thoughts from the villa

i don't know who this man is, but i just had to take his picture. as i saw him sitting there, on a bench outside of the little cathedral in villa cianciafara, i thought "this, this is sicily." every day i see these older men, short in stature, balding grey hair, dressed in a nice suit, out on their little passegiato. they embody this sense of pride. the pride that comes with knowing you are sicilian; with knowing that everything in your life is this ancient, beautiful story, and you are lucky enough to be even a small part of it. to me, nothing makes a historical site more important than seeing someone who deeply knows it's their history. to me, the villa cianciafara was simply a beautiful place to visit, but to this man it's a part of him. a piece of him that was on this earth before he was even a thought in anyone's mind. and getting to see him there  helped me see this place in a way that no amount of entrancing citrus trees ever could have.

villa cianciafara

last saturday i had the pleasure of attending an event at villa cianciafara. the event was nothing spectacular or particularly exciting, but it did give me an excellent opportunity to explore the villa and get a taste of classic sicilian style.

there was a LOT of terra cotta- the entire main house was covered in it- which i was told is very representative of the sicilian style. these little benches are very typical in older architecture in the area, as well. i've found these in messina, catania, taormina, and stromboli and still every time i see one i think, "oh look at that cute little bench!" like it's something new.

lazy saturday: morning edition

non parlo italiano: parte due

hey guys! i wanted to mix things up a bit, so i made this post as video! this is my first ever vlog, so i was really nervous about posting it- let me know what you guys think. if you would like to see more video posts, or would prefer all text posts, let me know in the comment section below.

ciao, cuppycakes!

this is all i was given to eat today.

hope.

last night, ophelia fell asleep holding my hand. after being apart from the girls for nearly a year and being so quickly taken back into their hearts and lives, sweet gestures like this really give me hope not just for myself or these next two months, but for everything. it's one of those sweet little moments in life where you know that in the end, things will be okay.

with all of the hate and uproar going on in the world, i thought i would share my tranquil little moment of hope and love.

have a sweet day, cuppycakes!

they say lightning never strikes twice.

and they're wrong. i once met a man who was struck by lightning not once, not even twice, but THREE times. and i'm sure i don't have to tell that the chances of that actually occurring lie in a very small decimal somewhere between slim and none. my thoughts wander back to that man at times when i feel something incredibly unlikely has happened to me- times like today.