Felice Anno Nuovo! My New Year Stories of Mount Etna & La Befana.

Buongiorno a tutti! This is our first blog post of the year and I would like to take a moment to wish you and your family a very happy, healthy and prosperous 2019. We had such a lovely Christmas and it's been truly enjoyable to take some time out from the hustle of daily life and spend time together as a family.

If you have your own 'Sicilian Connections' or even if you've simply been following the news, you will be aware that we have also had some worrying times over the past couple of months.

Our family in Adrano and Nicolosi spent several nights out on the street after being woken from their sleep by shaking beds and moving furniture. Mount Etna has certainly been very active lately and this has caused a frightening number of earthquakes throughout the region.

The province of Catania is used to living in the shadow of the fiery mountain and my husband even laughs how he and his friends used to go and play football near the flowing lava when they were young. However, the latest tremors have definitely caused concern and even the older generations can only remember a slight quivering of the light shades many years ago; nothing compared to the violent earthquakes that have been occurring over the past few months.

We are all praying that Etna has now got rid of any lingering anger and has finally settled down for a long winter's nap!

We were very happy that La Befana made a visit to our home on the eve of the Epiphany and our daughters were so pleased with the presents she left them. Does La Befana come to your home on her broom every year? I would love to hear about your stories and traditions.

If you would like to learn more about the Italian tradition of La Befana you should hop over to my earlier blog Buon Anno Nuovo and watch the good witch herself tell her enchanting story.

I'm very excited for 2019 as we have lots of lovely things happening over the next few months. If you feel like you want to get more involved in our Sicilian Connections community then definitely watch this space (& click 'follow' for new blog notifications).

I wish you a happy day or a 'buona giornata' and look forward to speaking to you again very soon!

A presto,

Debra
Sicilian Connections
www.sicilianconnections.com

P.S. - We have a BRAND NEW Christmas Guide out packed with Sicilian recipes and festive traditions!! Go to www.sicilianconnections.com to grab your copy :-)