Thursday, November 27, 2008

Siena...it is COLD!!!

Ok, ok...yes, I have been very slack with giving you an update since arriving in Siena, my new home!! IM SORRY!!! Grovel, grovel...

BUT, I do think that I have done VERY well so far keeping you all updated!! Agree?!?

I last left you all with me having just arrived in Siena on the Sunday afternoon and being "stanchissima" as they say here!!



The early morning action at Rome station...
Monday was obviously my first day of school, and rudely, I had to be there at 8am!! Yes, not very happy but I had to be there early to sit my placement test and do all the new student stuff...
All of this was fine...I passed with flying colours of course!! haha....but spent my first day, 3 hours, in a class that was too easy. Not a massive problem as the dirctor had said to me when she placed me that if it was too easy to let her know and she would change me. So day 2 I moved class to where I am now.

My class is quite big in comparison to that in Taormina, there are 10 of us this week (2 newies to last week) and there is quite a mix of ages and nationalities. I would guess that the age range is 23 to 55 and there are 3 Swedes, 1 Norwegian, 1 German, 2 Swiss, 1 Scot and...ONE Australian, the only Australian in the whole school at the moment...in fact there is only one other student who is remotely close in proximity to Oz, there is also a Kiwi girl. So this mix keeps things interesting in class with group discussions and comparisons of cultures and countries.

Here is the class mid-week 2...guess the nationalities!! haha...and the teacher!!


Then on Day 3, the director also informed me that I actually had a fourth hour that no one had told me about...there was a bit of confusion with this as I didnt know and was a bit annoyed I hadnt been informed earlier, but the following day I went along to this and it was great as it was with different students and a different teacher and also was more focused on communication.

So I have school every day here from 9am til 1.30pm with a half hour break in the middle...usually a coffee break for all (and a smoko for some)!!

As in Taormina, this school also has afternoon activities most days and in the first week I went to a seminar on the artist Pietra della Francesca (I hope that is how you spell it cos it has taken me a while to even remember this name)...this was very interesting in particular because of the excursion I then took part in Saturday, which you will hear about shortly.

Another afternoon I watched an old and famous italian film 'L'onerevole Angelina', from the 40's I think...in italian of course!! And then after a group of us went for a wine and local produce tasting session organised by the school which was great!!


We tried 3 beautiful Tuscan wines, each with a different type of food to taste.

First it was crostate:


Second was salamies and third was cheese (sorry I got a bit excited about the cheese and salami and forgot to take a photo when it first came out!! haha):


And you dont need to worry about if I have been eating well or not...I have also been having some great lunches and other chances to taste typical Tuscan food!!


Lunch one day...typical tuscan antipasto...and this is just a starter...haha. And of course the obligatory bread and red wine!! haha

AND, of course...my host Mum has been cooking up amazing Tuscan delicacies from further north where she is orginally from, every night for dinner. I am very happy that here I am eating a lot less pasta and more variety of meat and veg and lots of soups too...ooh, I love soup!! Paritcularly in winter!!

Then Thursday night was "Happy Hour"...notice something odd with this?!? Yep, in english!! They call it happy hour too and this is another outing organised by the school but later in the evening for an aperitivo, a little bit of dinner and then to another bar and the "discoteca"...haha

It was a good chance to get to know some of the other students in a less formal setting but still practicing my italian. First stop this night was a bar that also provides a bit of food free of charge when you have a drink...and this was dinner!! ha...yeah, not quite enough but anyway...


After there we went to "Bella Vista" bar...yep, same as 'Beuna Vista Social Club' in spanish. It was really nice and quite different to what I expected of the bars in Siena, but then again it is a bit of a university town. And after there, a few of us paid our 5 euros to go into the 'discoteca', which I had been warned was an experience to be had, at least once!! But luckily, for our 5 euro entry we also got a free drink...so we had our free drink and LEFT!!

It was a fun night and great to get out and socialise with the other students my age and to see some of the social scene. But it was also funny as to start with at the first bar, I was the only girl in the group!!

Then on the weekend:

Saturday, as I said earlier, I headed off on the usual Saturday excursion with a group from school to a town north-east of Siena called Arezzo, which is very quaint.

The reason that the seminar on the artist was so important for this was that we went to the famous church there to see many frescos done by Peitra della Francesa way back when, depicting many religious tales. The reason these are so famous is that Francesa was the first to use oil for a fresco and this made the colours very vibrant...and still to this day, hundreds or even thousands of years on!!


We also had a look at some other churches and parts of the town...and OF COURSE, had to look in the shops..."fare un'po di shopping" as they say!! haha

The main street closed to traffic like Bourke St in Melbourne, was all decorated for christmas already and at certain times, before lunch and then much later after when all the shops reopened, there were lots of italians out looking in the shops, wandering up and down and generally parading!! haha


But we had glorious weather in the morning...well sun anway, not that warm!!...which turned horridle in the afternoon with the clouds circling and a very cold wind.

We had a beatiful traditional lunch in a small Trattoria...pasta made in-house, bread, wine, coffe and even a bit of tiramisu!!


Here is the gang...with the teacher Andrea on the far left.

Then Sunday I headed off by myself to try to make it to some clothing factory outlets I had heard about just outside of Florence. My teacher had told us about them and that they were accessable by bus from Florence and were quite close, and it is all Italian brands for MUCH less!!

Unfortunately for me, I was unsuccessful in making it out there due to bad bus connections on a Sunday and I would have gotten back to Siena VERY late Sunday night. I did however acheive my mission for this trip, in Florence. In relation to the title of this post, I bought a NEW COAT!!! haha

Yes, I didnt bring a warm coat with me and now that the weather is freezing...and not even winter yet...I needed a warm warm warm coat, AND I found one!!! YAY!!! It is duck feather and down!!

I also found the Florence market and did a bit of shopping there too which was lots of fun...

But once I was done and my tummy was rumbling and my fingers had well and truely turned white, I headed to a locally recommended trattoria for a beautiful lunch...and a wine of course!! The best thing for warming up...haha!!


I returned to Siena Sunday evening feeling very happy with myself...new coat and all!!

My host Mum was very pleased to see that I had found something warm too...


Ci vediamo

Jo xox

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Taormina...been there, done that!!

Yep, thats right, I am no longer in Sicilia!!

After a 14 hour journey departing Taormina by bus at 10:15pm Saturday 15th November, I then arrived in Siena at 1:45pm Sunday 16th November.

I caught the local bus from Taormina down to the station in the town next door which is right on the water and then caught the over-night train to Roma. The train arrived in Roma at 9am and from there I hopped on an express train to Firenze (Florence). I arrived in Firenze at 11:20am and then had an hour before the local train to Siena.

I arrived in Siena to be met by the husband in my host family, even though I thought my "host Mum" would be there...as it turned out she had to stay home to look after her grandson...who is gorgeous mind you and now keeps following me around apparently because I am fair like his Mum...haha

So I made it and I am now exhausted!!

But prior to all of this I had my last week in Taormina, which was a bit of a whirlwind!!

As I thought might have been the case when I first decided to study in 2 places, I was just really feeling settled and in the groove of life in Taormina and I had to uproot myself for a new home...but at the same time, I am also happy to have a change of scenery and to have some new challenges ahead of me for the next month. I think I had also explored about as much of Sicily as is possible when you only have the weekends and are living on the eastern side.

So after a busy second last weekend of excursions and wineries and adventures, I planned out my final week with quite a few things that I wanted to do before I left Taormina...

Oh, and I also got another new house mate at Antonella's...Phillip, a 38yo South African now living in Swizerland who can speak very good italian from working in an italian speaking restaurant in Swizerland, but wanted to understand the mechanics behind it all...


This is him and I on my last night after dinner with Antonella's buddah...a story that will have to wait for another time...

We had beautiful weather nearly all week, so Monday afternoon I followed Danielle's lead and tried to go down to the beach in the afternoon for a swim after a bit of a walk...but as it turned out I took the wrong route, but still managed to find some beautiful views and scenery...which really isnt hard in Taormina!! haha


Tuesday, once again more beautiful weather all day and due to not finding the beach the evening before, I went for an early morning walk before school down to the beach and had a swim which was a FANTASTIC way to start the day...particularly when we were finding that the weather is always nicer in the morning and when we are in class and then by the afternoon the sun is gone and then it starts to get dark at 4:45pm!!



Wednesday morning I met Danielle outside her apartment at 8am and we walked up to the weekly market on one of the main roads to the upper outskirts of Taormina. It is mainly clothing and household items but also a bit of food and I had only heard about this market the week before and so thought it worth a look.

Oh and there was a VERY clear view of Etna on our way to the market...with snow on top now!!


On the way we stopped at the daily food market and bought a fresh fish for our dinner and then whilst at the other market werent tempted by any cheap clothes or boots but bought what we thought was fresh rocket and also some salted ricotta to go in a lentil dish which Danielle knew, with our fish.
Once again a beautiful day, so after class I walked up to a castel on one of the surrounding hills but unfortuantely it always seems to be closed to the public, even the grounds surrounding...but it was a nice walk none-the-less and i was able to do a loop back to my house.

So I got more great views of Taormina!!



The castel at the top of the hill that I walked up to.

So Wednesday night I cooked dinner with Danielle at her shared appartment organised by the school as I was curious to see what these apartments were like. It was very big but old and filled with miss-matched old furniture and was a bit on the cold side!!...even for Taormina!!

Our dinner was great though and we had bruschetta followed by the fish with the lentil dish...and some GREAT wine!!


Thursday afternoon before the rain hit once again, I went back to the Teatro Greco (Greek Amphitheatre) and sat and did a drawing of the magnificent view to give to Antonella as a gift to say thankyou...Im sure you all know how I feel about making gifts!! It is the best way!!

I then went along to a cheese tasting session at school which was fantastic!! We got to try about 8 cheeses and Pepe spoke a little about them and the differences and which were stronger and which more "dolce" (sweet, subtle).



Friday was obviously my last day of school and being amazing weather again, I went for another morning walk and swim. It was a little sad to say goodbye to school and all the teachers!! As they are all fabulous!! Friendly, helpful and very welcoming!!

I had hoped to go out for lunch with some of the other women who had been in my group for a while and were also finishing up but they had to go to Giardini Naxos, so after puddling on the net for a bit I went out for lunch with american Danielle.

In the afternoon I returned to the beach to search for my necklace which I had lost whilst down there in the morning for my swim...with no luck!! But I did get some nice photos...


In the evening Danielle, Danielle and I went to a restaurant called Tiramisu for dinner which is a favourite of the locals'. And it WAS great!!! I didnt take photos this time but I had pepper mussles which were AMAZING...and of course, I had to try the Tiramisu...another fabbo dish!!

My last day in Taormina, Saturday, was crazily stormy and perfect for being inside and packing bags and cleaning my room...


And then an amazing sunset, and clear view of Etna!!


I then had one last amazing dinner of pasta, fish, beans, salad and the mandatory bread with Antonella and Phillip whilst (as per usual) the two boys came and went!!


Antonella, buddah and I!! hahaha...I wasnt really looking at my prime with my red face from my hot shower in preparation to go straight to sleep once on the train.


Ci vediamo
Jo xoxox

Monday, November 10, 2008

I love Sicilian food and wine!!

Ciao a tutti all’inizio della mia ultima settimana a Taormina...
(Hello to all at the beginning of my final week in Taormina....)

I have just finished having a cassata whilst sitting on my bed, writing my blog and watching ‘Grease’ the movie in Italian!! What a start to a week...haha

And what a jam-packed week I have just had too!!

I decided last week, what with my love of food and not having any opportunity to hang in the kitchen with Signora Antonella at my house since it is such a small kitchen, that it was high time that I did some cooking classes!! And as it turned out my school runs these too, separately to the language classes but with one of the Italian language teachers, Ketty, at her apartment in Taormina very close to school. Obviously the classes are completely in Italian but this just helped me with learning more of the language.

The classes began at 6pm each evening on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday...and each night I didn’t get home til about 10pm or later, which meant that I had to be organised with my homework (which we get every night). I planned to take photos every night of what we made but forgot...so you will all have to use your imaginations.

Each night we made three courses or three dishes:

The first night for the Primo Piatto (first course) we made Pumpkin Risotto with cheese melted through and for Secondo Piatto we made Cotoletta alla Messinese (lightly breadcrumbed veal schnitzel) and stuffed capsicums.

When all of the food was ready (which was quite late...but the Italians eat late in comparison), Ketty’s partner Nico, ate with us. We ate and drank some local wine and chatted over dinner...it was very satisfying to be able to participate in a big way in a conversation completely in Italian with two locals!!


On the second night, we prepared Pasta con il Cavolfiore (pasta with a cauliflower creamy paste...it sounds grose but was delicious!!) for Primo Piatto and then Polpettine Agrodolce (sweet and sour meatballs) and Zucchine Arosto (grilled zucchini) for Secondo Piatto. We also prepared a ‘dolce’ for the following night because it needed to spend a night in the fridge. It was Gelatina al Limone (fresh lemon jelly). And once again Nico ate with us.

On the final night we prepared Bruschetta for Antipasto, Pasta all’oeliana (Sicilian style pasta with tomatoes, tuna, eggplant and capers) for Primo PIatto, Pesce Al Cartoccio (whole fish baked in foil) for Secondo Piatto with a side dish of Frittelle di Cavolfiore (cauliflower fritters). Then for Dolce we ate the Gelatina al Limone that we had made the night before...quite a feast!! Not to mention also the local wine and the Marsala for after.




For the final night, the Director of the school came and ate with us at the last minute as he is friends with this couple. It was a bit weird having him there and definitely put the pressure on a bit but was also good as they talked normally to each other and it really tested me trying to keep up with a normal Italian conversation...but Nico was very helpful and often stopped the conversation to explain to me what they were talking about.


This is Ketty, Alessandro (the director) and Nico (L to R) preparing the Secondo Piatto and removing the fish bones on the last night, in Ketty and Nico’s apartment.

All up the classes were great and you will all have to come to my place for a Sicilian feast when I return. I will even have to track down some Sicilian wine as the wine here is wonderful!!

So cooking classes seemed to take up most of my week and also meant that I didn’t really get to spend much time with a new girl at school who moved into the same house as me on the Sunday before my classes. Christina is Portugese, 19 years old and speaks about 5 or 6 languages!! She only stayed for a week but this was about her sixth time here in Taormina and she always stays with this family...but I saw her every now and then at school and then we all had dinner together and went for a “passegiata” (the Italian style of going for a stroll, which is more of a parade up and donw the main street!!) with Antonella on Saturday night.


I did however spend a lot of time with the one and only other Australian at school at the moment, and Danielle is also a Melbournian but currently living in London. For the first time on Friday we went and had a granita at a cafe that had been recommended to us as the best granitas in town and possibly in Sicily (they are a speciality of Sicily). I had espresso and almond and she had strawberry and almond and they were fantastic...so fantastic that we returned the following day and both had a mix of raspberry and mulberry!!! They were SO good and clearly made from very fresh fruit!!


Saturday I headed off with Pepe and four others from school on the regular Saturday excursion, but this time we went to Randazzo, a small town a little north and west of Taormina, a little inland and on the northern side of Mt Etna, and also to Castiglione, an even smaller place close to Randazzo but perched up on a hill in a beautiful rolling valley.


Whilst walking around Randazzo we saw some great things like this elderly man having his weekly shave at the barber...

We also looked at some great old churches made from the lava rock of Mt Etna which is widely used for building in the area, and Pepe also told us lots of other interesting information. We then went and had a look at the puppet museum which was really interesting. There were with rows and rows of traditional Sicilian puppets hanging from the ceiling that were half life-size and over 100 years old!!



After Randazzo we hopped back in the car and headed to Castiglione.


There Pepe took us to a great local eatery where we ate fresh house-made pasta with mushrooms which are currently in peak season and again some great wine and coffee.


After our late lunch we then climbed to the highest point in town and looked at the magnificent view across the valley...



Spot the woman in the top floor of her house doing her ironing...I think I wouldn’t mind doing ironing if I had that view!!


On Sunday I hired a car with Danielle and another Danielle at school who is American from California and we headed off to check out some of the local wineries that had been recommended to us. It was quite the experience...

We picked up the car and started by having a classic italian breakfast of cappucino and a cornetto at a bar on the beach in the town next to Taormina, Giardini Naxos.

We had had 2 vineries reccomended to us by the teachers at school who organises all of the activities (Pepe). One was on the southern side and one on the northern side of Mt Etna, and then we had also discovered that there was a food and wine harvest festival on is a small town right next to Taormina.

We headed to the furthest winery first on the southern side of Etna and had A LOT of trouble finding it!! When we did eventually find it, we could barely find a park, even for our little blue FIAT Panda!! haha. When we went inside to a VERY full restaurant and asked to taste some wines we were told "Look at all of this confusion. Im sorry but there is no way you can taste wines now when we have 140 people here to have lunch" and the majority of them were on motorbikes or scooters!!

So we cut our losses and headed for the second one on the northern side of Etna and arrived there to a very QUIET carpark. We were starving by this time and followed the signs to the restaurant to only peer through the window to see what looked like a private function, so we walked away to only be chased by a man asking what we wanted...

In the end after a lot of negotiation and explain what we were after and them telling us it wasnt possible as they were having a family function for a christening, they then invited us in to join in with the family lunch!!


We sat down at our own table were poured wine and then broughyt endless plates of lovely Sicilian food!! We even got to have some christening cake (or proffiteroles to be exact)...and got to try two of the wines which were VERY nice!! We were stuffed and that was even with declining the main course!!


Needless to say, we each bought a bottle of wine to kind of say thankyou for letting us join in and also as the wione was amazing...and it was only 6 euros a bottle!!

Since this lunch went until after 5pm, we then didnt make it to the harvest festival...but we had a very nice and interesting day none-the-less.


Here I am with our little blue Panda!! haha

Ci vediamo
Jo xoxo

PS - Oh, on the Sunday I also found a very interesting product whilst we were in a food shop in Giardinin Naxos...


Yep, chocolate covered biscuit sticks called 'Jo!'...haha

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Week one in Taormina...check!!

REMINDER: This is an old post re-published because I was stupid and deleted the original!! haha
Ciao a tutti da Taormina... e si, penso mia italiano e meglio!! Translation for the non-italian speakers or understanders: And yes, I think my Italian is better!!

I guess you would hope it would be with learning new words every day and being forced to speak Italian (and no English) at home and at school...we get told off in class if we speak English as obviously not everyone has English as a first language.

There were 4 other women and myself in my class last week, but all from different countries; England, Japan, France and Germany!! But week two will bring a slightly different group as there are new people starting every week. I have had a fairly full week of settling in and getting myself sorted out but also trying to make the most of my free time from school;

On the first day of school, last Monday, I met another guy (Chris) who was also from Melbourne but currently lives in London. He was starting also but only for a week and didn’t know any Italian already...so we ended up hanging out a lot this last week and were each others break from speaking Italian.


He left yesterday (Sunday) back to London and so we went out Saturday night to a very popular bar with the locals, particularly those who enjoy posing, but I think this is nearly all Italians!! Haha. They were all very entertaining.

Chris and I also caught the cable car down to the beach on Wednesday as it was really warm and even contemplated swimming, but we took too long over our late lunch of seafood, salad and wine on the edge of the beach!! It is definitely a hard life!! ;-)

Otherwise during the week after school I was having lunch with and getting to know others from school and that is always good as normally we speak Italian the whole time as it is good practice and it is the only language we ALL share.

On Friday I went out for dinner to a fantastic restaurant which specialises in fish and seafood. A lot of Sicilian dishes are based around seafood as it is so readily available and SO fresh...the meal was amazing!! And Sicily has great local wine which is reasonably priced too!!

On Saturday I went out on a day excursion with a group that was organised by school. Each week they have activities organised for every afternoon, whether they be group lunches or dinners at a local restaurant, seminars or lectures on italian culture, group games like scrabble, watching an italian film or going on a walk or small excursion around Taormina. Then every Saturday they run a day trip to somewhere on the east side of Sicily.

Last Saturday we went almost to the most southern tip of Sicily to a Nature Reserve called Vendicari which is on the ocean and then after that to a small town called Noto.


Vendicari was beautiful and despite it being a bit cool when we left Taormina, it was quite hot by the time we got down south as the environment and climate is also quite different down there; more dry and arid.

We were driven to these places by one of the teachers from school, Pepe, who seems to know a lot in general about many places in Sicily, if not Italy. He acted as our tour guide and spoke to us a lot (in italian obviously) about the flora and fauna, what different buildings and remains were and what we were looking at. For the parts that I could understand, it was all very interesting!! haha


To begin with Bepe explained to us about where we were and about the landscape. We then basically went on a bit of a walk and a wander for a couple of hours and we stopped and talked about different things along the way, like this seaweed that is common in the area...


Yes, I do not tell a lie, this IS seaweed...or a seasponge...just different to what we get in OZ. But it looks very different where it has gathered on the beach, a bit like a bunch of pebbles...


Vendicari is a place where they used to have a tuna collection farm type thing, which they call 'la Tonnara'. Remains of this structure still remain and they are currently in the process of restoring it. Bepe told us a lot about this and the process for collecting tuna, which were then killed in a less stressful way for the fish than today.

We then stopped part way for our packed lunches...nothing like at home though. Mine was un panino con prosciutto, provolone, pormodoro e oregano made by the very sweet old man at the mini-mart for €2.80!!

After Vendicari we drove to Noto a small town a little further north with a lot of amazing old buildings which were constructed using the local stone which is a very rich yellow and ochre colour. A lot of these buildings have been restored in recent years and so the town looks even more spectacular.


The weather was quite up and down both with changing locations and just cos that seems to be how the weather is in Sicily. It was a long day but nice to see some areas outside of Taormina.

Then on Sunday afternoon I decided to do a bit of exercise and see where my street (the flight of endless stairs) took me cos it just continues off every map that I have...

I ended up walking all the way up to a small settlement nearby on the top of the hill behind Taormina called Castelmola. I had originally thought I would do that on Sunday but the downpour of rain put a dampener on that idea...literally!! But funnily enough I made it there anyway.

Since it is up on the hill behind Taormina, there were great views and it was quite a strenuous walk but only 20min for me. It was also beautiful as I got up there just before dusk and so saw it all start to get dark...needless to say it was a bit dangerous trying to walk back down again!!


Me wondering how much further it is...
Yes, that is a massive cruise ship parked in the bay at Giardini Naxos...


Ci vediamo
Jo xox

This is the ultra naughty “Cat” trying to climb up me and he continues to pester me whenever I am outside or tries to run inside my room or through my door at any chance...but there is NO WAY!