Germany/Sicily. Mama mia!

Just got back from Germany and a few days in Sicily too.  So awesome!  The short time in Sicily was hardly enough to be teased, but I made the best of it! Sicily has so much to offer that I could hardly keep up. So much energy, so much life, so much zeal, so much wine!

Mt. Etna was a commanding presence from up in the air and she gave a show while I was there. She was not to be outshined by any other attraction and her performance was enough to grab my attention. She was spewing lava for a couple of hours at night! Red, hot lava! What a sight to see (from far enough away of course…mamma mia!) while sipping on some of Sicily’s finest wines!

I visited Taormina and watched and listened to the waves at night, checked out the open market  and Elephant Piazza in downtown Catania, drove a good way up Mt. Etna to some of her snowy peaks, and walked through ash from Mt. Etna on the sidewalks of Acireale!  

While I was in Sicily, it was Italy’s Liberation Day holiday.  Some newly found friends planned a day outing at the base of Mt. Etna. They prepared food in the true spirit of an Italian family! There was so much to eat and I got so caught up in the moment that I accidently ate horsemeat!  (No need to re-read, I said I ate horsemeat.)  Yikes!  Then, I intentionally ate horsemeat.  Yes, don’t ask.

One morning I had pastries drenched in some type of alcohol and canoles for breakfast, drank more wine than the actual time I spent on the island, and tried some of the best pasta I’ve ever had.  I got hooted at on the streets of Acireale (I still got it…hubby was happy to hear this), stared at a magnificent ocean early in morning and had the best family time.  It was really good big fun!

I would go back to Sicily tomorrow!

Written by Screenname TriniDiva (a.k.a. NSL-R) on 5/6/12 All photos taken by and are property of TriniDiva (a.k.a. NSL-R)

SNOW TUBING...FIRST TIME EVER!

I recently went snow tubing at Round Top Mountain resort in Pennsylvania for the first time. I was immediately a little intimated by the size of the hill I would have to conquer, even though a six year old was ferociously excited about it. (Whatever…youthful innocence!) (: I grabbed my tube (an orange one) and headed for the top of the hill. The long and arduous escalator ride did not help to relax me for what lay ahead. Once at the top, I reluctantly positioned myself inside the tube and asked for a push off the ledge! (What the heck!) However, I held on tightly to the fingers of the two guys who were helping me and started to panic at the last moment. (OK…”held on” is not quite accurate, it’s more like I put the jaws of life grip on their hands! Yikes! What was I thinking?) There was a perfectly warm lodge nearby serving hot chocolate and tea, but instead, I was considering being pushed off the ledge of a snowy hill at night. There was even a bonfire nearby, but I was in the compromising of potentially crashing in to another snow tuber because all that separate the lanes was a barely “one foot” snow bank! (Really?) Anyway, I eventually freed my mind of the grip that fear had on me, and gracefully maneuvered the tube down the hill. (OK, wrong again, I hollered like a banchee as I was pushed off the ledge and slid down the hill, legs in the air and all!) LOL! Once I got the bottom, I thanked God for keeping me safe along the long and treacherous journey I had just taken, spinning, bumping into the banks that separated the lanes, going backwards and not knowing what lay ahead, going over small bumps, going airborne a couple of times, then a big dip and not know whether or not I would survive the journey. (OK, the whole ride took about 30 seconds, but it FELT like 30 minutes! LOL!) Then I did it about four or five more times! It was exhilarating and I had a blast! I did have hot chocolate and am looking forward to snow tubing again!

Written by Screenname TriniDiva (a.k.a. NSL-R) on 2/5/12 All photos taken by and property of NSL-R.

New Year's Eve 2011 in Times Square, New York USA

Times Squares New York for New Year’s Eve 2011 was quite an experience. People, people everywhere. The city was alive fresh off the Christmas festivities and preparations were in full effect to ring in the New Year. The weather was great (for December) and this made the mood of the city even more energized! Security measures were in put in place from early in the day, but this did not stop the excitement the city was preparing for. It seemed like the city was busting at the seams waiting for the midnight hour with all the preparations. We walked a lot around the city during the day, ate, went window shopping and checked out the Christmas decorations that were still displayed on some of the building and around the city, like Macy's, Saks, Lord and Taylor. We decided to go back to the hotel for a rest before the big Times Square reveal, but ended up resting for too long. We had a late dinner, but by the time we decided to head back to Times Square, most of the city was secured and blocked off. So close and yet so far. (-: We missed the big ball drop but had a great time being in the city anyway. I love New York! The trip was great and we both enjoyed our time and celebrating New Year's Eve there!
Written by Screenname TriniDiva (a.k.a. NSL-R) on 01/20/12 All photos taken by and property of NSL-R

Our second anniversary in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida (September 2010)

My husband and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary in Sunny Isles Beach, Fl. We stayed at the Acqualina Resort and Spa on the Beach, a resort I will go back to in a heartbeat. . .what a glorious location! The staff was super-friendly, courteous and extremely helpful. The room was large, and luxurious, and the grounds were very inviting. The hotel also offers a complimentary house car (actually it’s a Lincoln Navigator) for transporting guests to nearby locations, which was great for us as we used it several times.

Most of the time we just lazed and lounged on the beach, by the pools and in the hot tub having drinks, we went window shopping at two great malls nearby, danced the night away (well…I danced and did the limbo) at the hotel bar one night (Brazilian night), and went for long walks along the beach. Although, of course, it was very warm there, being near the ocean made a huge difference. My husband (who prefers cooler temperatures) was comfortable in the heat.

The highlight of the mini-vacation, however, was a trip to the Everglades. My husband wanted to do this and so I “gave in” and said I would go too (even though I was not too keen on doing this). Turned out that I enjoyed it much more than he did. We rode an airboat through the Everglades, going very slowly at first, then at top speed, doing all of the fancy sliding turns you’ve seen in the movies. We then stopped “somewhere” in the marsh and some of the guests on the boat got out and stepped into the murky, muddy waters of the Everglades. We saw full-grown alligators (which my husband swore were “planted” there for the unsuspecting tourists), and many baby alligators, which were so adorable.

After the airboat ride, there was a show which featured a huge alligator (who mainly laid on his belly and opened his mouth only once for the presenter to put something in it), a poisonous frog (which one of the female tourists was pressured into kissing), a jet black scorpion (which the presenter was holding and startled me with as I walked close by him to my seat), some other small reptiles and a 3 month alligator that you could take a picture with. We passed on this.

The trip was great and we both enjoyed our time and celebrating our anniversary there!

Written by Screenname TriniDiva (a.k.a. NSL-R) on 10/11/10
All photos taken by and property of NSL-R

My Evening in the Presence of Two African Presidents

If anyone ever told me that I would be an invited guest at the birthday celebration of the President of South Africa (right) and that I would have dinner in the very same ballroom in Washington, D.C., only a couple of tables away from not one, but two African Presidents, I would say, "no way." But lo and behold, this actually happened on April 13 and the reality of the evening did not hit me during the event, but came full force the next day after I had a chance to reflect on the previous evening’s celebrations. The Mandarin Oriental hotel in Washington, D.C. was the location for what I call "my evening in the presence of Presidents."

The occasion was to honor H.E. President Jacob Zuma on his 68th birthday, who was in DC for the Nuclear Security Summit hosted by President Obama. His friend, the current Acting Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan (above), (and might I add, "fashionista in his own right," who sported an eye-catching black hat and black leather jacket) was present at the dinner to pay his regards in person to President Zuma. (The audience got two for the price of one, as knowledge of Acting President Jonathan’s attendance was made known only shortly before the celebration began).

After the singing of both South African and United States national anthems, Ambassador Andrew Young, Chairman (left) of the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation (the event sponsor), who is a personal friend of President Zuma, and who has been an advocate for education in South Africa and Africa in general, praised President Zuma for his work before he had the honour to introduce him to his guests. Mr. Zuma took the podium and proceeded to share his following birthday wishes with the audience. President Zuma wished for educating, not only African children, but children all over the world. In his remarks, he said that "[e]ducation is the key to genuine freedom," and also that "[e]ducation is the most tangible and sustainable form of empowerment." He thanked Ambassador Young for the vital role he played and continues to play in making education possible for underprivileged, orphaned and the most disadvantaged youth in South Africa through President Zuma’s organization, the RDP Education Trust.

A formal education-deprived but self-educated man, President Zuma rose to the ranks in the African National Congress (ANC), after being influenced by politics at an early age. President Zuma spoke about the continued struggle of the liberation of the African continent. With many African countries now celebrating 50 years of independence, he wished for and urged all nations to "…commit…to draw on…shared achievements… to build a better Africa."

President Zuma also joked about a bet he has with President Obama, that Mr. Obama said he will fly to South Africa during the 2010 World Cup, if and only if, the final showdown is between the United States and South African soccer teams. Also present at the birthday celebration were Charles Rangel, Maxine Waters and Diane Watson, from the United States House of Representatives and Ministers of International Relations as well as Ministers of State Security and Energy from South Africa. And as long as I’m throwing titles out there, the White House representative at the birthday bash was Michael Blake (Associate Director, White House Office of Public Engagement & Deputy Associate Director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs). Whew!

The evening’s host, and President and CEO of the Foundation, Hope Masters, also addressed the audience and spoke of the Foundation’s continued commitment to education.

The evening’s live entertainment were the Temptations who had President Zuma dancing on stage with them during their performance. (I missed them, but heard and read that they were awesome!) Stevie Wonder also made a surprise appearance and sang "happy birthday" to President Zuma.

Master of Ceremonies for the evening was CNN’s "easy on the eyes" weekend anchor, T.J. Holmes, who was quite the comedian and kept the mood of the evening very light.

All in all, the evening was a little surreal to me and in some ways I was happy to realize the emotion of the events the next day, because it gave me a true appreciation for the experience of being in the presence of the two leaders.

Thanks for the invitation!

Written by Screenname TriniDiva (a.k.a. NSL-R)