OPERA: Medea

I got the chance to go to the opera with one of my friends Saturday, January 24th...it was amazing. I have never been to one before, so it was unlike anything I had ever experienced. The Opera was at the Teatro Massimo Bellini in Catania. This builing was beautiful, both outside and especially inside! WOW!


Teatro Massimo Bellini



The Opera we went to: Medea.


The Stage


The balcony seating. This room was absolutely beautiful!


The ceiling...the picture doesn't do it justice!


ME! Standing outside the Bellini after the Opera =]

Gotta love Italians!! Europe vs. Italy

We fist saw this video in our indoc class. It is pretty funny and actually pretty true, haha.

More Catania and other tid-bits

Jesse and I haven't really been doing a whole lot lately. On his off days, we've just been enjoying one another's company around the house or just doing things around the base. I think we are still getting used to being able to spend so much time together. We love it! We plan on going hiking and camping on Mt. Etna with some friends on Jesse's next off cycle...which starts Monday. That should be a great time and I'll be sure to take pictures.

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Other than that, some of my friends and I took another day trip to Catania, and walked around the market a bit. We did a little bit of shopping and of course eating as well. I must say, since I have been in Sicily, I always look forward to that part when I am out. haha. =] The food is sooo fantastic though! =] I took a few pictures while walking through the market (SMELLS SOOOOO BAD) and then a new picture of the Cathedral in the Piazza Duomo.




CHEESE anyone?!



Catania Cathedral


Crazy Americans, haha...Shana and Kari!!

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I also recently started attending PWOC. Protestant Women of the Church...the women's bible study on base. We just started Beth Moore's, To Live Is Christ. I did my first lesson today and can already tell it's going to be AWESOME! I have heard so many great things about the programs, seminars, and studies that she does, so I am so excited to be doing this and with some of my friends here, and hopefully my mother as well via phone and email. =]

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On a completely different and less serious note, I am very excited about something. Some of you may think it's silly, but others that really know me, know I really care about my hair. Ohh my, haha...well I just got lowlights and a very nice little trim and I LOVE IT! You can see in some of the pictures below, from older posts, that my hair was in need of a little extra sass. =] SO, I will post some new pictures soon and you all can see for yourselves.

New furniture...always exciting =]

So, Jesse and I have been looking into getting some new things for the house for a while now. Just thought I would share with you all what we have gotten so far. About 2 weeks ago, we got a new coffee table, end tables, and a new tv stand. Nothing too fancy, but an upgrade from what we had before. I will also post a picture of the couch that we are wanting to get soon as well and then a few pictures that I have of other rooms in the house as well. I will try to take more pictures today or maybe possibly even a walk-thru video of the house.

Before I show you the new things, I'll post a before picture of the living room area first.

BEFORE:

& NOW......

AFTER:

Part of the kitchen. I will post more pictures soon!

These are the new couches that we are wanting to get! =]

SURPRISE!! =]

Jesse's birthday was January 14th, but that also happened to be the same day a new work cycle began. So, we didn't get to do a whole lot for him. I had a birthday cake, with all the candles lit, ready for him when he walked through the door at 11pm, and greeted him singing...HAPPY BIRTHDAY! But other than that, we didn't get to do anything. SOOO, the last day of the work cycle, I threw him a surprise party. It was late, but all of our "couple" friends and then a couple of Jesse's close friends from work still wanted to help me do something for him. It was great. When he walked through the door that evening, HE WAS SHOCKED, we were all standing there in the doorway, and then I'm sure you can guess the rest. His face was priceless. I had made tons of appitizers and snacks, and then an oreo smush ice cream cake for the night. It was a great night with some great friends. Didn't get many pictures unfortunately, but here are a few:








Jesse, Trish, & Shana

I was driving right down the street from our house the other day and finally got a picture of the volcano, Mt Etna. I can also see it from my driveway on a clear day...pretty neat, huh?

I took a few other pictures of Etna while I was driving to base, I'm only going to post the ones that turned out the best though. So here they are: =]

GIVE TO CHARITY...FOR FREE! =]

I recieved this information from a friend...it's pretty much, AWESOME! So here's the deal. There are 2 new sites you can use to give to charity without dishing out any money or really taking any time out of your normal day to day activities. =]

http://www.goodsearch.com/

This site is the same as any other search engine site, such as yahoo search or google search. You choose a charity of your choice and the site donates a penny for each search you make. I don't know about you, but I google like nobody's business! Imagine how it could all add up, if everyone spread the word!

The other site is: http://www.goodshop.com/

It's the same idea, except there is a list of online stores and by clicking thru to these stores via the goodshop website, the stores agree to donate a % of your sales to the charity of your choice at no extra cost to you! How cool is that!!. There's actually a lot of popular and good stores on the site as well, such as Best Buy, Overstock, Macys, Kohls...etc. Those are a lot of the sites that I visit online anyway or shop at when I do my online shopping...so this just makes all those places that much cooler. haha =] Everyone should time the time to go and check it out.

I will be using these sites from now on.

Trips Taken So Far...

Gambino Winery:

This was the first trip that we took with ITT. Gambino Winery is located on Mt Etna. Both, the winery and it's surroundings were beautiful. We took a few pictures while we were there, but I have the website that everyone should take a look at as well. There is a video, that is pretty cool and informative. It gives a brief history of the winery.


http://www.gambinowineimports.com/

Once you get to the page, on the left side it should say click here for video, but before doing so, make sure you click the sound option at the top of the main page located right beneath the "contact us" tab.





This is where we did the wine tasting





The wine is kept in here for 2 years







The view was amazing







Zafferana:

A small village that we went through on the way back from the Gambino Winery. Don't know too much about it just yet, except for, it was beautiful...like everything else we've experienced in Europe so far! We took a few pictures while we were there as well.












Palermo:
This is the second place we visited through ITT.



On the bus ride to Palermo, we stopped here at an Autogrill, (Gas Stations along the side of the Autostrada (highway)) which are known to have the best sandwiches. Jesse and I tried one and we agree, they are pretty tasty!



Complesso Monumentale Palazzo dei Normanni. This is where the Parliament meets and holds meetings.



Jesse, Andy, Trish, Mike, & Michelle outside of the Complesso Monumentale Palazzo dei Normanni




The floors inside the Complesso Monumentale Palazzo dei Normanni were made of shells.


Inside the Parliament's quarters


Church inside of the Complesso Monumentale Palazzo dei Normanni.




This is where we ate lunch. Worst lasagna ever!




Teatro Massimo:
This building is one of the largest opera houses in Europe, not to mention one of the most important buildings in Palermo.
I would love to go to an opera HERE! =]


Quattro Canti



Church of Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio


Fontana Pretoria:
This is a 16th century fountain. The fountain originally decorated a garden of a villa in Tuscany and the was purchased by the city of Palermo. It was dismantled and rebuilt in Piazza Pretoria. The nude sculptures on the fountain caused quite the commotion at first because the buildings surrounding this fountain are all churches.

Taormina:

This is the prettiest place I have been to yet. MY personal favorite. Unfortunately Jesse didn't get to come with me on this trip, but the both of us plan to make a trip there very soon.

Torre dell'orologio


...and again



The restaurant we ate at for lunch that day. The guy who makes the pizza briefly showed us what he does and let us all have a turn.



The view behind the Greek-Roman Theater


Greek-Roman Theater

My Christmas dress for next year, haha, JK!

Watch out...you never know when someone will attepmt to make a road of the walkway!!

Caltagirone:

This is the "city of ceramics"

Jesse was not able to come with me here either. Some friends and I decided to make a day trip here while all of our husband's were at work. It was a very pretty place to see. When we went it was just about 2 weeks before Christmas, so there were nativities everywhere. The big thing in Caltagirone is animated nativities. Wish I had pictures of all the nativites that we got to see, but unfortunately most of them didn't allow photos to be taken. =[

Nativity in the Piazza Duomo

Kari

Kari, Jamie, Trish, Shana, & Aiden!

Kari, Shana, Trish standing in a tiny doorway.

Motta Sant'Anastasia:

Shana, Tamila, Kari, Trish, & Jamie

alley, shows you how limited parking really is

random villas, one has a Santa hanging off the rail on a little ladder



You could smell this place from a block away. It was heavenly. =]

Some of the cookies in the bakery. The baker let us pick a few to try for free. They were all soooo good!