Parental Discretion is Advised.

Hello tutti! I hope y'all a had a fantastic weekend, although I'm pretty sure it wasn't as good as mine. The weather here couldn't have been more perfect, and I'm really hoping it remains nice for the rest of our stay. Before I tell you about my weekend, though, I should send you to dropshots.com/sebrock where I've finally labeled all my pictures from the trip. There are three folders, Venice, Florence and Rome, and there are loads and loads of pictures in each, so have fun!

So my great weekend! We've had very few weekend where we haven't gone anywhere, so we opted to stay in Taormina this past weekend, and sleep in! When we woke up Saturday morning, the weather was absolutely gorgeous, and we headed to Giardini-Naxos via the steps. Giardini-Naxos isn't really Taormina, but it's a nice little walk down, and it's an adorable beach town. We walked along the beach before we stopped and sat at the beach for awhile, just watching the waves and relaxing. I did run into the water, but just past my ankles. It was really cold still! Some dark clouds started to roll in so we headed to a restaurant for lunch. I had some seafood pasta which was great, although a bit unnerving. They put a huge shrimp on the top of my pasta, and it still had big ole eyes popping out and legs in all sorts of places. I'm pretty sure the little fellow was alive about 30 minutes before I ordered him.

After lunch for some reason the weather had gotten really cold all of a sudden, maybe because it's March. Aurelio taught me the phrase "marzo pazzo" which is crazy march. They kind of rhyme in Italian, although not a perfect rhyme. I taught him our phrase "in like a lion, out like a lamb," which he really enjoyed. We did grab some gelato, but it was just mediocre. We started walking back towards the steps, but we stopped at a bus station and discovered the bus would come in less than five minutes! Our lucky day! We took the bus back up for a change, and I don't regret skipping my least favorite steps at all!

At dinner I met the new student at the Ferrari house, Claudia. She's from Switzerland, and she's here for a week. After dinner Clay and I went to an Irish pub for a quick drink. Then we headed to the main piazza to enjoy a concert. I really have no idea who was playing. They had signs, but it was a long band name, so I don't remember now. They were older folks, and I think it was like Irish music. It was actually quite terrible. The lead singer sounded like a dying cow, but it was still a great time. There were young people and old people, and a lot of folks were dancing. Most of them were trying to do Irish jigs though, which was definitely interesting!

I again got to sleep in on Sunday! Once I woke up, I started strolling the Corso, waiting for Clay to call so we could meet up. I guess I looked like a tourist as this man approached me and asked me if I was American. I figured he was trying to sell me something, but after about 5 minutes of walking with him I realized the only thing he was trying to sell was himself. The man was probably as old as my Dad. In fact, I'm pretty sure he's older than Dad. Clay thankfully called me after about 10 minutes of walking with this guy, and I told him I had to leave. He spoke both English and Italian, and we had been speaking in Italian as he knew I was a student. He then asked me for a date, and while I understood, I said "Non ho capito" - "I didn't understand," hoping he just wouldn't repeat it. But he did, in English, so I said "No grazie." He then said that I must be taken, and I just lied and said yes. I figured that sounded nicer in any language than "I'm sorry, but I only date guys younger than my father." He then later saw me with Clay, who has nicely volunteered to pretend to be boyfriend when necessary, and I think he got the picture.

We then headed to Castelmola. As you may recall, we had attempted this trip once before, only to think the entire town was closed! We found the way up this town, and made it there. It is quite a hike up an incredible steep road. I think steps actually would have been easier. But it's well worth the trip as the view is absolutely amazing! We could see down to Taormina, Giardini Naxos and the beach. The weather was probably in the 70s, and the sun was shining with a crystal clear blue sky, so it was just absolutely gorgegous. I didn't take my camera for once as I wanted to walk around and see it without the burden on always snapping photos. But I will definitely go back up a few times and get pictures before I leave. We had lunch up there at this cute restaurant with a terrace where we could see the countryside. The food was delicious as well!

After lunch we walked around the town, which doesn't take very much time. It's a very quiet town, despite some of the tourists heading up that way. We then found the infamous Turrisi Bar. We had been told of this bar from some other students, and the place is known for its decor, all of which is phallic in nature. It's actually quite interesting the different ways they've found to incorporate the male anatomy into the most basic items - lamps, chairs, door handles, menus, faucets, mirrors, etc. As a sidenote, and something we didn't realize until this weekend, the pronunciation for pene (penis) is almost the same as for penne (like the pasta). The difference is very small, and to the untrained ear (meaning mine), they sound practically the same. Now I'll be really worried the next time I order penne pasta that I actually asked for something else entirely! This isn't the only example of this double-consonant confusion, but I'll spare you the details of other mishaps that can occur.

Anyways, we've been, and it was quite hilarious. The other hilarious thing actually happened at the bar. Since we'd already had lunch we figured we'd each just order one drink. Clay had a beer and I asked for a margarita, which I haven't had one over here. Anyways, they come out with two glasses and one bottle of beer, and then the set out placemats and silverware. We're really confused, but didn't think much of it. After about 10 or 15 minutes they still haven't brought me my drink and we're wondering if for some reason they had to run down to Taormina to get supplies! Then the waiter brings out this pizza and we both laugh as we realize what happened. A cheese pizza here is called a margherita. This is also the spelling for the alcoholic Mexican drink. I'm not quite sure if I said something wrong, or if the waiter messed it up. I only had the drink menu in front of me when I ordered, so I really don't know where the pizza came from. Usually when I order pizza, I'll say, I'd like una pizza margherita. Anyways, somewhere along the line, I ordered a pizza, not a drink. We all had a good laugh abou the mix-up, they took away the pizza and finally brought the drink.

We finally left lovely Castelmola and went back to Taormina. We relaxed on Clay's terrace for awhile and then went and got gelato at this place that just opened. It was easily the best gelato we've had in Taormina. Since we've returned from our trip, Taormina is really like a different town. There are places that are opening up for the first time now! So there are so many things we haven't even seen! There are also a million and one tourists now. For some reason they like to crowd in groups around the street that leads from the Corso to my house, which has gotten quite obnoxious now as I attempt to get home on occasion. But it's been fun seeing this side of Taormina. Of course as we enter all these stores for the first time, the shopkeepers naturally think we are also tourists! Thankfully we are known at a few places - Salo's restaurant, where we're treated like locals. The butcher at the supermarket knows us now. And probably our favorite is Martina's place. It's actually named Bar Pirandello, but we just call it Martina's after the lady who runs it. She has the best sweets in Taormina! So we go see her about 3 to 4 times a week. In fact, she was upset when we hadn't seen her for a whole week when we left on our trip, and she demanded to know where we went!! So I guess now we can look like tourists to some people, but when we want to be treated like locals, we'll just go to Salo's or Martina's!

So that was my wonderful weekend. I know I said I was going to talk about the trip some more today, but I think I'll hold off until tomorrow. I actually only have 2 hours of class now (and this week only an hour and a half because there's only 2 people in my class), so I've got plenty of time to blog and update y'all on everything. Plus as the weather gets nicer, I have more of an afternoon to head down to the beach! A domani!