New Slide Show

Not my regular blog post today but I won't leave you empty handed either........... If you look over to the left hand column, you will notice a new Slide Show..........

All of these photos were shot on Christmas morning, New Year's Eve and Saturday. We took a little family adventure over to the other side of the Island between Palermo and Trapani. Our main point of interest was Segesta!!! The site is home to "The Doric Temple". This majestic structure sits in a silent hilly plain and dates back to the end of the 5th century B.C. (possibly around 430-420 B.C.)

Within this same panoramic valley and hill top was an entire Archaeological Park consisting of the Temple, a near perfect Amphitheater, A Castle, Public Buildings, a Town Wall, Ancient roads, the Sanctuary of Contrada Mango, houses and so much more all dating back to B.C. eras....... FANTASTIC........ One of the photos taken from the Theater boasts a panoramic view of the Gulf of Castellammare and Mount Inici........ Archeologists believe these works to be characteristic of Grecian architecture..........

I hope that you enjoy meeting my wonderful family and a peek into where we currently choose to call home. Thank you for stopping by.

A few snapshots

Since I subbed today and then got completely caught up in a wine tasting after work, I decided to share a couple of photos.

Can you see why I am so in love with where I live???  If you look closely into the valley, you will see a cluster of orange.  That is my neighborhood............ 

 The other landscape photo is the view looking towards the west.  Just thought it was a cool view of some of the orchards that surround us.

Kujo (my chihuapillon) was sunbathing while posing for this photo shoot.  Isn't he the cutiest??

We are heading back out to the motorcycle track super early in the morning so I will post again on Sunday.  Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy your weekend.

My View

I don't have a card to upload this evening but I thought it would be nice to show you some of the views taken from my house.  The two sunrise photos are my view each morning while I get ready for work.  With a sunrise like that how can you NOT throw the windows open and be in awe?  They say that a picture is worth a thousand words and I do believe it to be true in this case.  There are no words to describe the majestic way in which the entire sky transforms as the sun creeps up over the mountains.

Although I don't have a photo, the sunsets are just as magical.    The sun slides behind another mountain range, on the opposite side of my house, and rewards me with just as splendid a sunset.  Each are worthy of taking your breath away. 

I added a couple of others to show some of the areas around my house.  The castle in the fog is the only one that was not actually taken from my residence.  It is about 2 miles down the road but is one of many facinating sights that I see each time I drive here in Sicily.  Of course I must throw in a shot of our glorious Volcano, Mt. Etna. If you look closely, you can see all of the towns scattered all around.  Mt. Etna is the most active volcano in Europe.  We have witnessed 3 major eruptions, the last of which was in 2002.  The town of Mineo, which sits right above us, was completely destroyed by an earthquake in the 1600's, caused by Mt. Etna. The town was rebuilt and is one of my favorite places to hang out.  You can see Mineo in the photo of the rainbow (I think).  The photo of the valley was also taken just after sunrise and shows all of the farm land and orchards that surround us. This valley leads up to Mineo.  

 The  2 photos taken of my backyard are my views from where I sit and enjoy my evening glass of wine. If you click on each photo, they will enlarge and you will get a much better look.

 I'll be back tomorrow to share a card that I am just in love with..........................

ROME

I suppose I should start by appologizing to all of my blog friends for being so quiet lately.  The end of the school year has finally come and I can't believe I only worked one quarter of it. How will I ever make it through the an entire school year?  I did have a few days to prepare for my BFF to arrive from Hawaii.  There is so much to do and see here in Sicily that it is hard to fit it all in. Although Sicily has enough to keep us busy for the two weeks, I decided that no one should come to Italy and not visit Rome.... Rather than fly, we decided to try out the European train system. Grandpa Joe had left me a wonderful book titled " Europe by Eurail 2008". By taking the night trains with private sleeping cabins, we were able to save the expense of two nights in a hotel.  It was fabulous to fall asleep comfortably and wake in your destination. 

Apparently Michelle and I are known for getting into trouble and would not want to disappoint anyone.  The principal at Pearl Harbor Kai told Michelle that she would not fly over to Italy to bail us out of jail, therefore, Michelle paid an on the spot fine to keep us from being arrested........  So the lessons we learned - Lesson #1 -  You must purchase a 4 euro ticket in order to ride the public bus system and that the bus polizia do work on Sundays!!!!!!!!! Lesson #2 - Validate your train tickets prior to boarding the train in order to avoid a 50 euro fine......  Lesson #3 - Check to see if your train has been cancelled due to strikes prior to boarding time......  

Many of you know that one of our favorite things to do together is to go to concerts. Imagine how thrilled we were to discover that the band Hinder would be here to give our base a private concert. Phenomenal!!!!!! 

Finally I have saved the best for last... My husband is HOME ;o)  

I had better get back to figuring out what kind of trouble we can get ourselves into today.  I will be back soon and I have not forgotten that I had promised to share the boxed gift set I created for a co-worker, however, I will save that for next time. Until then, enjoy the photos.

Simplicity

Just a quick post with a very simple card that took maybe five minutes to create. Not exactly my favorite, perhaps because I didn't do any stamping. The color combination reminds me of Tiffany & Co., and who does not LOVE that little blue box with the gorgeous white bow. Honestly doesn't matter what is on the inside, I might just be happy to receive a box. What a wonderful way for someone to say they love me. LOL

I do not think that I need to bore you with the details.  I never did get the opportunity to go back to my closet last night and today has been spent hanging out with our friend Franko.  This man is such a great friend. This morning we spent time watching go karts, then he took Adam and I to tour several of the nearby little town.  Eventually we ended at a fantastic Agritourismo by the name of Casale Belmontino.  An Agritourismo is ordinarily a large working farm that consists of a Bed & Breakfast, horseback riding, swimming pools, archery and many other activities.  All of the food is natural (no chemicals), grown right there on the property and yes this includes all of the Vino and Meat. A typical meal consists of a set menu for the day, depending on what is in season. Meals include, Water, Vino, Coke, Anti-pasta (cheese, salami, olives, sun dried tomatoes, cantaloupe wrapped in prosciutto, fresh ricotta (I am not talking that grainy stuff that you get in the states - this stuff you eat straight and it is phenomenal) There are a few more things included in the anti-pasta course, next comes the pastas and there are usually 2 or 3 different ones, 3rd is the meat course, normally consisting of 3 different types, 4th is the salad or fruits, 5th is the Dolci or dessert, today we had cannolli.  I cannot begin to express how much I enjoy these meals. I don't eat alot on a daily basis, however, take me to one of these meals and people start looking into my purse to figure out where all the food is going.

I've never been allowed to pay so I have no idea how much a meal like this cost, I just know that I have friends in high places and I never want to leave this place. 

I think I could handle living here forever, vacationing all over Europe with the occasional trip to my wonderful home of Hawaii.  I am feeling beyond blessed to live in such an amazing country, my little boy sitting beside me, my BFF will be here next week, My oldest daughter just completed her degree at University of OK, our middle daughter is returning from University of Hawaii to live at home, My husband will be home from a six month military deployment in less than two weeks.  Life is great and again I feel so content and blessed immensely.  If you are feeling the same way, I would love it if you posted a message and shared your blessings.  Thank you Nicole for such a great blog idea.

Men of Sicily

One of the many many things that I love about Sicily is observing how social the men are.  For some reason these men facinate me.  I love to watch them drive, work, walk, socialize and stare!   Each town has a Piazza and on Sunday's all of the men gather to socialize.  There are no women in sight!!  They get a big kick out of watching me photograph them.  They are very gracious, however, the women scare me and I seldom capture them on film.  

If you ever come to visit, be warned, I love to have my photo taken disrupting the their time honored tradition............................

Joe, Grandpa, Gramps, Colonel, FRIEND!

I feel very blessed and honored to have had the opportunity to get to know such an amazing person this past week. I am almost at a loss for words to describe how wonderful this past week has been.   I mentioned in my previous blog that my sister and her father (Joe)  were here in Sicily to visit.  I have also spoken of how being military allows you the opportunity to create your own family.  Adam did ask Joe to be his honorary Grandpa. Grandpa Joe graciously accepted his invitation and an amazing relationship has blossomed.  I asked Adam what he would now call him and he stated "Grandpa Joe will be fine but when he turns 66 I will call him Gramps". Although Adam prayed that the last day of his visit would go slowly, it did come to an end and they had to leave.  I trust that this was only the beginning to a life long friendship. 

During their visit we visited many places which included: Taeromina, Siracusa, Agrigento, Patti and Sigonella.  While in Taeromina, we rode the sky lift down the mountain and discovered a wonderful beach.  As usual, I met the owner of a great little Ristorante.  He invited Adam and I back to enjoy an afternoon on the beach and he would make sure that we received VIP treatment complete with lounge chairs and an umbrella.  

We took an ITT trip to the town of Patti on Thursday.  Patti is home to the Caleca Factory.  Caleca is famous for ceramic dishes. (they are sold at Williams Sonoma). Again we were treated as VIP's and given an exclusive tour into the creation of their beautiful dishes.  This was not my first visit to Caleca.  Last time we lived in Sicily, we visited Caleca and purchased 8 place settings.  I did not want to settle for one specific pattern so each place setting is different, however, they all coordinate.  One of the downsides to being a military family is having so many items broken during a PCS move.  I was able to replace the items that have been broken in the past few years.  One of the photos shows me standing in a sea of dishes.  I always purchase from the dishes that have flaws.  After the tour, I appreciate these flaws so much more.  Each dish is completely hand made, from beginning to end.  There is one artist assigned to each pattern and she is responsible to the dish from beginning to end. I love finding finger prints in the paint!!!

It was very difficult to hug my sister and say goodbye because there is no telling when I will see her again.  Outside of my husband and children, my sisters (Sarah and Jana) are the only close family I have.  As you know, I take tremendous pride in being a military family, however, saying goodbye so often is tremendously difficult.  I hope that you all know that my door is always open and I can't wait until my next house guest arrives.

Tomorrow I will be spending Mother's Day with my son.  We are taking a day trip to Cefalu' which is on the other side of the island, close to Palermo.  Besides the spectacular beauty of the area, we will be going to the Cartiofi (artichoke) festival and enjoying a typical Sicilian, six-course meal at one of the area Agritourismos. Whether you are celebrating your mother's memory, her presence or the joys of motherhood, I hope that you all have a wonderful Mother's Day. 

Valley of the Temples (Agrigento Sicily)

Thought I would give you a little look into what is keeping me busy this week.  Adam and I are very excited to have my sister and her father, (Colonel Joe Bruce, retired U.S Marines), here to visit us.  If you don't already know, I love to have house guests and love having the opportunity to share the wonderful places I live with others.  That being said, I am a little freaked out that my best friend, Michelle, and my husband will be arriving on the same day in June. Remember, my husband will have been gone for 6 months!!!!!  My daughter, Emily, may be here by then as well.  It's all good, I'll ask for some Lithium ;o)

  Jana and Joe arrived on Sunday via the train from Venice.  They had already been traveling Europe for several days, which included Paris. LUCKY.....  Jana and I didn't waste anytime, we all but pushed Adam and Joe out of the car, so that we could get to the beach. She and I went to Siracusa to look for SEAGLASS!!!  I was so proud of myself,  most of what I found, I gave to Jana.  I did manage to find some colors that I have never found before (2 pieces of magenta), she didn't get those.  

  I thought we were going to take it easy yesterday, NOT!!  After a lovely lunch at the Esso station, we drove to Agrigento, Sicily, also known as The Valley of the Temples.  These Roman Temples date back to B.C. and are some of the most well preserved in the world.  We could not have asked for a more perfect day.  Ordinarily Adam would have been miserable, however, he is so intrigued with "Uncle" Joe.  I don't know what I enjoyed more, the temples or watching the two of them "play".  Adam says that he would like Joe to be his honorary grandpa and hopes that he will come visit often.

  My friend Franko invited us to dinner in Palagonia.  After introducing us to the owners of a gorgous Agritourismo, we were treated to a typical Sicilian meal.  You never know exactly what you will be served but it is guaranteed to be fabulous.  Jana might disagree with the previous statement.  She doesn't care for vino or pasta then she mistook a stuffed chili pepper  for a tomato and popped the entire thing into her mouth.  Our hosts were more than gracious, they refused payment and sent us off with a complimentary bottle of Vino.  We departed Palagonia around midnight with complimentary Vino, Gelato and 2 cases of oranges...........

Palermo Sicily

I have not been able to get back to normal lately.  Last Wednesday I came down with what I assume to be a nasty head cold.  Thursday, I interviewed for a special ed position at the high school. Friday I began subbing in a Kindergarten class, which I will also be doing tomorrow. Saturday, Adam and I took a trip to Palermo.  Palermo is the capital of Sicily and is located on the western side of our island.  

The day was actually very relaxing since we were on a tour bus complete with a tour guide.  It is about an 3 hour drive.  The Sicilians boggle my mind with how well preserved everything is.  The architecture is thousands of years old and yet is still being used today. Nothing I say will be able to do the places we see justice. Hopefully the photos will give you a little taste of the rich culture that surrounds us in our daily life here in Sicily.

The 1st photo was taken from base early before leaving. That is our Volcano, Mt. Etna.

Hiking, Rock Climbing, Exploring Sicily

It has been so beautiful out so I decided to take full advantage of it today.  I totally love to go on little adventures looking for treasures. My son  Adam and I hit the jackpot today.  We stumbled upon a prehistoric temple site, dating back to 2000 B.C.!!!! I remember reading about it and also knew that it was close to where we live, however, I didn't realize just how close. We pass it everyday ;o) Our adventures started off by taking some of the crazy little dirt roads in the hopes of exploring old old old houses, when we discovered this ginormous cave!!! We see this thing from the road and I have actually driven past it many times. Today, apparently I looked a little closer and to my suprise noticed that it was an archeological excavation site complete with a Museum.  Typical Sicilians welcomed us right in and gave us the VIP treatment.  We also received a guided tour (not the norm) into the cave and into the actual excavation area!!!!! It was all I could do not to pick up the hundreds of scattered pieces of pottery, old columns, and who knows what else. I have actually found two pieces of terracota pottery, on the beach, that I believe to be hundreds or thousands of years old, one of which is a little oil lamp (giddy, giddy)

After leaveing the archeological site we ventured up an old dirt road, stopped and ate a picnic lunch while looking at a panoramic view of southern Sicily. Once we finished our meal, we decided to go hiking. (I decided, Adam was freaked out with the distance I wanted to go)...  We left our car and began our journey across a very rocky field. I believe it might have been an early field of hay or straw. Next was the field of thorn bushes, then a field we named "death valley".  This one was dirt but had tall dead stickery things.  We made it to 3 different extremely old homes. Our first treasure was the old sliding lock to someone's front door. I refused to leave it even though it did not fit into any of my pockets and ,therefore, was made to carry it throughout the entire journey.  Some of the strange sticker plants that we waded through had some kind of poison in them. The sensation that our bare legs felt after scrapping through them was that of being stung by a bee!!!! Did it stop me??? Yea right!!!!

We continued to track closer and closer to a large cluster of rocks. Once there we looked over the top to discover that we were on the edge of a mountain!!!!!!!  These rocks are the ones that I see every single day and they contain a vast amount of catacombs or caves.  The holes are man made, dating back to roman times and even beyond this perhaps the whole B.C. era. SCORE!!!! I talk about wanting to explore these things all the time.  So off we went, down the mountain. We kept thinking that we were right above them, only to look back up and realize they were at the very tip top. LOL  No place left to go but back up!!!!!  UP UP UP we climbed and yes it was real rock climbing apparently, especially towards the top when we were pretty much on our bellies looking for bukas to stick our feet and roots to hoist ourselves up. (Remember, I still have this giant lock in my hands crippling me) At one point I had stuck my hand into something wet and brown, as well as, reaching the top with a squished snail stuck to the palm of my hand. Escargo anyone???  EUREKA  We made it!!!!!!!!

After exploring the caves, we discovered we had to keep going up in the hopes of getting to the other side of the mountain from which we came...... Once we reached the tip top we began laughing at the predicament we were now in. We had gotten to a point where it was just as steep to go down the other side. There we were, mother and son, stranded on the top of a Sicillian mountain, no one would realize we were missing, no cell phone, no water (very responsible right, don't look at me, I'm not the boy scout).. We talked about where there's a will, there's a way. Obviously we made it down and I have some gorgeous photos and a fantastic ancient lock!!!! 

Enjoy the photo journey.

Justine    

PS: In the second photo if you click on it you can look closely and will see the cave and excavation site and the HIWay 417,  In the second to last photo, that is the castle that some of you have heard me talk about or I guess some of you have seen. LOOK how close we are and we are sort of behind it on the west side.