I've moved ...

Blogspot has not allowed me to post photos for the last month or so .... I admit defeat.

I've created a new blog at www.bellabelpasso.blogspot.com  and have so many things to share with you.


See you there!
Holly

smiley sunflower

Marker by a local florist ... 

You can't tell by looking ... but this flower is nearly 4-foot across,

 petal-tip to petal-tip.

round Etna by train

This train system and route is over a hundred years old.  It goes most of the way around Etna from Catania to Giarre (or any point inbetween)  and makes for a fun day trip on the weekend.  The tracks are set more closely than those of trains connecting the various towns and cities such as Rome and Catania to one another ... which has helped keep the Etna train independent.   Originally it was set up as a way to allow people to access their out-lying plots and the engineer will still stop in the middle of nowhere to pick up some one who is returning home after working in the fields.   Generally there are only one or two carriages per train. 
Here it is pulling into the Catania station to start a new run.

How does your garden grow?

Looking down on our landlord's winter garden ....
 their green thumbs go all the way up to their necks and down to their toes!
They can .. and do .. grow a LOT!
One thing  gets done ... pull it our and plant something else in the space.

glimpse of Etna

Peeking between the buildings ... Etna's secondary peak

Carnivale calf

Saw her as she was passing by ....
time to celebrate Carnivale.

some more rolls

Other shapes she has formed ... check out the purse on the right-side.

a bit out of season ...

DH picked up some bread the other day from our favorite bakery ...
... must have been a few bags left over ... no big deal ... I think it's a charming bag.

fancy rolls

A baker shaping fancy rolls in Monterosso Almo, Ragusa province, here in Sicily.

New Year's Eve 2013 ... a bit late

Some of the fireworks my husband and a friend set off on New Year's Eve ... new camera, still trying to figure it out (think I'm losing the contest).

flowery sidelight

This sidelight was on both sides and over the top of a door in Monterosso Almo (Ragusa).
I think it looks classy.

Baker art at Monterosso Almo

Baker at Monterosso Almo

"Santa" kid

Just thought this a cute outfit ....

Monterosso Almo, Ragusa

On the 26th, DH and I visited Monterosso Almo (Ragusa province) to see the Living Nativity.  Seems like the entire town gets involved.  You wander through quite a few streets looking at various displays of townpeople showing what life was like in the 1600-1800s (or there about) .... cobblers, rope-makers, broom-makers, pottery repair, stonemasons, bakers, cantina and a whole lot more ... ending up at a cave where the Holy Family with Magi and shepherds are placed.  Last year, the infant representing the Child was fussy when we visited the cave; "Mary" was having no success calming the child ... Mom ended up taking the child away and a statue was put in the crib. 
This year our group was one of the first to go through ... so DH and I explored while we waited for the bus to go back home again.  We wandered up to the upper part of town ... this is looking back down on the older section of town where the Nativity is being held.

Holiday lights - Via Roma

Looking down Via Roma during the Santa Lucia festival ...

Santa Lucia is the patron saint for Belpasso.

Her feast-day is 13 December.

She is quite popular in Sicily. 

She is also Syracusa's (south-east corner of the island) patron saint.   Every year Sweden sends a girl to Syracusa to portray Sta. Lucia during the festival in Sta. Lucia's honor.

Unique nativity

Nativity set in a tire at one of Belpasso's annual displays

Haven't seen this for quite some time ...

DH woke me up early this morning to go check out the balcony... it was snowing.. and sticking.

thinking outside the box

Someone had a good idea to paint the normally bland and boring TV antenna and give it some character.  Would have missed seeing this entirely if I hadn't climbed a staircase to look in a shop window while in Taormina.

Taormina

DH, a friend and I took a Sunday drive up to Taormina (on the eastern coast of Sicily about an hour and a half from our apt).  Wonderful little town ... a bit of a resort area. so there are frequently lots of tourists from cruise ships wandering around the town.  This is looking down one of the walking streets back through the old city wall which goes back at least to the early 1400's, and may be much older.    Taormina is famous for its marvelous Greek Amphitheatre ...but it was closed today.

Dominick the Christmas Donkey

Just a funny song ... Brucoli is a small village well south of Belpasso.

This is not my video .. I found it on YouTube.

The YouTube link is http://youtu.be/Ok5rOO2v2dU

Enjoy!

spices at the market

Perfect timing ... I need to buy fresh spices for holiday baking!

Seen at Milo Wine Festival

At the Milo Wine Festival ... selling sweets out of your home ...

Catnaps

It REALLY does exist!!

Homer Simpson's legendary brew ...  a fine German brew (or so I am told)