July

 

The end is drawing nearer... so I pull my socks up and get some stuff done.

But before we get into that, how many brides can you see?



 

Every week over the summer I would arrive in Acireale, home to the cave, to see newlyweds posing on various steps in various ways. Sometimes, even several on the same day. Marriage Overload.








(Correct answer is 3)







I had the idea of sleeping down on my favourite beach with a friend of mine (Kaj). The final week came round and Kaj and I couldn't find the right time to do it, so I decided to do it anyway.


One evening I made the steep descent down to the shore line and sprinted over the rocks to get to an isolated spot that I'd seen previously.


I was trying to get there before the sun went down but I failed, so had to climb over the rocks with my backpack with my head torch on.

I felt well alive. I was a sweatmonster when I arrived so had a little naked paddle in the shallow end.

Fortunately for you, I don't have any pictures of that but this is the sunrise I caught in the morning.

Palermo

I made a quick trip to the other side of the island to see it's main city, Palermo. And I saw;




The Mafia/Mafia museum of Corleone

Featuring these cheerful photos;

Forget about the Godfather.

 

It must've been pretty miserable to live it. The days of shootouts and bombs are long gone now though.

"...and now (you'll have to) kill us all.

Antimafia movement"

Once I got to know people a bit better I asked a lot of questions, and I also read Gomorra (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gomorrah_(book) which is very different from the film) which I'd recommend to get an overview of the situation weaved into personal anecdotal experiences.

The things I heard were too many to repeat here, but it was a very painful process of discovery for me. I have a lot of respect for the people fighting it.

The Catacombs

They were the main reason I wanted to go to Palermo. They were as well preserved as I hope they would be, but it was still pretty freaky.

I wasn't meant to take this picture, so shhh.

The Capella Palatina.

I didn't think I was into mosaics. Turns out I just hadn't seen the right ones! Of course the picture doesn't do it justice - the shiny colourful and gold mosaics covered every pillar, every nook and cranny, so when you  walk in the effect is jaw dropping.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cappella_Palatina

On the radio baby! DJ Mickey Jay comin in your ears.

Nah just some social radio where I talked about the place I was volunteering. Probably a total listenership of 3.














 Can't get enough of those slums and council estates.


















And then I started a chess craze. These boys are my proteges. I'm pretty sure they're already better than me by now...

Brilliant.

Four visits and a wedding.

(probably not the song you're expecting)

One week in June we were visited by my sister, Marion's brother, his girlfriend, and Karolin's boyfriend.

It was epic.







But before this Erica and I went on a road trip...

The Turkish Staircase
- a sandstone monolith.

A lemon flavoured ice lolly

            

Fresh.

                                            Seafood spaghetti.

Fish and chips.

Canyon.

"IT'S NOT THAT COLD, JUST JUMP IN"

WATERFALL!!!!!111

                                        TINY FROG

SISTERS

HYSTERICS

slash

PREGNANCY

...that night my room mate told us she was pregnant and I was all like "But last week we were watching the wire".

Then Erica and I went Northwards to a wedding.

 Blocking out our cousin there.

It's OK, there she is.

Fresh

...Marilyn

 Nobody wanted to hold 
the confetti

 Except Erica who wanted a cigarette confetti bomb

BOOOMMMMMM

Sunset from the reception restaurant....

This cousin could be an Arab. Easily.
Cheekiest of Chappies.

Fresh

 Out on the razzle dazzle at a beach party with our hilarious twin cousins. So busy razzling to the sound track of Italian summers gone by I forgot to take any pictures....








Here's a video to make up for it;

 Welcome to our childhood.  I'm pretty sure it's meant to be ironic. Actually I don't know but you should at least wait for the chorus.

Cafone = a bad-mannered oafish imbecile/jerk

BONUS PHOTOS ***

The Twins

Snails.

A sorbet inbetween courses?

So.

I've a had a couple of visits recently. The first was from Olivia.

Here she is, sitting.

Olivia and I went to secondary school together 

i.e. we go way back.

We did heaps of cool stuff, like...

Visit the Ear of Dionysius 

(my favourite of the ancient god ears)

being careful of sand

See some mad trees at the botanical gardens

 

Look at stuff through a hole shaped like sicily

We had a riot.

Food featured quite heavily, as can be seen from the following photo:

This, 

is a cannolo.

A traditional Sicilian dessert/snack.

The crispy container holds an ocean of sweet ricotta.

That's right

...sweet ricotta. Like a cheese cake.




When I first arrived I found them a bit sickly, but trying them again with Olivia made me appreciate them more.

I don't have that many photos of Olivia herself because we used her camera (or new iphone - with easy to use panoramic function, featured below) but here she is with Domenico. My Italian team leader.

I don't know how many megapixels the camera has on it but it's flipping good. Etna in the distance at sunset.

(Front Crawl)

...Santa Maria La Scala, the beach closest to where I live in Acireale.

I don't really know how to explain this.

So I won't .

The centre piece of my cave/apartment. A massive candle.

See you in September Olivia!

As many of you may know, June the first was my BIRTHDAY.

I began the day by skyping...

....My family                                                                                                       ...and my (old) band

Then I hung out in a piazza waiting for my friends. When they came, they mysteriously told me we had to wait a while longer... eventually we went over to a place called the Mistero Buffo when my friend Kaj is doing his European Voluntary Service.


They blindfolded me, led me in and played me a song. You must listen:

https://soundcloud.com/ib-stallion/friends-sing-for-mike

Kaj basically did all the arrangement, performing and recording on his own, with the added bonus of featuring artists on backing vocals. The first two minutes best enjoyed if you understand Italian but there's a little something for everyone.

From left to right: Lillit, Marion (top), Kaj (bottom), Karolin, Mamadou, Lessie and Me. 

Birthday crew 2013.

 Spend the afternoon by the sea having a picnic....

... received a couple of  amazing presents...

...And spent the evening playing music.

A terrific time all round.

Karolin think she's cool.