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"California to Sicily..." - 5 new articles

  1. Thirty Days of Thanksgiving, Day 17
  2. Mt. Etna Getaway
  3. Thirty Days of Thanksgiving, Day 15 and 16
  4. Thirty Days of Thanksgiving, Day 14
  5. Thirty Days of Thanksgiving, Day 13
  6. More Recent Articles
  7. Search California to Sicily...

Thirty Days of Thanksgiving, Day 17

Today I am thankful for:

  • A kitty who loves to sprawl across my lap whenever and wherever I sit down
  • Les' leave, its been nice to have him home for a few days and see his stress level go down
  • A freshly cut lawn (thanks, honey!)
  • Capers preserved in salt (not brine)
  • My new iPod
  • Time to chat with my mom
  • Friends who, even when super busy and stressed, remain upbeat. They inspire me.
Overall its been a quiet day. Got a few things done around the house, but also had some time to relax.  Tomorrow starts real life again.  Les goes back to work and I have a lot to do, too.  The rest of the week will be busy for me, but I'm glad.  Too much time sitting and doing nothing isn't good for me!





Mt. Etna Getaway

For our 6th anniversary Les and I decided a little getaway would be nice.  We decided to go up to an agriturismo on Mt. Etna for two nights, just to relax.  We planned to take books, our ipods, and possibly not even the leave the agriturismo property.





We drove up yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed the drive, however, about halfway there I realized that I'd forgotten my books.  I was peeved at myself but got over it.  At least I still had my camera and ipod.  We arrived about two hours later and checked into our bed and breakfast, Etna Wine. The owner showed us to our room which was actually a three bedroom apartment!  It was quite lovely.

As the owner was heading out the door we asked what time dinner was.  Here is where things got really interesting...they don't serve dinner, only lunch.  One of the reasons we chose this place was so we could eat and not have to worry about who would drive after consuming copious amounts of wine with dinner.  We even asked about dinner when we made the reservation and were given a price.

Slightly perturbed, but not wanting it to ruin our vacation we decided to try another recommended agriturismo down the road for dinner.  Turns out they only serve lunch, too.  Bonus? they were closed Mondays so eating there the next day wasn't an option either.

We ended up having dinner at a very nice pizzeria.  The food was good, but not quite the long drawn out meal we had hoped for.  Again, oh well.  We figured we would go for lunch at the place we were staying the next day and just have a light dinner.

This morning we went to breakfast and asked the manager about getting a table at lunch...surprise surprise, their restaurant is also closed on Mondays! She also informed us that pretty much everything in that area of the world is also closed Mondays, that maybe one restaurant in the next town would be open.  Great, right?  So much for a romantic anniversary dinner!

Over breakfast we talked over our dilemma and decided to check out a day early and come back home. Before we left I did take a few minutes to walk around the agriturismo grounds and take a few pictures. It was truly a lovely place and I would stay there again, but plan accordingly to have lunch at the restaurant, not stay on a Monday, and bring food to cook in the apartment for dinners (it had a cute little kitchen).









After checking out we took a long drive around Etna.  It was a gorgeous day.  At one point we stopped and took a short hike for about a half hour.




















After our hike we started getting hungry for some lunch.  We drove down the mountain and ended up in Giarre where we found a bar with yummy calzones.  From there we drove the coast a bit and then headed back towards home.  Tonight, for our anniversary dinner we are going to Borgo Antico Agriturismo, which is just up the hill from where we live.

Our anniversary weekend getaway didn't work out at all like we had planned but we still had a lovely time together, and really that is what counts!


Thirty Days of Thanksgiving, Day 15 and 16

So, I've officially fallen off of the NaBloPoMo wagon, sigh.  I had a feeling doing a post a day for a month would be hard.  I missed yesterday because we took off for vacation and I forgot to post before we left, and then I didn't have internet up on the mountain.  Oh well!  I will still continue on with my exercise of finding things to be thankful for daily.





Yesterday I was thankful for:
  • Leaving for a mini vacation
  • A lovely drive up into the mountains
  • The lovely bed and breakfast that we stayed at
  • Delicious pizza for dinner
  • A much needed getaway with my hubbie
Today I am thankful for:
  • Staying married for six years and counting (today is our anniversary!)
  • My husband
  • A beautiful drive on Mt. Etna
  • A lovely mini-hike on Mt. Etna
  • Another reason to go to Borgo Antico (Anniversary dinner!)
Details of our mini vacation and pictures are coming soon in another post!


Thirty Days of Thanksgiving, Day 14

What a GREAT day, its been a fantastic start to our anniversary weekend.

Today I am thankful for:

  • Breakfast in bed
  • Being able to curl back up in bed after breakfast and take a snooze
  • Having a bit of time to craft
  • Shopping
  • Chinese Food for dinner
  • Early Anniversary Presents (gorgeous black pearl earrings and necklace with a very cool and unusual setting)
  • My husband, who has put up with me for just a couple days short of six years


Thirty Days of Thanksgiving, Day 13

Wow, I thought that the more I did something it was supposed to be ingrained as habit...why is that not happening? I nearly crawled into bed and almost forgot to post today!  So, here it is:


Today I am thankful for:

  • Doctors appointments with no bad news 
  • Fridays and weekends
  • My husband taking a few days of much needed leave
  • Finally making reservations for our anniversary
  • A good book to read when I crawl into bed (not that I'll get to far, I'm pretty tired)
Good night. Ci vediamo a domani! (See you tomorrow!)


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