Sicily

   Spring break in Sicily was amazing!!  I ate so much good food, met some wonderful and welcoming Sicilians, and spent a lot of time basking in the sun!  I was fortunate enough to be invited to stay with one of my friends' family in Brolo on the northeastern end of the island.  The woman that we stayed with cooked and fed us so much delicious food; there was not a single dish I ate there that I didn't like.  Also, it was a lot of food; not a single meal was less than 3 courses (except breakfast, which is always a tiny meal for Italians).  I was also there for La Paqua which is Easter & La Pasquetta which is the day after Easter and also an Italian national holiday.

(Above & Below): The view from the balcony of my room

(Above): I could see a tiny sliver of the ocean from my balcony!

(Above): Brolo's ancient castle which had a "historic" torture museum inside and a museum full of weapons & armour

(Above & Below): There was an amazing view from the cliff where the castle was located!  Because the castle defended the coast, it had to be able to see the sea in all directions.

(Above): Family crests inside the castle museum

The beach!  The Mediterranean was beautiful.  Also, there were pretty tiles all over the beach that we found and brought back with us, some patterned, some colored.

A sampling of the tiles we found on the beach.  What we found out is that a lot of people remodel their houses and bring old tiles to the beach where the sea smoothes them and makes them into treasures.

A gecko or lizzard that I saw from my balcony!

For Pasquetta (the day after Easter which is also an Italian National Holiday), we went over to the house of my friends' relatives and had a "picnic".  They had wild turtles living in their garden, and they brought them out for us to see!

Another castle in the town next to Brolo.

     On another note, I've found several more contrada fountains and my count stands at 14 out of 17!  The only ones I have left to find are: porcupine, owl, and snail!  I'm sorry that it took so long for me to post this; the internet in my apartment just broke and now we only have ethernet access rather than wireless.