2011 Navy Ball

(I can't get my pictures on the blog to go up and down)

our landlords - Giovanni and Giovanna

my Sailor :)

Bronte Pistacchio Festival

pistacchio cheese

pistacchio brittle 

tubs of Nutella

all types of pistacchio ice cream dolce

pistacchio ciocolatto 

pistacchio arancini - pistacchio breaded ball with pistacchio cream, rice, and bacon inside.  

pistacchio sausage

Ottobrata

Ottobrata is Sicily's version of Oktoberfest. The difference? Not really a focus on beer and brats but instead on honey, mushrooms, cheese, meats, pastries, pasta, and a little home made wine. It is in the town of Zafferana which sits on the lower part of Mt. Etna and is most famous for their honey (miele). Ottobrata lasts the whole month of Ottobre (October). There is at least a mile through the town all set up with the food and vendors. We had such a good time we plan to go back!

An artist sculpting right in the street!

carving out of lava rock

all the different types of honey

Hungry? No shortage of meat.

My favorite...pistachio cannoli

Fried rice with honey...it was very similar to funnel cake and just as delicious!

My other favorite...pistachio gnocchi :)

Hiking on Mt. Etna - Valley Del Bove

Saturday morning we packed our backpacks and 45 minutes later we were 6,000 ft. on a volcano :) We hiked a little over a mile to Valley Del Bove which is a giant crater where lava flows. This crater has been formed from the lava over the past years and it usually always flows through this crater and over the side of the mountain during eruptions. You can take flashlights and do a night hike because there is usually a little bit of lava that flows all the time. We didn't have the energy to stay all day...maybe next time! It was such an amazing hike since we were walking on ash and lava rock the entire time and could see small lava rocks from recent eruptions sitting on top of plants. We sat back and enjoyed God's beautiful creation while eating cliff bars and pita chips.

The cutest little fox found some food...I didn't get my camera out in time but he sat there staring at us for  a while with his beautiful red eyes before he grabbed his food.

This is all part of the mountain, you can't see below it from this view. Mt. Etna is VERY LARGE.

part of the crater, it is enormous in real life

not sure why they have a "no kangaroo" sign...but I will have to remember that :)