Carnivale and Dinner for Due

We had a fantastic weekend! Taking advantage of Derrick's extra week before he left, we decided to get out and about again. Saturday we got a sitter and went to an agriturismo out in the country for an amazing meal. Agriturismos are farms that make all of their own produce, and usually olive oil, wine, ricotta cheese, pork, oranges, etc. Usually they have a restaurant and sometimes also offer rooms to stay and so forth. This one is out by Mineo and newly opened and renovated. For all of our Sig friends-- go check it out! It was quite possibly the best food we have had thurs far on the island. However do not eat all day before going. I believe we had 14 appetizers, 2 types of pasta, 3 types of meat, and 3 desserts. Also included was of course, red wine, water, and a few shots of liquor to end the meal. Derrick spent the entire evening lying in pain on the couch. hahaha. Unfortunately I forgot my camera- however they do have a website for those around here!

http://www.agriturismoborgoantico.net/

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Sunday we decided to head to Acireale's world famous Carnivale!! Carnivale has been around since 1601 in Sicily which is hard to imagine. It's very comparible to Mardi Gras, although women here do not flash for beads. We were glad that it was a family environment to take the kids to! The streets are covered in confetti and silly string. Valerie got her first bag of carnival confetti and definitely had fun with it. I believe we will be picking pieces of it out of our car for awhile. The floats have very loud music ranging from "Grease Lightening" (yes, in english!) to techno. There are kids in costumes everywhere and sweets, nuts, and candies to buy. It was such a great time - we would love to have visitors at this time next year enjoy it with us! Here are a few photos of Acireale-

Piazza in center of town. This is the end of the parade route. It is hard to see, but there is a large float to the left. It's amusing to watch these gigantic floats squeeze through the tiny streets!
One of the huge floats. They are made from paper mache and usually have dancers on board along with smoke and flashing lights!
They stay in one place for 10 minutes or so before moving on and another float follows several minutes later. It is very different from the parades in the States! You can buy small bags full of confetti for fairly cheap. This was obviously Valerie's favorite part. We also decided to spend 5 euro (ridiculous) for a gigantic Nemo helium balloon. This seemed like a great idea until we had to get through a huge crowd with the 2 kids and this huge balloon. ;)
Linds and Val
Ellie loves the backpack. These types of crowds are definitely not stroller friendly!
Just a pretty photo.

Have a great week!!!