#siracrusa

[spaingirl]

New Year's Dinner

Well, I am officially two weeks behind on my blogging, although I've been worse after that two week trip to Spain (how did I ever catch up to being three weeks behind?) But, I will do my best to at least finish talking about my latest trip to Italy/now we're on Sicily.

Ok, so that night we got ready to have dinner with the family of Emy's host family, the sister, la Nona, el Zio, Zia. I tried to show off my limited Italian skills I guess by saying Piacere, Auguri and Bon Ano the whole time:

Piacere- pleasure (as in pleasure to meet you)

Auguri- wishes

Bon Ano- Good/ Happy New Year

And of course there were limited vegetarian options for me because this waas a large family meal, but of course we did the best we could and I tried not to be too picky. That means I had shrimp for the first time in over a year, which I kind of missed, and kind of picked the veggies around some of the meat/ gave mussels in my pasta to Emy. But there was also some good veggie salad with potatoes and peas, basil tomatoes (oh my god I had like five of them even though I was bursting at the end!), and I am positive that I was already getting full just off the appetizers alone. I had to pass up the meat lasagna which they said was a shame because it was the best but meh, and I think I had extra pasta because I couldn't have the big meat dish. I passed up two whole plates but believe me I was so full, I don't even know how every one else did it. And at the end we had slap lentils into our mouths before the clock struck twelve for good luck. We heard fireworks in the distance, and it made me feel like this was my favorite New Years without fireworks, and actually better than most even with the fireworks.  Oh and then we had fruit and this amaaazing powdery cake with creamy sugary sweetness drenched on top. And an expresso to top it off. Oh food baby.

The only two close calls were when I was young and stayed up playing Uno with my mom so we could make it to midnight, and, even though in Denver my sister was disappointed we couldn't go to a bar together, the moment when we sipped on mimosas and watched 500 Days of Summer. Hmmm or maybe the time Lindsay invited me to my first New Year's party and I felt so cool because I was watching Dark Knight for the first time and hanging out with a bunch of kids (unheard of socializing for me back in high school). Definitely two of my New Years with Lindsay are on my top five. Oh God, or my one and only New Years in Mexico with my relatives when we set off our own mini fireworks. How to choose?

In any case, I had never really had such a big family gathering for the holidays, besides the family reunions in Mexico, and it realized how much I like and miss having a family, a family I haven't seen for four years. I've never been away longer than two before. I keep thinking of places to live or stay and sometimes I think I might just be happier there, but right now US and Europe seem closer to my future.

And finally, we drove up to Siracrusa because there was music in the square, but we ended up hanging out at a bar. My favorite was the rum and peach shot, but after that wore off I got bored because we were hanging out with all couples/ slash I couldn't hear the other two girls/ I don't really know Italian sooo whatever. The square was trashed and so were the streets after we got out, and for a moment my head reeled, not because I had much at all but because of the combination of walking around all night. Finally, I finished telling you all about my New Year! (they joked that I spent "two years" there)

[spaingirl]

New Years Eve in Sicily! (Part I)

Oh thank goodness, I finally finished posting about Italy, and all I have left now is Sicily (before getting back to Barcelona of course). Yes, I realize that I'm more than a week behind in posts, but it happens when you're traveling right? Ok, well I'm just going to say you have no idea how relieved I was to see Emy in the train station. I had been trying so hard to see her, and I just kept feeling thwarted by timing or situation. And finally here she was, in the flesh. Goodness, I was just happy to have someone show me around.

She helped me with my suitcase which was very kind of her, and we looked at the duckies swimming by the papyrus. I remember I wanted to take my coat off right away because it was so sunny and warm, which she said looked touristy, haha. I joked that I was going to whip out my camera and continue the trend. We sat on a bench by the water, rambled through the little roads, and I checked out a little baroque church (coat on) while she waited outside. We went on a calling card search with no success, but she did find me some Sicilian playing cards! Annd we headed out for gelatto which now I keep wishing I had got dark chocolate (delish) however I can't say the bacio was bad, although the tiramisu was so disappointing tear. And I ended up adding a rice cracked and the rest of my gloppy coffee yogurt for the rest of my meal.

Before leaving for the town nearby we also checked out Dionysus' ear and the Greek theatre (go Emy, getting us in for free). It was fun just checking out the sites and chatting, between the lemon trees and the echo of rocks. And of course I realized how much I had missed her. Well, we headed back and she said we were just going to have to ask the bus driver to make an unofficial stop, which luckily he did. We ended up walking on the side of the road until we got to her host parent's house and again I felt relieved just to have my baggage taken care of and somewhere to stay, people to be with on the holidays. I got a little tour of the house beyond the garden and the lemon trees (the neighbor's). There were two lovely little dogs: Cleo and Phoebe, a spacious living room, a kitchen outlooking the backyard, a nice room for me to stay in...I felt altogether happy and spoiled. We ate mandarins and talked some more, and then Emy decided to show me her favorite place by the cliffs.

End Part I

[spaingirl]

Night Train

December 30th-December 31st:

From Roma Termini, after figuring out where the train was in advance, I even headed out 40 mins, 30 mins early and it was already there, so I went ahead and got in the right car and everything. I met a nice Chinese woman who only spoke Italian (and I'm presuming Chinese), so we had only the very basic how old are you where are you going conversation. However she was very nice and helped me put away my suitcase and figure out which bed was mine and everything. The conductor came and took my ticket away, which I freaked out about because I thought I would need my Eurrail (yea, I bought an extra day then what I needed so it turned out to be a bummer. Next time I have a week in Italy I'm just going to buy the tickets as I go, and I think I could save money or at least break even). And so, even though the woman seems to be telling me to chillax, I decide to try and find someone who speaks English to make sure. I knock on the car next door which lo and behold is filled with many hot men. This makes me happy,surprised, and embarrassed at the same time but I find one of the guys speaks Spanish, and he tells me I will get the ticket back the next day, which puts me at ease and makes me feel like I can finally go to sleep. Sleep is of course difficult on the night train because the woman plays some phone game and doesn't turn her little light off for the life of her, plus the movement of the train, buuut I try the best I can.

Another woman joins us at like 10 pm, maybe a few stops later and she's from the US. She speaks just slightly more Italian then I do (enough to exchange pleasantries), and she's lived in various states in the US including Vermont and NY, and New Jersey right now. NY was her fave although NJ is close. I've been wanting to work in either of the first two states actually. And it was a relief to find someone who spoke English, I won't lie. Both the women kicked off their boots and slept in their day clothes, although I had chosen to change into pjs ie a men's fake adidas pants and my track shirt. I must have woken up ten times to go to the bathroom, and again at like 7 to eat breakfast. The conductor gives us back our tickets at 8 and so we start getting ready. Finally we have a bit of time to look at the scenery, and Catania is just goorgeous. I hope I get to stay there one day, because it was close to the sea and with fields of oranges. I know now that everything is going to turn out alright, and that once I see Emy in Siracrusa everything will be fine. No more having to worry what flipping to train to take or how to get to this or that place. Just spending time with a friend I have been trying to see for a very long time.