second! First of all, the sweating was nowhere near what I envisioned it to be. Of course, it was hot, but we went at the hottest part of the day on one of the hottest days and we faired just fine. Second of all, the mosaics were absolutely spectacular. The artistry, the accuracy, the colors, and the details were maybe the best I’ve ever seen. The floors had scenes of fighting, animals, women playing sports, design, chariots, and these are just a few examples. We made our way through the open sections and finished with some ice cream before getting on the road towards home. What a great mind-blowing way to spend the day!

Can you imagine the time and patience required to create these floors?  What would our world look like if we all invested so much time and effort into our passion?  One passion of mine is to be the best mother I can be.  As parents, we piece together bits of creativity, love, patience, understanding, respect, education, faith, honesty, and so many other things, in our children.  We work so hard to raise people who will leave the world a better place.  Just like these floors, the time and effort we put into what we believe in, what we love, will hopefully be seen by generations to come.

Miletello

We met an Irish woman who teaches English at Brady’s Italian language school.  Whew, I hope you made it through that sentence with me!  Chatting with her while we were waiting for some friends to arrive, she informed us her town was having a festival.  The next day we decided to spend the evening hanging out at the festival.  Making it to the town, the only sign of a festival was one side street lined with venders selling various electronics, shoes, and jewelry.  A couple streets were decorated with lights, but I’m not sure it should have been classified as a festival.  My best guess is we either arrived too early or were a day late.  On the bright side Brady got a Hello Kitty balloon and we had a great dinner.  Brady loves Hello Kitty, but the Italians give him a hard time because it’s supposed to be for girls.  He declares he’s a boy, not a girl, and he wants the Hello Kitty balloon, chips, whatever it may be.  He surely doesn’t care what they think!  Overall, Miletello was a cute little town, but unless invited, we probably won’t be going back. 

Taormina and Castelmola

Taormina is located on Monte Tauro. We drove to the base of the mountain and took a bus to the city. Luckily for us, the route to the main street is lined with bars full of cornetti (croissants) and other yummy pastries. We landed in a bar and parked at a table with an assortment of pastries and cappuccino. Brady especially enjoyed the powdered sugar on top of his breakfast! With our tummies filled, we made our way to the main street. The street had souvenir shops one after the other until we reached the end where the Teatro Greco (despite the name, most of the remains are Roman) was located. We had been told this spot was not to be missed because of the magnificent views. We had the option to pay for tickets to visit the theater, however, there was a film festival going on and both the theater and views were obstructed. Opting to miss out on the much talked about theater, we headed down to the garden, which also had great views. The walk took us down streets lined with flower filled balconies and laundry waving high above us. Finally making it to the garden (Giardino Pubblico), the kids were able to run off a little energy. According to The Rough Guide to Sicily, the gardens were endowed by a Scot, Florence Trevelyan, who settled in Taormina in 1899 having been “invited” to leave England in the wake of a romantic liaison with the Prince of Wales, the future Edward VII. With lunchtime approaching, it was time to head up to Castelmola. A small family owned restaurant was recommended by another NCIS agent and we wanted to check it out. It was sad to leave Taormina without visiting the theater, but there are constantly events going on there and one day we will check it out!


After driving up winding and narrow roads, we made it to Castelmola. The view was truly breathtaking. High on the mountain, there was a clear view of the crystal blue water, Mt. Etna with its commanding presence, and the coast line. Walking up to the town from the parking lot was a feat! Too much pasta and pizza with no exercise has taken its toll on me! My legs were very angry with me, but once we made it to the restaurant it was worth every second! We sat down, took a look at the menu, gave our order, and then we were told what we were going to eat. We were not disappointed! It is always best to trust mama!

Catania

My first experience with Catania was a week or so after we arrived. My sponsor took me and the kids out for quite the experience! I have previously mentioned the driving around here, and the worst I’ve seen has been in Catania. I’ll spare you the details, but I’m not driving into Catania by myself any time soon. Once we arrived I strapped the kids in the double stroller and off we went, navigating through the city square and streets, ending up at the market. The market was packed with various venders selling everything you can imagine and shoppers. The amount of fruit, vegetables, nuts, shoes, clothes, cheese, meats, and other various items was truly remarkable. In awe, I proceeded to push my kids through the crowd, running over feet left and right. I of course felt bad, but it was impossible to navigate without casualties. The kids were troopers and overall it was a successful trip, a nice way to spend the morning with a new friend.


The second time I went to Catania (the trip where the pictures come from) was with our cultural class during our Indoctrination (INDOC) week. INDOC week is spent in a classroom with people giving presentations about the base and how to get involved, registered, ect. We happened to miss, ok, we just plain didn’t go to several of the classes. However, the classes we were sure not to miss were cultural classes and field trips. The most important part of the field trip was that Greg and I went without any children. We ate a lovely breakfast of Granita at a local bar (bars here serve pastries, gelato, and snacks). Afterwards, went into the cathedral in the square that housed beautiful artwork, organ pipes, and the remains of a beloved Cardinal, toured the fish market where the ground was sopping with water, blood, and I’m sure fish parts, ventured into the ruins of a Roman amphitheater, and made our way through the market before heading to lunch.

So I don’t get it wrong, I’m going to let Robert Andrews and Jules Brown, the authors of The Rough Guide to Sicily, tell you some history about Catania. “Catania is Sicily’s second largest city. Some of the island’s first Greek colonists, probably Chalcidinians from Naxos, settled the site as early as 729 BC… Later, the city was among the first to fall to the Romans, under whom it prospered greatly. Unusually for Sicily, Catania’s surviving ancient relics are all Roman. Etna erupted in 1669, engulfing the city in lava, while the great earthquake of 1693 devastated the whole of southeastern Sicily. Piazza del Duomo is one of Sicily’s most elegant Baroque piazzas... softened by the addition of a fountain, no less than a lava elephant supporting an Egyptian obelisk on its back. The elephant has been the city’s symbol since at least the thirteenth century, a talismanic protection against Etna eruptions, and this one also features an inscription, Agatina MSSHDEPL- an acronym for “The mind of St Agatha is sane and spontaneous, honouring God and liberating the city.” St. Agatha is the patron saint.”

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