LET'S CATCH UP!

Sorry I'm the slackiest poster in the world since Dexter turned one! It's been a very busy week, so let's catch up!

This past weekend was our PWOC retreat. I had Jacqueline Heider fly in from Augusta to be our guest speaker, and since my mom is her assistant, she came too! They flew in last Wednesday and it's been a whirlwind ever since! Here's what we've been doing every day:

Wednesday:
Mom and Jacqueline arrived. We didn't waste any time and got them to some great Sicilian food right away. We had dinner at Donna Fortunata in Motta S. Anastasia. Jacqueline got her first taste of pistacchio pesto, and about 15 other things too!





Thursday:
We visited Siracusa and Ortigia Island. In Siracusa we toured the Catacombs of San Giovanni and the church where they say Saint Paul preached while he was there. Here's the church:




And here's Saint Lucy's church in Ortigia where we had gelato by the sea!




Friday:
We all went to Taormina. It's still my favorite city in Sicily! We started the day with pastries and cafe and wrapped up the evening at one of my favorite restaurants with some very Sicilian dishes: Pasta alla Norma and Spaghetti Carbonara!







Saturday and Sunday:
PWOC retreat in Zafferana! We stayed at a beautiful hotel on the mountain as we went A.W.O.L. (our theme for the weekend.) It was amazing! We even had a translator for several Italian women who came. After the retreat we spent a few hours at Zafferana's Ottobrata (Octoberfest) and had more great food and fun. Here's everybody who went on the retreat:



Monday:
We could have used some rest, but no. We spent almost the entire day at the mall and I think we spent all the Euro in Italy. Mom, Jacqueline and I all got purple coats. We had another huge dinner at Alphio's Garden.

Tuesday:
We went to the Catania market. I don't think I could ever get tired of going there. After our breakfast of cornetti and cappucini, we worked our way up and down the busy city streets through the clothes, shoes and jewelry to the meat, cheese and produce. It was a great time. We had lunch outside on a quiet side street, and dinner at home we prepared from fresh market produce, bread and cheese.

See my little Italian boy's lunch? Tomato, cheese and bread. Don't worry, there's no vino in that sippy cup!



Dexter and I dropped mom and Jacqueline off at the airport early this morning. Dexter misses Cookie!