Off the beaten track beach

Beaches with gelaterias, parasols, and too many people have never been my thing. So when we decided to go to the beach one day, we chose a beach at a national park here in Sicily. Going to a secluded beach, mostly means getting off the beaten track and we're in for some adventure. This time was not different. After taking some small roads, the gps lead us off road, onto a dirt road, or not existing road for kilometers. Almost when we were ready to give up and make our way back (which would have been a problem, seen the narrow road) we final arrived at a sign. We parked the car, and walked another 10 minutes through vegetation in the direction of the sea. Finally we arrived at this beautiful beach. 
There was nobody (okay, there were 3 people, but ignore this).
It was perfect. Olivia had a great afternoon building sand castles with her daddy, playing in the water.
Note to Lolo: you know me by now (every holiday same story) get a 4x4 rental! :)




Favara Farm Cultural Park


 I read in a book about Favara's Cultural Park and it took my attention, because Favara is one of the Sicilian towns with the highest unemployment rate and lots and lots of ugly buildings. We made our way to Favara, followed the GPS and ended up in a worn-down street where apparently nothing was happening. We squeezed ourselved through one of the open windows and ended up in this arty neighbourhood getting ready for a new season with cool bars & restaurants, exhibitions, wall art, installations and lots of positive energy. It was buzzing with action and a nice change of what we had seen of the village so far. It is cool to see initiatives like this in an apparently dead city - the contrast could not be bigger.
It was truly an inspiring visit.






Sunday picknick in the backyard

Lolo was away for work most of the weekend, so we thought we would do an extra special picknick in the backyard on Sunday. We had mojito ice tea, hummus and iberico sandwiches, asparagus & almond soup, a mason jar spinach, pomegranate, pear & blue cheese salad and a blueberry yoghurt cake & butter vanilla creamcheese frosting. After we enjoyed the sun, had a little siesta, played with the kid and had a real lazy Sunday.
I love picknicks and enjoying some easy times with the family!
(Recipe credits at the end)




















http://www.fakefoodfree.com/pomegranate-and-pear-salad-recipe-from-mason-jar-salads/
 http://msihua.com/2014/03/blueberry-yoghurt-cake-with-cream-cheese-frosting-recipe/
 http://www.hemsleyandhemsley.com/recipe/chilled-asparagus-and-almond-soup/


Abanico Hispanico

Wednesday the kid and I went to a craft workshop to make Spanish fans. These workshops are called 'play & grow' and it teaches something about another culture, while the kids get creative, dance on new music and learn a few words in another language. I really love that idea. As our household is bilingual and we already see the advantages of learning another language early on, I really like to expose her to new things and cultures. So we danced on some salsa, learned the secret language of the 'abanico' (you can say I'm single or married, yes or no and even I love you with discrete movements of the fan), made our own fan and hit the pinata until all the sweets fell out.
Sometimes I make the mistake in thinking that Olivia is still too young and does not pick up everything. But when we got home and she was still doing the dance routine, making 'i love you' movements with the abanico, and saying 'un, dos, tres', I have to admit it was a fun & useful afternoon.







La vie en rose

Saturday we hosted a simple dinner for our family and we decided on a barbecued chicken brochette, with zucchini-parsley couscous and a cherry tomato tartelette. For dessert we made a pear - almond cake with mascarpone cream. Olivia discovered the art of rolling the dough with a rolling pin and she did it the whole afternoon. She was so proud!
Everything good on an easy Saturday evening.